Morgan Stanley has made its first capital investment foray into the blockchain space, co-leading a $48 million funding for Securitize.According to a release issued on Monday, the Coinbase-backed asset tokenization outfit has completed a Series B funding round that drew participation from Morgan Stanley Tactical Value-managed investment funds and Blockchain Capital.Other participants in the funding round included Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB), Emin Gün Sirer’s Ava Labs, and venture capital fund IDC Ventures, among others.The oversubscribed Series B round also saw participation from previous Securitize backers like Ripple and Borderless Capital.Monday’s Series B funding announcement comes barely a month after successfully closing a $12.75 million Series B funding round.As with other Securitize capital raises, the Series B investors will receive their shares as digital assets issued by the firm. According to the release, the asset tokenization platform already has over 300,000 verified investors.In March, Securitize collaborated with SMTB to launch Japan’s first “A-1” rated security token.Related: Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui launches the country's first 'a-1' rated security tokenAs part of its investment, Morgan Stanley Tactical Value co-head Pedro Teixeira will join the Board of Directors at Securitize. Commenting on Morgan Stanley’s first blockchain investment, Teixeira was quoted in the announcement as saying that the investment bank was keen on assets with long-term potential, adding:“Our investment in Securitize is a sign that we believe in the growth and adoption of digital asset securities.”Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo also echoed Teixeira’s comments stating that VC funding for the company demonstrates the growing popularity of digital asset securities among legacy finance stakeholders.As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Morgan Stanley introduced a Bitcoin (BTC) investment product for rich clients back in March. The $4 trillion wealth management giant in April expanded its BTC exposure for wealthy clients to 12 investment funds.Source
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