American banks may soon hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets, despite current regulatory barriers. This view was expressed by Amy Oldenburg, head of Morgan Stanley's digital assets division, at a conference in Las Vegas, according to CoinDesk.
In April, the bank launched an exchange-traded product (ETP) based on the first cryptocurrency, under the ticker MSBT. In its first six days of trading, it attracted over $100 million.
The influx was driven entirely by retail clients through self-investment tools. According to Oldenburg, at that time, the bank's financial advisors had not yet begun to offer the product to clients.
Morgan Stanley recommends allocating 2% to 4% of a portfolio to Bitcoin, although advisors are slowly adapting to the new product. The bank attributes this to a lack of knowledge among staff and has already launched internal training programs. Currently, 80% of investments in the crypto ETP through the bank's platform are made by clients independently.
Oldenburg did not rule out the possibility of Bitcoin appearing on Morgan Stanley's own balance sheet in the future. However, she cautioned that due to Federal Reserve requirements, Basel Committee rules, and the stance of international regulators, this process will take longer than many market participants expect.
The bank continues to expand its presence in the industry. Morgan Stanley is pursuing a trust license from the OCC, which would allow the organization to directly hold digital assets and launch spot trading of cryptocurrencies on its own platform. Currently, Coinbase and BNY serve as custodians for the MSBT product.
Recall that in March, Morgan Stanley filed an S-1 application with the SEC to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.