Morgan Stanley to Offer Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana Trading on E*Trade in 2026

Highlights:

• Morgan Stanley partners with Zerohash to launch crypto trading for E*Trade clients.
• E*Trade users will access Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana in early 2026.
• The bank also plans wallet services for tokenized assets like cash, bonds, and real estate.

Morgan Stanley has joined forces with Zerohash, a company that provides cryptocurrency infrastructure, to allow E*Trade clients to trade crypto tokens starting in the first half of 2026. Zerohash will handle liquidity, custody, and settlement services for all trades.

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Jed Finn, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management, said the bank will first offer major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Later, they plan to develop a complete wallet solution for their clients.

🚨 Morgan Stanley's E*Trade to List Digital Assets in 1H26 in Partnership with ZeroHash.$MS Will Also Invest in ZeroHash's $100M Raise Led by $IBKR, at a Reported $1B Valuation. Additional participants include SoFi, Jump, and some Apollo funds. pic.twitter.com/KcytikydvM

— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) September 23, 2025

Morgan Stanley Steps into Retail Crypto with E*Trade

Morgan Stanley bought E*Trade in 2020 for $13 billion, and since then, it has been part of Morgan Stanley’s retail investment services. At the time, ETrade had more than 5.2 million users and offered a retail-focused platform for trading regulated financial securities, mostly for U.S. clients.

Jed Finn said the bank wants to offer crypto and tokenized assets like cash, stocks, bonds, and real estate. He added that tokenized cash earns interest as soon as it enters the wallet, and other assets will also move toward the same benefit. 

E*Trade’s crypto launch is one of Morgan Stanley’s first direct steps into retail digital assets, but the bank has already been growing its role in the sector. Since August last year, Morgan Stanley has allowed its wealth advisers to promote spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds to eligible clients.

NEW: 🇺🇸 Morgan Stanley’s 15,000 advisors to start pitching #Bitcoin ETFs from tomorrow 👀 pic.twitter.com/ygQ2NGTYNn

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 6, 2024

Earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, CEO Ted Pick also shared that the bank is looking into the transactional side of crypto. Interestingly, Morgan Stanley was not part of the Wall Street firms reported in May as considering a joint stablecoin project. The Wall Street Journal said that JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo were the banks exploring the plan.

Zerohash Secures Unicorn Status with Major Funding Round

For Zerohash, the deal with Morgan Stanley follows a major funding milestone, where the company raised $104 million and achieved unicorn status. The round was led by Interactive Brokers and also included Morgan Stanley, SoFi, and other financial supporters. Zerohash focuses on building infrastructure that lets banks and fintech firms offer crypto products without creating their own trading and custody systems. 

Favorable U.S. Regulations Boost Expansion of Digital Assets

The partnership between Zerohash and Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade comes as the U.S. takes a friendlier approach to crypto under President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies. New laws like the GENIUS Act have made it easier for brokerage firms and crypto companies to grow their digital asset services.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also approved new rules for commodity-based trust shares. These rules help speed up the approval process for cryptocurrency ETFs. With the change, exchanges such as NYSE Arca and Cboe BZX can list digital assets without needing case-by-case approvals, cutting down long waiting times.

BOOM: SEC has approved the generic listings standards that will clear way for spot crypto ETFs to launch (without going through all this bs every time) under '33 Act so long as they have futures on Coinbase, which currently incl about 12-15 coins. pic.twitter.com/E9FXrniXRS

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 17, 2025

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