Since spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) made their debut in January, chatter has grown regarding the imminent arrival of major U.S. brokerages. Two Wall Street giants have started offering their top clients exposure to the red-hot investment products: Bank of America’s Merrill arm and Wells Fargo & Co.
Big Players Enter Spot BTC ETF Space
Some of the largest asset managers in the US, including Fidelity and BlackRock, are among the providers of the newly approved spot market Bitcoin ETFs. While most conventional banks and major wirehouses initially declined to offer Bitcoin ETFs to their clients, some mainstream brokerage platforms have added the investment vehicle to their offerings.
According to a Feb. 29 report by Bloomberg citing anonymous individuals privy to the matter, Merrill — the wealth management unit of Bank of America — and Wells Fargo have started offering spot Bitcoin ETFs to their wealth management clients with brokerage accounts. Notably, the BTC ETFs are currently only available to clients who specifically request to get exposure to the products.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to suck in capital, with the funds now holding over $17 billion in the alpha crypto since being greenlighted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in mid-January. Moreover, the trading volume for all the funds hit $7.69 billion this week as Bitcoin skyrocketed. The flagship crypto rose to as high as $64,000 before retracting to $62,060 at press time.
Crypto ETFs offer everyday retail and institutional clients exposure to Bitcoin without the hassle of buying or storing the underlying assets themselves — that explains why they have seen enormous demand.
Morgan Stanley Mulls Offering Spot Bitcoin ETFs
In other related news, Morgan Stanley is also reportedly considering adding spot Bitcoin ETFs on its brokerage platform. The foray of Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo and, perhaps, Morgan Stanley could spur a new wave of demand for the spot BTC ETFs, leading to the influx of billions of dollars in untapped money into the Bitcoin market.
As for traditional finance titans that haven’t yet stepped into the spot crypto ETF business?
“I’m sure pressure is mounting for them,” postulated senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg Eric Balchunas on X. “They like to see track record and get paid off, but [with] grassroots demand like this, they gonna have to expedite.”
