What Happened: Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is now the second-largest shareholder of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCMKTS: GBTC) after ARK Investment Management.
According to recent SEC filings, Morgan Stanley owns over 6.5 million shares of GBTC worth over $240 million at the time of writing.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest funds currently own 9 million shares worth $350 million.
Morgan Stanley’s GBTC holdings are spread out across a series of funds, of which the Morgan Stanley Insight Fund holds close to 1 million shares.
The purchases over the past few months also demonstrate how significantly Morgan Stanley has increased its exposure to the leading digital asset.
At the end of June, the firm reported holding 28,000 shares of GBTC worth around $800,000 at the time.
What Else: The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust itself holds over $31.24 billion of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) according to a recent update of its assets under management.
The digital asset management firm had an overall AUM of over $43 billion at the time of writing, of which nearly $10 billion is held in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (OTCMKTS: ETHE).
Earlier this year, Grayscale revealed that it was 100% committed to converting its Bitcoin trust, which is currently the largest in the world, into an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).
Price Action: At press time, GBTC shares was trading $39.15, up 3.52%. Bitcoin was up 3.66% over the past 24-hours, trading at a price of $48,976.