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Morgan Stanley is reportedly planning to add crypto trading to its E*Trade platform, Bloomberg reported on May 1.
Headquartered in New York City, Morgan Stanley is one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world. Its foray into crypto would mark another step for a major traditional finance (TradFi) institution to engage with decentralized finance (DeFi).
The plan is still in its initial stage, and the service is expected to be launched on Morgan Stanley's E*Trade platform the next year. The firm can join hands with one or more established crypto platforms for the purpose so that its customers can access crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum for spot trading on the platform.
The leadership at Morgan Stanley has been discussing the prospects of expanding into crypto services since late 2024.
E*Trade already offered access to crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), ETF options, and futures. CEO Ted Pick said in January that Morgan Stanley shall be talking to regulators to examine how it can deepen its involvement in crypto markets.
Spot trading of crypto assets was the next step for the firm, as per the report.
Notably, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced SAB 122 on Jan. 23. It effectively repealed SAB 121, thereby removing previous accounting guidance for obligations to safeguard crypto assets held for users. The SEC has also dropped cases against crypto exchanges such as Kraken and Coinbase of late.
On Apr. 24, the Federal Reserve reversed guidelines that earlier prohibited Wall Street from adopting crypto. However, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) retracted their own statements, asking banks to be extra watchful over crypto-related risks.
Such developments are indicative of the broader shift toward pro-crypto policy in the U.S. once President Donald Trump assumed office in January 2025.
On May 1, the crypto market cap stood above $3.1 trillion. As per Kraken's price feed, Bitcoin was trading at $96,010.26 at press time.