Morgan Stanley is about to enable millions of E*Trade clients to trade bitcoin, ether, and Solana through a partnership with Zerohash.
The US banking industry is witnessing a race to enter the cryptocurrency market as regulatory changes facilitate the integration of digital assets. Morgan Stanley , a leading investment banking group, is preparing to expand crypto asset services for E*Trade clients through a partnership with infrastructure provider Zerohash.
The bank plans to launch trading in three major cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, ether, and Solana, in the first half of next year, according to a Bloomberg report on September 23. The move follows reports from May that Morgan Stanley was exploring the possibility of adding crypto-asset trading to its brokerage platform.
Comprehensive integration strategy
Jed Finn, head of wealth management at Morgan Stanley, stressed that the underlying technology is proven and the blockchain infrastructure is here to stay. He asserted that clients need to have access to digital, traditional and crypto assets simultaneously within the same ecosystem they are familiar with.
Edward Woodford, CEO of Zerohash, predicts that every bank with a trading or private wealth management business will offer crypto assets to clients as spot contracts. Over the past year, these institutions have had the necessary clarity to enter the market formally.
Zerohash recently raised $104 million in a Series D round led by Interactive Brokers Group, valuing the company at $1 billion and cementing its unicorn status. Notably, Morgan Stanley also participated in the Capital , demonstrating a strong commitment to its technology partner.
Morgan Stanley plans to launch a crypto asset allocation strategy in the coming weeks, with the exposure ranging from zero to a few percent of client portfolios. The bank is also XEM at broader applications of tokenization, including improving the efficiency of clearing and other financial processes.
While skeptics still highlight risks of volatility and regulatory compliance, experts say access to crypto assets has become a necessary step for modern asset management platforms, meeting growing demand from institutional investors.
