TechFlow News, March 18: According to The Block, Amy Oldenburg, Head of Digital Asset Strategy at Morgan Stanley, stated on March 17 at the Washington Blockchain Summit that adoption of crypto ETFs remains in a very early stage, with approximately 80% of crypto ETF demand on its platform coming from self-directed investors rather than advisor-managed accounts.
Oldenburg described Morgan Stanley’s rollout of crypto products as an “orderly, step-by-step journey,” emphasizing that its wealth management team still needs to do substantial work in investor education and portfolio construction to help financial advisors integrate digital assets into asset allocation models. Morgan Stanley opened access to Bitcoin ETFs for brokerage accounts in 2024 and filed in January this year to list spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs.
At the institutional allocation level, Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee recommends allocating up to 4% of model portfolios to crypto assets. Bank of America similarly supports an allocation range of 1% to 4%, and BlackRock and Fidelity have issued comparable guidance. Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, noted that some professional investors are now considering raising their allocation to approximately 5%.
