Morgan Stanley has followed the lead of its rival Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to clear Bitcoin (Bitcoin) futures trades for clients, Bloomberg reported.
Jonathan Pruzan, the bank’s chief financial officer, said the firm has been clearing Bitcoin futures trades made on Cboe Global Markets and CME Group and has been convening a regular meeting of executives to consider how else to engage with cryptocurrencies.
“If someone wants to do a trade on the futures and settle in cash, we’ll do that,” Pruzan said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been a lot of activity, but it’s for core institutional clients who want to participate in a derivatives transaction,” he added.
Pruzan declined to say how much Morgan Stanley required, but said that the volatility of an asset class was a factor in setting margin levels. He said the firm has so far decided not to get involved with market-making or custody of cryptocurrencies.
Goldman Sachs announced last month it would begin trading Bitcoin futures for its clients. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are thus the only major Wall Street firms known to offer the service to clients.