Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF push a 'death wish,' says former SEC official

Morgan Stanley, the largest wealth manager in the United States, could face intense compliance scrutiny after allowing its entire team of financial advisors access to Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), warns crypto skeptic John Reed Stark, a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official.

“By unleashing its legion of 15,000 brokers to pitch Bitcoin, Morgan Stanley has just voluntarily subjected themselves to what will likely become the largest SEC and FINRA examination sweep in history,” John Reed Stark wrote in an Aug. 9 X statement.

“IMHO, identifying violations will be like shooting fish in a barrel. So whoever Morgan Stanley’s current compliance director is — well, good luck with that,” Stark added.

Regulators will have extensive access to documents

Stark explained that compliance staff and enforcement staff from both the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) will have immediate access to all records, documents, emails, texts, voicemails, and phone conversations related to Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin sales to retail investors.

“This resplendent, abundant and easily accessible treasure trove of evidence will be available to the SEC and FINRA not only with the click of a mouse,” Stark added.

The criticism comes after a person familiar with the matter told Cointelegraph on Aug. 7 that Morgan Stanley authorized its 15,000 financial advisers to start recommending Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to high-net-worth clients.

Morgan Stanley only endorsing two Bitcoin ETF products

The individual, who was not permitted to discuss the issue publicly, confirmed an earlier CNBC report that Morgan Stanley plans to begin recommending Bitcoin ETFs.

Currently, the firm is only endorsing two products, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC). Crypto industry commentators believe it will be significant for Bitcoin.

“Expect to see some chunkier inflows in the second half of the year,” Crypto venture fund Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi wrote on X.

“Can you imagine how big this is?” The DeFi investor added.

Since spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved on Jan. 11, they have attracted $17.3 billion in inflows, according to Farside data.