BlockBeats reported on Aug. 14 that Morgan Stanley increased several crypto-related holdings in the second quarter, based on its latest 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, reflecting positions as of June 30.
The filing shows the bank held about 16.5 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), up 23% from 13.4 million shares in the first quarter. Even so, the value of that position fell from $667 million to $549 million because Bitcoin prices declined during the quarter, a drop of about 18%.
Bitcoin ETF exposure moved higher
Alongside IBIT, Morgan Stanley also held 2.57 million shares of MSBT worth about $43.3 million. The bank also added to Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, and Fidelity’s FBTC. Its FBTC position rose by nearly 38%.
Ethereum positions also expanded
On the Ethereum side, Morgan Stanley increased its ETHA holdings by about 202% to 4.6 million shares. Its position in Grayscale’s Ethereum Staking Mini ETF rose about 26% to 5.1 million shares.
New Solana fund positions appeared in the filing
The filing also showed new positions in Grayscale’s Solana Staking ETF and a Fidelity Solana fund, with position values of about $4.25 million and $2.26 million, respectively.
Circle stake jumped sharply
In single-name holdings, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Circle (CRCL) from about 1.46 million shares to 8.32 million shares. It also increased holdings in mining and infrastructure companies including Cipher Digital, Core Scientific, Hut 8, and Bitdeer.
At the same time, the bank cut about 550,000 shares of Coinbase, reduced its CleanSpark position by more than 3.1 million shares, and fully exited roughly 8 million shares of Bitfarms.