Morgan Stanley brings spot crypto to E*TRADE, undercutting Coinbase on price

Morgan Stanley has launched spot crypto trading on E*TRADE, giving nearly 9 million retail clients access to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana inside their existing brokerage accounts.

The launch adds spot crypto to a brokerage platform serving nearly 9 million retail clients, extending digital assets into Morgan Stanley’s existing investing ecosystem. It also puts Morgan Stanley into more direct competition with crypto-native exchanges, especially on price.

E*TRADE is launching the product through infrastructure provider zerohash with a 50 basis point commission. That is competitive with, and in some cases below, the effective retail costs charged by Coinbase, Schwab and Robinhood, depending on the product, account tier and execution model.

Building the On-Bank Crypto Stack

According to Morgan Stanley, the digital asset services will eventually move to Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, a national trust bank currently being organised.

That signals a longer-term plan to bring custody, settlement and fiduciary oversight under the Morgan Stanley umbrella. The model combines crypto trading with existing banking, brokerage and advisory services.

“Our clients’ needs are evolving, and they want to invest, trade, bank, and plan for the future all in one place,” said Matt Jones, Head of E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.

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The Active Trader Fight

The crypto launch also fits into a wider upgrade of E*TRADE’s active trader offering. Morgan Stanley is enhancing Power E*TRADE Pro with more advanced charting, dynamic sorting and integrated news, putting it more directly against Robinhood Legend and Schwab’s thinkorswim.

The goal is to keep high-engagement retail clients inside the E*TRADE ecosystem. Crypto helps with that, but it is only one part of the broader active trader stack. The “everything exchange” model is now moving into the top tier of traditional finance.

Morgan Stanley’s own research found that trust in an established company is the leading factor for retail crypto adoption. That gives the bank a strong position with mass affluent clients who may be interested in crypto but hesitant to use a standalone exchange.