Key Takeaways
- E*Trade now offers spot BTC, ETH and SOL trading 24/7, with Zerohash handling custody and settlement.
- Morgan Stanley’s 50-basis-point fee undercuts Coinbase and Robinhood rates of up to 95 basis points.
- Crypto transfers on and off E*Trade are expected later in 2026 as the bank deepens its digital asset push.
What’s on Offer
The completed rollout means eligible E*Trade clients can buy, sell and hold the three largest non- stablecoin digital assets inside the same interface they use for stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with trading available around the clock on the platform’s web and mobile apps. It is direct spot exposure and not a fund wrapper or futures product. Matt Jones, Head of E*Trade, explained:
“Our clients’ needs are evolving, and they want to invest, trade, bank, and plan for the future all in one place.”
Behind the scenes, Zerohash, a business-to-business crypto infrastructure firm, handles liquidity, execution, custody and settlement, holding the digital assets in accounts linked to clients’ brokerage accounts. The ability to transfer crypto on and off the platform is expected to arrive later in 2026.
A Fee Shot at Coinbase and Robinhood
Morgan Stanley is charging 50 basis points per transaction, i.e. $5 for every $1,000 traded. That pricing undercuts retail incumbents, which charge up to 60 and 95 basis points on the dollar at Coinbase and Robinhood, respectively. The bank began with a pilot for a small portion of customers earlier this year before Thursday’s full availability. Chad Turner, Head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Platforms, stated:
With the rollout of crypto trading on E*TRADE we’re advancing our digital assets strategy and bringing new capabilities to clients in an integrated way.
The move was first unveiled in September 2025, when the bank said it was working with Zerohash to bring bitcoin, ether and solana trading to E*Trade in the first half of 2026 (a timeline it has now met).
Morgan Stanley’s Widening Crypto Stack
The E*Trade launch is one piece of a broader digital asset buildout. Morgan Stanley filed for spot bitcoin and solana ETFs in January 2026, and has since updated its ether and solana ETF applications, naming Coinbase as custodian and staking facilitator. The bank has also applied for a national trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), seeking a federally regulated subsidiary focused on digital asset custody.
The rollout lands in a soft tape, with bitcoin trading near $63,000 on July 17, down about 2% in 24 hours. Still, the timing gives one of Wall Street’s largest wealth managers a retail crypto funnel ahead of a possible federal market structure law, as the Senate weighs the CLARITY Act.
With E*Trade’s millions of retail accounts now one toggle away from spot bitcoin, Morgan Stanley’s crypto strategy looks increasingly operational rather than exploratory.
