Morgan Stanley to enter the Bithumb crypto exchange

Morgan Stanley is in talks with Bithumb, Korea’s leading crypto-exchange, for an active stake in the platform.

According to Korean media reports, it appears that the American multinational investment banking firm is considering negotiations with Bident, which owns 10% of Bithumb Korea. 

The stake proposed by the American bank seems to be very significant and could be around $2 billion. This is the tweet from crypto analyst Joseph Young: 

Wow.

Morgan Stanley is reportedly bidding for Bithumb, South Korea's top crypto and bitcoin exchange, for $2 billion valuation.

Slowly, then surely.

The explosiveness of institutional interest in this space right now is unprecedented.

— Joseph Young (@iamjosephyoung) March 19, 2021

“Wow. Morgan Stanley is reportedly bidding for Bithumb, South Korea’s top crypto and bitcoin exchange, for $2 billion valuation. Slowly, then surely. The explosiveness of institutional interest in this space right now is unprecedented”.

Morgan Stanley expands into crypto sector with Bithumb

This is another substantial institutional entry into the crypto world by Morgan Stanley who, just two days ago, announced that it would be offering its clients the ability to purchase bitcoin.

A move that saw it become the first major US bank to offer direct purchase of fund shares that allow clients to take a position in bitcoin.  

Currently, due to Morgan Stanley’s news, shares of Bithumb’s affiliated companies have risen. In fact, Bident’s shares are also up 17% this morning. 

This growing appetite for bitcoin and altcoins among investors is seeing continued increases in the sector. In light of bitcoin’s price jumps, Bithumb is estimated to have gained around 5.1 billion won ($4.5 million) in January alone. 

At the same time, and in recent days, the words of Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, have also impacted the crypto statement. 

Indeed, just yesterday, both bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrencies saw a total greenlight after Powell had confirmed the day before that the US inflation situation will not affect the long term, but is only a temporary situation.