Morgan Stanley is allowing financial advisors to offer cryptocurrency funds to all its clients as the wealth management giant expands its offerings.
Summary
- Morgan Stanley has opened access to cryptocurrency funds to all its clients.
- Financial advisors can now advise and recommend Bitcoin funds to all clients, with investments permitted in any account type.
- CNBC reports that the rollout begins October 15.
Morgan Stanley is taking this step by dropping restrictions that until now limited access to crypto funds to certain wealthy clients, CNBC reported on October 10.
According to the report, the company’s financial advisors will, starting October 15, be able to recommend crypto investments to all clients, with clients able to invest in any of the funds available in any account, including retirement accounts and trust accounts.
Morgan Stanley drops restrictions
Previously, the bank limited financial advisors to offering Bitcoin (BTC) funds only to high-net-worth clients considered to have an aggressive risk profile. Customers were also required to have at least $1.5 million in assets, with additional restrictions being the ability to access crypto only in taxable brokerage accounts.
These are now discontinued and access to all customers will be rolled out on October 15, 2025.
In the immediate future, advisors will advise clients and present funds from BlackRock and Fidelity. However, the plan is to expand the list to other crypto funds, Morgan Stanley said.
Pro-crypto stance
With over $8.2 trillion in client assets, Morgan Stanley is an industry giant. But unlike many peers, its stance on crypto investment offerings to clients has increasingly shifted to a more favorable position.
A change in the United States’ regulatory approach to cryptocurrency has also weighed on this outlook, with the company supported by developments since the election of President Donald Trump in November 2024. Recently, Morgan Stanley announced plans to roll out trading of Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) to its clients through its E-Trade platform.
The bank’s global investment committee also recommended that allocations to crypto wallets be limited to 4% of initial exposure.
According to Lisa Shalett, the bank’s chief investment officer, crypto is currently “a speculative and increasingly popular asset class.” Many investors may want to explore the opportunities offered by the asset class, Shalett added.
