Wall Street banking titan Morgan Stanley (MS) has lifted the barrier that prevents some of its wealth clients from investment in cryptocurrencies, which are considered as highly volatile assets.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
According to CNBC, the institution’s wealth management has informed its thousands-strong financial advisors that they have permission starting October 15 to solicit investment into cryptocurrency funds from all clients, including those who own retirement accounts. This type of investment through the unit was previously allowed only for clients with at least $1.5 million in assets.
Morgan Stanley Limits Investments to BTC Funds?
The update comes more than a year after media reports identified that such a plan was in the offing. However, clients–for now–are limited to investment in BlackRock’s (BLK) iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), the outlet said, citing insider sources. However, other types of digital asset offerings could follow as Morgan Stanley continues to watch the industry.
The update comes as the top banking institution is also making plans to introduce crypto trading features to E-Trade, the online brokerage platform it acquired in 2020 for $13 billion. The traditional banker has teamed up with crypto startup ZeroHash to achieve the goal.
Crypto Momentum Rises on Wall Street
The move from one of Wall Street’s largest bankers comes as the Trump administration has been friendlier to cryptocurrencies — compared to his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump even signed an executive order to add foremost digital asset Bitcoin and altcoins XRP, SOL, and ADA to the U.S. government’s strategic reserve.
Meanwhile, this week, top data and analytics provider S&P Global (SPGI) unwrapped plans to introduce a benchmark to track both cryptocurrencies and public companies tied to the digital assets. In another development, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange also confirmed a $2 billion investment in Polymarket, the betting platform powered by blockchain technology.
Is MS Stock a Good Buy?
However, across Wall Street, Morgan Stanley’s shares currently have a Moderate Buy consensus recommendation, as seen on TipRanks. This is based on six Buy and seven Hold ratings assigned by 13 analysts over the past three months. Nonetheless, the average MS price target of $163.40 suggests about 7% upside potential from the current level.
