The news about the Morgan Stanley Unit Counterpoint Global’s probable bet on Bitcoin has sent the price of the currency to a new all-time high.
A unit of American multinational investment bank and financial services giant Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), known as Counterpoint Global is reportedly eyeing a Bitcoin (BTC) move. According to a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, Counterpoint Global, renowned for making moves on prominent growth stocks is making its findings to know if a Bitcoin bet will be the right one.
The Morgan Stanley Unit has over $150 billion in Assets Under Management and a move to back the digital currency may be another major milestone in Bitcoin’s bid to attain mainstream adoption. Per the report, however, the probable move will have to be approved by both Morgan Stanley and US regulators.
Morgan Stanley has had prior exposure to Bitcoin through MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR), a firm the former has about 11% stake in. MicroStrategy through the staunch belief of its Chief Executive Officer, Michael Saylor in BTC has invested as much as $1.3 billion of its investor’s money in the coin, a move it said is in accordance with its Treasury Reserve Policy.
The potential bet by Counterpoint Global will bring Morgan Stanley much more directly into the world of Bitcoin, a move that core traditional financial institutions had been mindful of. The first-ever digital currency is still largely unregulated in the United States, with attempts to float an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) product regularly being squashed by US authorities. The volatility of the asset presents a risk factor that makes many mainstream investors conservative about investing in the asset.
Morgan Stanley Unit Bitcoin Move Fueled BTC ATH
The news about the Morgan Stanley Unit Counterpoint Global’s probable bet on Bitcoin has sent the price of the currency to a new all-time high (ATH) of $49,125.11 at the time of writing and according to CoinMarketCap.
As an asset whose price growth is highly dependent on market sentiments, BTC is known to make moves following such investment updates. A similar plunge to a new ATH was observed following the news that electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) invested as much as $1.5 billion a few days ago. The coin rallied to an ATH above $48,000 following the big bet.
The continuous pumping of funds into Bitcoin by institutional investors has remarkably changed the narrative surrounding investments in digital assets. The embrace by firms such as Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL), Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA), and Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) amongst others is reshaping the positive sentiments about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, now popular for his Bitcoin advocacy role in the crypto space said that the fact that Tesla – and other big corporations – placed BTC on its balance sheet has de-risked the acquisition of the asset by public companies.
“Tesla $TSLA has de-risked the acquisition of #bitcoin by public companies and accelerated the digital transformation of corporate balance sheets. Treasurers are now thinking about how to convert a non-performing asset into the best performing asset,” he said in a tweet.
Read more Bitcoin news on Coinspeaker.
next