Morgan Stanley is gearing up to become one of the first major Wall Street banks to offer cryptocurrency trading to retail investors through its E*Trade platform. According to a Bloomberg report, the launch is scheduled for the first half of 2026 and will initially support trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Strategic Partnership with Zerohash for Crypto Infrastructure
To power its crypto offering, Morgan Stanley is partnering with Zerohash, a crypto infrastructure provider that will handle liquidity, custody, and settlement. The bank has also made a direct investment in Zerohash, which recently closed a $104 million funding round at a $1 billion valuation. This strategic move strengthens Morgan Stanley’s position in the digital asset space, giving it more control over how services are built and delivered.
Jed Finn, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management, described the launch as a “transformative moment” for the financial industry. He emphasized that crypto trading is only the beginning, with much broader plans in the pipeline.
Beyond Trading: Wallets, Tokenization, and Portfolio Integration
What sets Morgan Stanley apart is its ambition to integrate crypto more deeply into traditional finance. The firm is developing a wallet solution that will allow clients to hold, manage, and even tokenize assets — all within a single account. This could allow for seamless interaction between traditional financial products and digital assets.
In addition, the bank plans to roll out crypto-inclusive portfolio strategies. These will be customized based on individual client goals, helping investors explore how digital assets can fit into their broader wealth management plans. This is a significant move toward mainstreaming crypto in traditional investment portfolios.
A Sign of Changing Regulatory Winds
Morgan Stanley’s crypto push also reflects a broader shift in the regulatory environment. Under the current Trump administration, U.S. regulators have shown increased openness toward banks entering the crypto space. Other financial giants like Charles Schwab are exploring similar digital asset services, while Robinhood has already earned over $600 million from crypto trading in the past year.
By bringing crypto to E*Trade’s large retail user base, Morgan Stanley is positioning itself ahead of the curve — not just in trading, but in building a hybrid financial future that merges the best of traditional and digital finance.
