Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE Now Lets You Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana — Here’s How It Works

TLDR

• E*TRADE has rolled out spot crypto trading for eligible clients, covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana
• Trades carry a 50 basis point fee, handled through linked Zero Hash accounts
• The rollout follows a pilot program launched in May 2026
• Crypto holdings are not covered by FDIC or SIPC protections
• Morgan Stanley is also pushing forward with Ether and Solana ETF filings

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Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE brokerage has completed the rollout of spot cryptocurrency trading for eligible retail clients. Users can now buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana directly on the platform.

JUST IN: Morgan Stanley completes crypto spot trading rollout on E*Trade

All 8.6 million clients can now buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana at 50 basis points in partnership with zerohash, per Morgan Stanley. pic.twitter.com/46UBQba0jA

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) July 16, 2026

The service runs through a partnership with Zero Hash, a crypto infrastructure provider. Clients will hold their digital assets in linked Zero Hash accounts, separate from their standard brokerage holdings.

E*TRADE charges a 50 basis point fee on each trade. The platform serves 8.6 million households and held around $1.56 trillion in client assets as of March 31, 2026.

Clients can view their crypto and traditional investments side by side on the platform. Transfer functionality, which would allow users to move digital assets on and off the platform, is expected later this year.

The crypto accounts are not covered by FDIC or SIPC protections. Morgan Stanley noted this clearly in its announcement.

The rollout follows a pilot that began in May 2026, when the company tested the service with a limited group of users. Full access is now available to eligible E*TRADE clients.

E*TRADE also stated that its crypto services are expected to move to Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, its national trust bank currently in the process of being organized with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Morgan Stanley’s Broader Push Into Crypto

This rollout is part of a wider crypto strategy at Morgan Stanley. Earlier this year, the firm launched a spot Bitcoin ETF with a management fee of 0.14%, making it the lowest-cost Bitcoin ETF on the US market at the time of launch.

The Bitcoin ETF debuted on NYSE Arca and was the first spot Bitcoin ETF launched by a major US commercial bank. It attracted more than $100 million in net inflows in its first six trading days. The fund now holds around $385 million in cumulative net inflows, according to SoSoValue data.

In April, Morgan Stanley also launched a stablecoin reserve offering. It allows stablecoin issuers to hold their reserve assets in one of the firm’s money market funds while earning interest.

In June, Morgan Stanley amended its filings for proposed spot Ether and Solana ETFs, setting management fees at 0.14%. The bank first applied to list these funds in January 2026.

The firm applied for a crypto-focused national trust bank charter with the OCC, joining other applicants including Ripple, Crypto.com, and Coinbase. Circle, the issuer of USDC, recently received OCC approval to launch its own national crypto bank.

Morgan Stanley also made non-crypto updates to ETRADE, including fractional share trading, a revamped retirement planning tool, and new features for its Power ETRADE Pro desktop platform.

The combination of retail spot trading, ETF products, and a stablecoin reserve service marks one of the most complete crypto buildouts from a major US bank to date.