Morgan Stanley, one of the biggest investment banks in the U.S., is reportedly considering investing in Bitcoin (BTC), according to reports.
Bloomberg reported that Morgan Stanley’s $150 billion investing arm called Counterpoint Global could place Bitcoin to “its list of possible bets.”
Bitcoin begins recovery after the news
Hours before the news was released, the price of Bitcoin dropped by nearly 4% from $48,000 to as low as $46,252 on Binance.
The price of Bitcoin began to recover when the news broke, rising from around $46,300 to above $47,300, by nearly 3%.
Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global considering Bitcoin as an investment is noteworthy because of two main reasons.
First, Morgan Stanley is a top financial institution in the U.S., and its influence in the banking sector is immense. Second, it comes after the bank boosted its holdings in MicroStrategy, which has accumulated over a billion dollars in Bitcoin to date.
Bloomberg reported that Counterpoint Global is “is exploring whether the cryptocurrency would be a suitable option for its investors, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”
The firm would still need approval from relevant parties and regulators. As such, even if the bank’s investment arm decides to invest in Bitcoin, it could still take a while for it to materialize.
The news comes just a month after Morgan Stanley increased its stake in MicroStrategy to nearly 650,000 shares, equivalent to over 10% of the firm.
MicroStrategy, a publicly-listed business intelligence firm in the U.S., has moved the cryptocurrency market by storm after its aggressive accumulation of BTC as its treasury asset. Its stock price has also seen incredible growth over the past few months, which has even outperformed BTC.
Since late 2020, MicroStrategy, led by its CEO Michael Saylor, have been continuously investing in Bitcoin and leading seminars to assist other corporations to follow suit.
On Feb. 4, for example, MicroStrategy conducted a seminar with 1,400 companies to discuss the “Bitcoin Corporate Strategy” and ways to gain exposure to BTC as a corporation.
The public perception of Bitcoin is improving
The combination of large institutional capital inflows into the Bitcoin market and the vocal support for cryptocurrencies from financial institutions is improving the public’s perception of Bitcoin.
As a result, banks and public corporations are facing pressure to either explain why they aren’t investing in BTC or get on board.
Speaking to CNBC, JPMorgan co-president and COO Daniel Pinto said that the bank could support Bitcoin trading if it sees sufficient demand. He said:
“If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved. The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point.”
Generally, more financial institutions have begun to support Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency sector, which benefits the overall infrastructure of the market.
As Cointelegraph reported, BNY Mellon is also planning to custody Bitcoin in the foreseeable future.