Morgan Stanley Launches Crypto Trading on E*Trade Platform

Morgan Stanley, a global investment bank, has entered the retail cryptocurrency market with its online brokerage platform E*Trade. The service allows users to trade three tokens: bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and solana (SOL) at a fee of 0.5% per trade.

The launch is part of Morgan Stanley's crypto expansion strategy, which includes the introduction of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund called MSBT in April. The company has also filed for spot ether and solana ETFs, matching the assets available in the pilot phase.

Morgan Stanley's advantage in distribution lies in its access to customer base through E*Trade, with 16,000 internal advisers managing $9.3 trillion in client assets. This provides a significant route to connect funds to the new trading service.