Morgan Stanley to offer crypto trading in surprise move

Morgan Stanley is preparing to launch crypto trading for retail clients through its E-Trade division, marking one of Wall Street’s boldest steps yet into digital assets.

The move comes just days after the bank’s chief investment officer (CIO) recommended gold over Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation.

Related: Morgan Stanley recommends gold over 'hard asset' in inflation strategy

According to a memo obtained by CNBC, Morgan Stanley will begin offering crypto trading in the first half of 2026 via a partner model, working with crypto infrastructure firm Zerohash for liquidity, custody, and settlement.

“We are well underway in preparing to offer crypto trading through a partner model to E-Trade clients in the first half of 2026,” said Jed Finn, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management, in the memo.

‘Tip of the iceberg’

Finn framed the initiative as the start of a much broader digital asset strategy.

“Offering clients the ability to trade crypto is the tip of the iceberg,” Finn said, as quoted by CNBC.

The bank is developing a “robust wallet infrastructure” that will allow it to custody client digital assets, a cornerstone of its long-term plan. Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, the firm expects tokenization to “significantly disrupt” wealth management by bringing traditional assets, including stocks, bonds, real estate, and even cash — onto blockchains.

Related: What is tokenization? Explained

“Tokenized substitutes for cash begin paying interest as soon as it hits the wallet,” Finn said. “The rest of the asset classes will follow suit in seeking this efficiency.”

He added, “We see immense power in the cryptocurrency space, not just with crypto as an investment for our clients, but also around DLT and tokenization more broadly.”

A shift from last week’s message

The announcement contrasts with comments made just last week by Morgan Stanley CIO Mike Wilson, who excluded Bitcoin from his proposed 60/20/20 portfolio strategy. Instead, Wilson recommended 20% gold allocation alongside equities and fixed income as the most resilient hedge against inflation.

“Gold is now the anti-fragile asset to own, rather than Treasuries. High-quality equities and gold are the best hedges,” Wilson said at the time — notably leaving Bitcoin out of the mix.

The CIO’s omission came even as Bitcoin has rallied nearly 80% year-over-year, outperforming gold’s 40% climb, and outpacing most major asset classes. Still, Wilson cited Bitcoin’s volatility and unclear regulatory status as reasons it does not yet function as a reliable inflation hedge.

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Sep 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Investing section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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