Morgan Stanley may explore allowing brokers to recommend Bitcoin ETFs

Morgan Stanley may allow its 15,000 brokers to recommend that customers purchase spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, according to a report from AdvisorHub on Thursday, which cited two senior executive sources familiar with the company’s plans.

The firm is reportedly establishing the groundwork for solicited purchases, including requirements for risk tolerance and limits on allocation and trading frequency. However, its senior executive sources were not able to provide a timeframe for the policy change, AdvisorHub stated.

Major brokerage firms including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Wells Fargo began offering spot bitcoin ETFs following their January debut but limited purchases to an unsolicited basis, where customers would need to reach out to their advisors.

U.S.-traded spot bitcoin ETFs from major financial institutions including BlackRock, Grayscale, and Ark Invest have amassed a cumulative net inflow of $12.29 billion and over $53.6 billion in assets under management as of Wednesday, according to SoSoValue data .

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In the case of BlackRock, its IBIT spot bitcoin fund accounts for 24% of all their flows from 1,000 ETFs.