Morgan Stanley bets big on crypto: Wall Street brings proprietary trading to E*Trade in 2026, launching with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana
Morgan Stanley plans to roll out its proprietary crypto trading service on the E*Trade platform in the first half of 2026, in a partnership with Zerohash. This is one of the clearest signals yet that traditional finance is bringing digital assets into mainstream brokerage services. At launch, E*Trade clients will be able to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, marking a significant step for a Wall Street bank toward integrating digital assets with everyday investing. The move comes as the crypto market sits at roughly $3.9 trillion in value, with Bitcoin accounting for about $2.25 trillion and Ether around $506 billion. The scale of these assets is pressuring established brokerages to adapt to clients seeking crypto exposure.
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The launch plan: proprietary crypto trading on E*Trade via Zerohash in the first half of 2026
Morgan Stanley will offer its own crypto trading service on the E*Trade platform through Zerohash, a digital asset infrastructure firm. In the initial phase, E*Trade clients will have access to trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Zerohash provides the infrastructure that enables banks and fintechs to offer crypto products without building their own trading and custody systems.
A crowded field: major brokers expanding crypto access
The move by Morgan Stanley comes as traditional brokers accelerate crypto offerings to capture rising demand. Competitors like Robinhood already offer a broad selection of tokens, while Charles Schwab has taken a more cautious approach with exchange-traded funds tied to BTC and ETH. Interactive Brokers has deepened its crypto offerings, signaling broader acceptance across the brokerage sector.
Capital and infrastructure: Zerohash’s unicorn status and the investment backdrop
The partnership follows Zerohash’s milestone fundraising round, in which the company raised $104 million and reached unicorn status. Interactive Brokers led the round, with Morgan Stanley, SoFi, and other backers participating. Zerohash specializes in providing infrastructure that lets banks and fintechs offer crypto products without building their own trading and custody systems. The broader policy environment has grown more favorable under the Trump administration, with regulators signaling support for digital assets. This backdrop has encouraged Wall Street banks and asset managers to move beyond cautious pilots into live offerings.
From pilots to live products: what this means for traders
Morgan Stanley’s integration of crypto trading on E*Trade shows how digital assets have shifted from niche experiments to fixtures of global finance. This development matters for both retail investors and institutions, who can no longer ignore crypto exposure. As the market and infrastructure mature, investors should perform due diligence and approach crypto with awareness of high risk. The financial landscape is changing, and mainstream offerings are becoming the norm.
