Morgan Stanley E*TRADE Goes Full Crypto 🍋 — $BTC, $ETH, $SOL Spot Trading Hits 8.6M Households

Morgan Stanley's ETRADE has completed the rollout of spot cryptocurrency trading for eligible clients, allowing users to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ether and Solana through a partnership with digital asset infrastructure provider Zero Hash. The service, announced Thursday, lets clients view crypto holdings alongside stocks and other traditional investments on the ETRADE platform, with transfer functionality for moving digital assets on and off the platform expected later this year. Crypto assets are held in linked Zero Hash accounts rather than by Morgan Stanley, and those accounts are not covered by FDIC or SIPC protections.

Trades carry a 50-basis-point fee. The self-directed E*TRADE channel served 8.6 million households and held approximately $1.56 trillion in client assets as of March 31, according to Morgan Stanley's latest financial supplement. Morgan Stanley said it expects to transition the digital asset services to Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, its national trust bank currently in organization.

"Our clients' needs are evolving, and they want to invest, trade, bank, and plan for the future all in one place," Matt Jones, Head of ETRADE, said in a statement. "Whether they're buying their first share, exploring crypto, participating in an IPO, or planning for retirement, our job is to meet them where they are – with the confidence and trust that comes from being part of Morgan Stanley." Chad Turner, head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Platforms, added: "With the rollout of crypto trading on ETRADE we're advancing our digital assets strategy and bringing new capabilities to clients in an integrated way."

The launch follows a pilot announced in May, when the company began testing the service with a limited group of users before expanding access to eligible ETRADE clients. Morgan Stanley first disclosed plans to bring crypto trading to ETRADE in September 2025, initially supporting $BTC, $ETH and $SOL through Zero Hash.

The rollout coincides with several broader platform updates, including fractional share trading, a revamped retirement planning tool, an updated IPO Center, and new features for the Power E*TRADE Pro desktop platform. Beyond retail spot trading, Morgan Stanley has expanded its digital asset business throughout the year. In January, the firm filed registration statements with the SEC for spot Bitcoin and Solana exchange-traded funds. In April, Morgan Stanley introduced a stablecoin reserve offering that allows issuers to hold the assets backing their tokens in one of the firm's money market funds while earning interest under the GENIUS Act. The same month, the company launched its spot Bitcoin ETF on NYSE Arca with a 0.14% management fee, then the lowest-cost Bitcoin ETF on the US market, attracting more than $100 million in net inflows during its first six trading days and approximately $385 million in cumulative net inflows as of the time of writing, according to SoSoValue data. In June, Morgan Stanley amended its proposed spot Ether and Solana ETF filings to set management fees at 0.14% after first applying to list the funds in January.