New documents reveal that financial services giant Morgan Stanley is holding hundreds of millions of dollars worth of spot market Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
According to data from market insights firm Fintel, the Wall Street giant recently disclosed its holdings to the regulatory agency, revealing that on May 15th, it purchased 4.27 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) worth $269.8 million.
“Morgan Stanley has disclosed 7,816 total holdings in their latest SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings. Most recent portfolio value is calculated to be $1,246,178,634,816… Morgan Stanley’s new positions include Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.”
Other industry titans have been active within the crypto space during the month of May as well. On May 2nd, France-based BNB Paribas, the world’s ninth-largest bank, purchased 1,030 shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) for a total of $41,684.
A week later, global trading and tech giant Susquehanna bought 17,271,326 shares of GBTC in three batches for a total of $1.09 billion. The firm also purchased millions of shares worth of other BTC ETFs created by BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, and ARK Invest.
On May 10th, in a Form 13F filing, it was revealed that banking giant JPMorgan is holding about $760,000 in spot BTC ETFs on behalf of its clients. Similarly, Wells Fargo disclosed that it was holding 2,245 shares of the GBTC worth $121,000 for its clients.
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