Morgan Stanley: The adoption of crypto ETFs is still in the "very early stages," with 80% of demand coming from self-directed investors

According to The Block, Amy Oldenburg, the head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, stated at the Washington Blockchain Summit that the adoption of crypto ETFs is still in a very early stage, with about 80% of the demand for crypto ETFs on the platform coming from self-directed investors rather than advisor-managed accounts.

Oldenburg described Morgan Stanley's advancement of crypto products as "an orderly step-by-step journey," emphasizing that the wealth management team still has a lot of work to do in terms of education and portfolio construction to help financial advisors incorporate digital assets into asset allocation models. Morgan Stanley has opened brokerage account purchase permissions for Bitcoin ETFs in 2024 and applied to list Bitcoin and Solana spot ETFs in January of this year.

At the institutional allocation level, Morgan Stanley's Global Investment Committee recommends that the allocation of crypto assets in model portfolios should not exceed 4%, while Bank of America also supports an allocation range of 1% to 4%, and BlackRock and Fidelity have provided similar guidance. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan pointed out that some professional investors are currently considering increasing their allocation to about 5%.