- Morgan Stanley is rolling out spot crypto trading on its E*Trade platform at 50 basis points per transaction — undercutting Coinbase (60 bps), Robinhood (95 bps), and Charles Schwab (75 bps).
- The offering launches in pilot now and will expand to all 8.6 million E*Trade clients later this year, beginning with Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana via infrastructure partner Zerohash.
- The bank is also developing a feature letting clients convert crypto directly into ETF shares without selling first, and plans to add tokenized equity trading on the institutional side in H2 2026.
- Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management framed the strategy as “disintermediating the disintermediators” — a direct shot at Coinbase and Robinhood, which had a years-long regulatory head start on banks.
What Happened?
Morgan Stanley officially entered the retail crypto trading market through its E*Trade platform, pricing transactions at 50 basis points — the cheapest among major competitors. The offering, built on a partnership with crypto infrastructure firm Zerohash, initially covers Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana. It’s part of a broader crypto buildout at the bank: Morgan Stanley launched the first Bitcoin ETF from a Wall Street bank last month, has Ether and Solana ETFs in the pipeline, and applied in February for a national trust bank charter to custody digital assets directly.
Why It Matters?
Traditional banks were effectively locked out of crypto for years by regulatory pressure. Trump’s return to the White House changed that calculus, and Morgan Stanley is moving fast to capture share in an asset class that generated $3.32 billion in consumer transaction revenue for Coinbase alone in 2025. With 8.6 million E*Trade clients and pricing below every major rival, the bank is positioned to take meaningful share — particularly from retail investors who would rather keep crypto and brokerage accounts in one place. For Coinbase and Robinhood, the arrival of a fully regulated Wall Street incumbent is a significant competitive threat.
What’s Next?
Morgan Stanley’s full E*Trade rollout later this year will be the real test of how much retail crypto volume it can capture. Watch for competitor responses on pricing — Robinhood and Coinbase will likely feel pressure to cut fees. The planned crypto-to-ETF conversion feature and institutional tokenized equity trading are signals that Morgan Stanley views this as a long-term infrastructure play, not just a product launch. Regulatory clarity under the current administration makes the timing favorable for further expansion.
Source: Bloomberg
