Morgan Stanley, which manages more than $1.5 trillion in wealth management assets, is now referring eligible clients to Galaxy Digital, the Nasdaq-listed digital assets and infrastructure firm. The arrangement lets wealthy investors swap crypto holdings for shares in exchange-traded products.
## How the mechanics work
A client holding Bitcoin, Ether, or Solana lends those assets to Galaxy. Galaxy then coordinates an in-kind creation with an authorized participant, and ETP shares, including the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), land in the client’s brokerage account. The holdings move from a wallet to a portfolio statement, where they sit alongside stocks, bonds, and whatever else the advisor has the client in.
## Faster onboarding, lower minimums
Onboarding for these transactions has historically taken more than four weeks. Under the new arrangement, that timeline could shrink by as much as 75%. Galaxy is also dropping its lending minimum from $25 million to $5 million for clients referred by Morgan Stanley. That’s still firmly in “high net worth” territory, but it represents a fivefold expansion in who can actually use the service.
