Morgan Stanley to offer bitcoin funds access to wealthy clients: Report

Representative image. (Source: Reuters)

Morgan Stanley will offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds, becoming the first major US bank to make such a move.

In an internal memo on March 17, Morgan Stanley told its financial advisors it will allow access to three funds that enable ownership of Bitcoin, CNBC reported. The move could potentially help acceptance of the world's largest cryptocurrency.

The investment bank will for now let only wealthy clients access Bitcoin funds, deeming it suitable for people with "an aggressive risk tolerance" for those who have at least $2 million in assets held by the company, the news channel reported.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

Investment firms will require at least $5 million at the bank to qualify for the new stakes, and their accounts have to be at least six months old, CNBC reported.

Even for US investors who qualify, Morgan Stanley is capping bitcoin investments at 2.5 percent of their total net worth, the report added.

Two of the funds are from Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency firm, and the third is a joint effort from asset manager FS Investments and bitcoin company NYDIG.

Large US corporations have been paying more attention to Bitcoin, after a surge in its price. Bitcoin's price has more than doubled in 2021, hitting a record high of nearly $62,000 on March 13.

Corporations such as Tesla, BNY Mellon, BlackRock, Mastercard, Square and MicroStrategy have invested in Bitcoin.