Morgan Stanley is expanding its digital assets business by launching cryptocurrency trading on its E*Trade platform, positioning the product as a lower-cost alternative to existing retail cryptocurrency services.
The bank is currently running a pilot program charging E*Trade users a fee of 50 basis points on transaction amounts.According to Bloomberg This is significantly lower than the costs of other major players, including Coinbase, Robinhood, and Charles Schwab, which charge between 60 and 95 basis points.
Jed Finn, Head of Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley, said this initiative is not just about offering cheaper cryptocurrency trading, but aims to “eliminate intermediaries” and represents a broader structural shift in how clients access digital assets.
This investment banking giant plans to roll out the service to all 8.6 million ETrade customers later this year.
This latest move builds on a series of cryptocurrency-related initiatives over the past few months, including the launch of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and plans to introduce products tied to Ethereum and Solana. Morgan Stanley has also made progress on infrastructure, having applied for a national trust bank charter that would enable it to directly custody digital assets.
Bloomberg, citing sources, said the bank is also considering offering services that allow users to convert their cryptocurrency holdings into exchange-traded products without selling them, and is preparing for potential tokenized stock trading later this year.
These measures will inevitably intensify competition in the cryptocurrency market. Coinbase generated $3.32 billion in consumer trading revenue in 2025, while Robinhood’s cryptocurrency-related revenue approached $1 billion.