Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee (GIC) has issued an unexpected recommendation: treat Bitcoin as “digital gold” and allocate up to 4% of suitable portfolios to cryptocurrency exposure.
The action marks one of Wall Street’s most public institutional nods to digital assets yet, emphasizing how crypto is migrating from fringe speculative bets toward mainstream portfolio construction.
The GIC’s guidance is structured by risk profile:
Morgan Stanley also emphasizes that exposure should generally happen through regulated vehicles such as crypto ETFs rather than direct holdings.
This endorsement could sway a large swath of the financial advisory landscape, as the GIC influences over 16,000 advisors managing around $2 trillion in client capital.
Several tailwinds give gravity to Morgan Stanley’s shift. Bitcoin recently ripped past $125,000, while exchange balances have dipped to 6–7 year lows, pointing to less supply readily available for sale.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley is moving beyond mere commentary: the firm is preparing to offer crypto trading to retail clients via its E*Trade partnership with Zerohash, expected to start in 2026.
Morgan Stanley is also candid about crypto’s limitations. It warns of higher volatility, correlations under stress, and the importance of disciplined rebalancing. The company advises advisors to keep exposure in check and prevent crypto holdings from becoming dominant during sharp rallies.
Here are some of the key catalysts to monitor:
Morgan Stanley’s public embrace of crypto, anchoring Bitcoin as “digital gold,” is a watershed moment. With allocations of 2-4% now part of the playbook for growth clients, the institutional gate to digital assets just cracked wider. But for those allocations to matter, execution and macro alignment must follow.
Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview
