Morgan Stanley Seeks National Trust Bank Charter for Crypto Custody

Morgan Stanley has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter. If approved, the charter would allow the banking giant to provide direct cryptocurrency custody services to its institutional clients.

The OCC filing is part of Morgan Stanley's dual strategy to build infrastructure for tokenized assets and launch retail crypto trading on its E*Trade platform. The bank plans to offer custody, trading, and staking services under one roof, with a focus on bridging walled-garden institutional assets with public network liquidity.

The application marks a significant shift in the competitive landscape, as traditional financial institutions increasingly enter the digital asset space. Morgan Stanley's move is seen as a major escalation of Wall Street's push into crypto, positioning the legacy bank as a direct competitor to crypto-native custodians such as BitGo and Anchorage Digital.