Institutional News | Morgan Stanley's GBTC holdings significantly increased, BlackRock increased its holdings of CME futures contracts
Bitcoin recently dropped to nearly $40,000 due to regulatory crackdowns in China. However, according to SEC filings, financial giants Morgan Stanley and BlackRock have been continuing their involvement in Bitcoin investments through different channels this year. Morgan Stanley's GBTC holdings have also multiplied several times.
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GBTC Holdings Surge
According to a document filed with the SEC on 9/27, Morgan Stanley's European Opportunity Fund, a fund under Morgan Stanley, held 58,116 shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as of 7/31, valued at $2.4 million.
Previously, Morgan Stanley held 28,298 GBTC shares as of 4/30, valued at around $1.3 million. However, according to the holdings data on its official website, as of 6/30, their Insight Fund held 928,051 GBTC shares. Although some reports claim that their total GBTC holdings exceed 6.5 million shares, the cited SEC documents do not support this.
In April of this year, Morgan Stanley submitted an application aiming for its funds such as institutional funds, institutional fund trusts, European Opportunity Fund, Insight Fund, and Variable Insurance Fund to invest up to 25% of total assets in futures contracts, Grayscale funds, and other Bitcoin-related products, indicating a continued increase in Bitcoin's proportion in its fund investment portfolio.
Furthermore, in June, Morgan Stanley led a $48 million Series B funding round for digital asset securities company Securitize, marking the company's first blockchain financing event.
BlackRock Enters the Market with Futures
Asset management giant BlackRock, which previously claimed to closely monitor developments in the cryptocurrency market, entered the market through CME Bitcoin futures contracts, increasing its contracts from 37 in April to 54 by the end of July.
The 54 contracts were valued at $10.8 million and expired on 8/27, with a gain of $369,137.
In January of this year, BlackRock submitted an application to the SEC to allow its "BlackRock Funds V" and "BlackRock Global Allocation Fund" to participate in Bitcoin futures contracts.
CEO Larry Fink has stated that at this stage, viewing Bitcoin solely as a speculative trading tool is premature.
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