Wall Street titan Morgan Stanley held around $187 million worth of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), as of June 30, according to a recent 13F filing shared by MacroScope. The amount is equivalent to over 5.5 million IBIT shares.
The investment positions the bank alongside other major IBIT holders like Millennium Management, Capula Management, and Goldman Sachs, which recently disclosed a $400 million investment in US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including around $238 million in IBIT.
Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley announced it would allow its 15,000 financial advisors to recommend spot Bitcoin ETFs to select high-net-worth clients starting August 7. The two products are BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC).
John Reed Stark, a former SEC official and noted crypto skeptic, expressed concerns about the compliance challenges the move might entail.
“By unleashing its legion of 15,000 brokers to pitch Bitcoin, Morgan Stanley has just voluntarily subjected themselves to what will likely become the largest SEC and FINRA examination sweep in history,” Stark stated.
He further warned, “Identifying violations will be like shooting fish in a barrel.”