Morgan Stanley to Offer BTC Funds Exposure to Clients, Jerome Powell Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged

The Bitcoin community is set to get a huge boost as Wall Street banking giant Morgan Stanley announced that it shall be offering its wealth management clients exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) funds.

The investment banking firm has more than $4 trillion in assets under management for its high-profile clients. In an internal memo released on Wednesday, March 17, the banking giant said that its clients will get access to two major Bitcoin funds from Galaxy Digital and NYDIG.

Mike Novogratz, founder of Galaxy Digital acknowledged this development stating "Galaxy is thrilled to partner with Morgan Stanley, the first US bank to offer wealthy clients access to bitcoin funds”.  

The bank said that it will offer its clients exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) only through some of the accredited funds and not directly. "For those qualified* investors ready to gain exposure, we suggest starting with publicly traded products—preferably ones that are multiasset and potentially accessing the growth opportunities through a venture capital/private equity investment in the blockchain ecosystem,” as stated in the internal note.

People familiar with the matter told CNBC that the latest decision from Morgan Stanley comes amid strong client demand who have shown the willingness to gain exposure to crypto assets. Also there are some restrictions for the participation. To qualify for this service, investment firms needs a minimum of $5 million in deposits with the bank. The sources also said that the bank will limit Bitcoin exposure to 2.5% of the clients net assets.

The Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP and FS NYDIG Select Fund have only $25,000 as minimum requirement. However, the Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP has a $5 million minimum.

Another major boost to Bitcoin (BTC) are the recent comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. On Wednesday, March 17, Powell said that the U.S. Central Bank has no plans to increase any interest rates until 2023. Powell said that the Fed will continue with its monetary policy easing “as log as it takes” to boost the economic activity.

Post Powell’s comments on Wednesday, Bitcoin (BTC) again resumed with its northward journey. Earlier today, the BTC price surged 6% climbing all the way above $59,000 once again.

Yesterday, NYDIG CEO Robby Gutmann said that he expects mass adoption for Bitcoin (BTC) by some big companies. He said that the firm’s strategic partners are likely to make a slew of announcements in the coming weeks.