Morgan Stanley estimates that hedge fund managers have invested $2 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2017. Business Insider reports that the figure was listed in a note titled \"Bitcoin Decoded\" which was distributed by the bank to its clients a few days ago.

The note contains a further detailed breakdown of over 100 crypto-related hedge funds which have been created during the last six years. However, the vast majority of the funds were launched in the last 12 months in response to the rapid growth of the market, which saw bitcoin rocket in price from $800 to almost $20,000.

The note, composed using data from Autonomous NEXT which was supplemented with Morgan Stanley\'s own in-house research, brings to light the massive increase in cryptocurrencies among institutional investors, and coincides with the launch of futures contracts by Cboe and CME Group.

As was reported earlier, hedge fund manager Bill Miller, who is chairman of Miller Valued Partners, now places almost 50% of his MVP1 fund on bitcoin and bitcoin cash; a massive increase from the 5% he initially invested.

While some economists still believe that the massive gains made by bitcoin are unsustainable, it remains to be seen how institutional investors will affect the market.