Morgan Stanley’s E-Trade ponders crypto services

A subsidiary of Morgan Stanley is considering adding cryptocurrency services to its existing TradFi suite of products.

Morgan Stanley is reportedly exploring the possibility of offering cryptocurrency and digital asset trading to E-Trade’s clients, The Information reported on Thursday, Jan. 2. E-Trade currently provides bonds, stocks, index funds and other traditional financial investment products. Morgan Stanley acquired the brokerage in 2020.

The report noted that expectations for crypto-friendly regulations under President Donald Trump’s administration are likely a harbinger of E-Commerce’s potential decision.

The bullish sentiment towards cryptocurrencies increased following Trump’s victory in the US general election in November. His campaign promises to create a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, nominate crypto-savvy officials like David Sacks and Paul Atkins, and the post-election acceleration of Bitcoin’s value has improved the industry’s outlook for 2025.

Legacy banks like Goldman Sach have hinted they could participate in cryptocurrency markets if regulators allow it. Goldman Sach also announced talks to reorganize its digital asset platform as a standalone business, raising adoption hopes.

Asset managers are bidding for more exchange-traded funds with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission looking to expand beyond ETFs backed by Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH).

Issuers like Bitwise and Grayscale have filed to list Solana (SOL) and (XRP) ETFs, but the former could face regulatory hurdles until Trump takes office.