Bitcoin (BTC) remains a focal point for institutional investors, including major banks. A senior executive at Morgan Stanley made an important statement on this issue. At a Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas, Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, indicated that U.S. banks are likely to include Bitcoin in their financial statements in the future. Nevertheless, she added that regulatory hurdles remain a significant variable.
Oldenburg noted that she expects U.S. banks to include Bitcoin on their balance sheets in the long term. However, achieving this goal requires addressing multiple challenges, including relevant regulations from the U.S. Federal Reserve, Basel capital standards, and coordination among global regulatory bodies. According to Oldenburg, large banks like Morgan Stanley need to obtain approval from the Fed, comply with Basel regulations, and secure authorization from multiple global regulators to hold Bitcoin.
She also mentioned that the recent regulatory environment has become more favorable for the expansion of digital asset businesses. Notably, Morgan Stanley recently launched MSBT, an exchange-traded product (ETP) related to Bitcoin. Oldenburg specifically pointed out that MSBT is the first Bitcoin-supported ETP product from a U.S. bank and noted that the product attracted over $100 million in funding within the first six days of its launch.
Oldenburg emphasized that all this influx of funds comes from clients' voluntary investments, stating, “Although we have not yet provided advisory services as an asset management platform, there is still strong demand.”