A $150-billion investing arm of Morgan Stanley may make a bet on Bitcoin amid the recent surge in the price of the cryptocurrency. Counterpoint Global, a unit of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is assessing if Bitcoin is a viable option for investors, Bloomberg reported.
Such a move would require approval by the firm and regulators, the report said.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.
A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.
The renewed interest in Bitcoin comes after the volatile digital currency’s price surged roughly 1,200 percent since mid-March 2020. Bitcoin is the world’s largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalisation.
Announcements by major US corporations in the past week may help Bitcoin enter the mainstream and be accepted as a form of payment.
Automaker Tesla said it had bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, and might start accepting it as a form of payment for its products in the “near future”.
Investment bank BNY Mellon said it would create a unit to help clients hold, transfer, and issue digital assets.
Mastercard said it was planning to offer support for some cryptocurrencies on its network this year.