Investment bank HSBC has confirmed a ban on the purchase of MicroStrategy shares for customers of its HSBC InvestDirect service.
"HSBC has no interest in direct investment in virtual assets and has limited interest in servicing products or securities whose value comes from virtual currencies," a bank spokesperson told The Block, noting that the restrictions were introduced back in 2018.
Last week, a message from HSBC appeared on the network, addressed to customers of the HSBC InvestDirect service who already hold shares in MicroStrategy. According to the publication, they are prohibited from buying MicroStrategy shares, but are allowed to keep and sell them if they were purchased before the changes took effect.
MicroStrategy actively invests in bitcoin and to date has collected under its management more than 90,500 BTC worth $5.5 billion at the current exchange rate. Companies such as Tesla and Square also hold bitcoin on the balance sheet, but are not mentioned in the HSBC notice. In addition, the organization's policy regarding mining firms whose shares are listed on the stock market, such as Riot Blockchain, HIVE Blockchain and Hut 8 Mining, remains unclear.
Other banks, meanwhile, are expanding their customers ' access to bitcoin. It is expected that soon the clients of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will be able to work with investment mechanisms based on cryptocurrencies.