Morgan Stanley is looking to incorporate one of Wall Street’s biggest steps into the Bitcoin space by providing digital asset trading to retail clients through the E*Trade platform.
With the expected developments in the first half of 2026, E*Trade Client will have access to Altcoins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana.
Today, the digital asset market is around $4 trillion, with over $2.3 trillion on Bitcoin alone. For Morgan Stanley, one of America’s biggest banks, it’s an opportunity to be full of demand and stay competitive with rivals like Robin Hood and Charles Schwab.
Related: 10 dollar giant Charles Schwab to launch spot bitcoin trading by 2026
To make that happen, the banking giant is partnering with Zerohash, a Chicago-based infrastructure provider of digital assets. Zerohash handles liquidity, custody and settlement. The bank has also acquired investment stakes in Zerohash.
“We are preparing to offer e-Trade clients crypto transactions via partner models in the first half of 2026.” Jed Finn, head of wealth management at Morgan Stanley, said in a note to his client.
Zerohash has grown rapidly in the field of fintech. The company recently reached “unicorn” status and raised $104 million in a funding round led by an interactive broker with investor Morgan Stanley.
Morgan Stanley executives say offering Bitcoin trading is just the beginning. The bank is also working on wallet solutions that allow it to become a custodian of its clients’ digital assets.
“Giving clients the ability to exchange cryptography is the tip of the iceberg.” Finn said. “The cryptocurrency space shows great power to broader DLT (decentralized ledger technology) and tokenization, as well as Crypto as an investment in clients.”
Morgan Stanley is more than just taking part in retail Bitcoin trading. Just a few years ago, most major banks had restricted digital assets exposed to investment funds for wealthy clients. Nowadays, businesses are heading towards direct trading access for everyday investors.
Robinhood is a pioneer in the field, generating significant revenue from digital asset transactions and even bought Bitstamp Exchange for $200 million earlier this year.
Charles Schwab has taken a more careful approach, providing digital asset exposure through ETFs and mutual funds.
For wealth management leaders, this is a natural progression.
They purchased E*Trade for $13 billion in 2020 and added a retail-centric platform with over 5 million users. Combining its base with digital assets could potentially provide a strong foothold in the growing Bitcoin market.
Interestingly, Morgan Stanley’s move comes shortly after their own Chief Investment Officer, Mike Wilson, excluded Bitcoin from his recommended portfolio strategy in favor of Gold. Wilson said Bitcoin is too volatile and makes it a reliable inflation hedge.
Bank leadership appears to be taking a different approach.
CEO James Gorman said Morgan Stanley is exploring the possibilities of not only trading Bitcoin, but also broader trading opportunities for blockchain. They also gave financial advisors a green light and pitched Bitcoin ETFs to eligible clients.