Morgan Stanley Emerges as Crypto Exchange Rival via Crypto Pilot

Morgan Stanley has rolled out a cryptocurrency trading pilot on its E*Trade platform, charging lower basic retail fees than some of the largest US crypto and brokerage platforms.

The Wall Street bank is charging clients 50 basis points on the dollar value of each crypto transaction, undercutting Coinbase, Robinhood and Charles Schwab on standard retail pricing, according to a Tuesday Bloomberg report.

The offering is currently in pilot mode, with E*Trade’s 8.6 million clients expected to gain access later this year, Bloomberg reported.

The pilot illustrates how major Wall Street firms are moving further into crypto trading as they compete with exchanges and fintech platforms for retail trading revenue. Still, Kraken Pro, Binance US and some Coinbase Advanced tiers offer lower fees for crypto traders. 

A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley confirmed to Cointelegraph that the details and fee structure described in the Bloomberg report were accurate.

The latest crypto push by the bank comes about a month after Morgan Stanley launched a spot Bitcoin ETF (MSBT) that recorded $30.6 million in inflows on its first day of NYSE Arca trading.

Related: Crypto VC funding plunges to $659M in April, hits near two-year low

Wall Street giants venture into crypto trading

Morgan Stanley is not the only major financial institution expanding its crypto products for retail or institutional clients.

Charles Schwab, one of the largest US brokerage firms, announced the launch of spot Bitcoin and Ether trading for retail clients less than a month ago, Cointelegraph reported on April 16. The offering launched with a 75 basis points per transaction fee.

Goldman Sachs also filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April to launch the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, a proposed fund that would generate income by selling call options on Bitcoin exchange-traded products rather than investing directly in Bitcoin.

Earlier Wall Street crypto infrastructure efforts include BNY Mellon’s digital asset custody platform, which went live in the United States in October 2022 and allowed select clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin and Ether.

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