In the second quarter, Morgan Stanley significantly increased its stake in Circle while expanding investments in the cryptocurrency sector. According to a 13F report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 14, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Circle (CRCL) shares from approximately 1.46 million to 8.32 million as of June 30.
During the same period, the bank also expanded its positions in spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Morgan Stanley's position in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) increased from 13.4 million shares in the first quarter to approximately 16.5 million shares. This represents an increase of about 23 percent in the number of shares owned. At the same time, due to the decline in Bitcoin's price, the market value of the IBIT position decreased by approximately 18 percent, from $667 million to $549 million.
Morgan Stanley also increased its positions in the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), owning approximately 2.57 million shares of MSBT worth about $43.3 million. The increase in the bank's stake in FBTC was approximately 38 percent.
Ethereum also showed more aggressive growth. Morgan Stanley's position in the BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) increased by approximately 202% to 4.6 million shares, and its position in the Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF grew by about 26% to 5.1 million shares.
The bank also turned to Solana investment products. In the second quarter, Morgan Stanley opened new positions in the Grayscale Solana Staking ETF and the Fidelity Solana Fund, valued at approximately $4.25 million and $2.26 million respectively.
In the stock market of cryptocurrency-related companies, the picture was more varied. Morgan Stanley increased its positions in mining and infrastructure companies such as Circle, Cipher Digital, Core Scientific, Hut 8, and Bitdeer.
On the other hand, the bank reduced its position in Coinbase by approximately 550,000 shares and also cut its positions in CleanSpark by more than 3.1 million shares. Morgan Stanley also completely closed its position in Bitfarms, which comprised approximately 8 million shares.
*This is not investment advice.
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