Investments

The investment firm disclosed to the SEC that it held more than 5.5 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust in the second quarter of 2024.

United States investment banking firm Morgan Stanley revealed that as of June 30, it held roughly $188 million worth of shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF).

In an Aug. 14 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Morgan Stanley reported holding more than 5.5 million shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the second quarter of 2024, worth $188 million. The firm also disclosed investments under $300 each in shares of a Valkyrie ETF Trust with exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), Bitcoin Depot, Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, and Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF.

The Q2 2024 investments came before Morgan Stanley announced it would allow its financial advisers to recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients, explicitly highlighting IBIT and FBTC. In response to the notice, former SEC official John Reed Stark suggested the investment firm could subject its advisers to “what will likely become the largest SEC and FINRA examination sweep in history.”

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