Morgan Stanley’s Crypto Gambit: E-Trade to Launch Digital Asset Trading in 2026
Wall Street's institutional embrace of cryptocurrency accelerates as Morgan Stanley prepares to bring digital asset trading to its E-Trade platform.
The Mainstream Move
Traditional finance giants can no longer ignore the digital revolution. Morgan Stanley's 2026 rollout signals a fundamental shift in how established players approach crypto markets—not as a fringe experiment, but as core infrastructure.
Timing the Tides
Launching in 2026 gives the firm runway to navigate regulatory hurdles while positioning ahead of competitors still debating whether to dip toes in digital waters. The delayed timeline suggests either meticulous preparation or bureaucratic inertia—take your pick.
Platform Integration Strategy
E-Trade's existing user base gains direct access to crypto markets without jumping between traditional and digital platforms. The move eliminates friction for investors wanting exposure to both worlds simultaneously.
Institutional Validation Effect
When firms managing trillons start offering crypto services, it legitimizes the asset class for skeptical investors. Though let's be honest—Wall Street only embraces innovation once it's profitable enough to bother with.
The 2026 rollout represents another nail in the coffin of 'crypto as niche' thinking. Mainstream adoption isn't coming—it's already knocking at the door while traditional finance scrambles to find the keys.
Bitcoin, Ethereum trading on E-Trade
When the crypto trading service, targeted for retail customers rolls out in the coming year, E-Trade will allow customers to buy the top cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) among others, the bank said.
Morgan Stanley’s crypto trading foray adds to its increased embrace of the ecosystem, which per its earnings results, is a major component in the quest to bolster its wealth management offering.
According to details, almost half of the Wall Street giant’s revenue in 2024 was from wealth management. The digital assets market, increasingly attractive to banks amid the crypto-friendly regulatory landscape in the United States, is thus an important market for Morgan Stanley.
E-Trade’s offering in partnership with Zerohash will see the bank take a step towards eating into the market where players such as Robinhood and Charles Schwab are active.
The announcement of the Zerohash tie-up comes on the same day the crypto platform announced it hit unicorn status amid a $104 million raise in a series D-2 funding round. Interactive Brokers led the funding round, with backing from Morgan Stanley and SoFi among other venture capital firms and investors.
Zerohash will use the capital injection to expand its product, grow its team and deploy innovative solutions to problems impacting the financial markets.
