Morgan Stanley’s E-Trade Launches Crypto Trading Service, Escalating Fee Competition

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JOON HYOUNG LEE

Summary

Morgan Stanley-owned E-Trade has launched a cryptocurrency trading service and plans to expand it to all 8.6 million customers by the end of 2026.
E-Trade’s 0.5%% crypto trading fee is lower than those charged by Coinbase, Robinhood and Charles Schwab, and is about half of Robinhood’s fee.
Bloomberg said Morgan Stanley is building crypto-related products on the premise that traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) will converge as it seeks to gain market share in the cryptocurrency market.

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E-Trade, the brokerage owned by Morgan Stanley, has launched a cryptocurrency trading service.

Bloomberg reported on May 6 that E-Trade recently introduced a pilot service for crypto trading. The brokerage plans to expand the offering to all 8.6 million customers by the end of 2026.

E-Trade’s fee for crypto trades is 0.5%. Bloomberg said that is lower than the fees charged by major US crypto platforms Coinbase, Robinhood and Charles Schwab. Morgan Stanley’s fee is about half Robinhood’s, the report said.

Bloomberg described the launch as part of Morgan Stanley’s roadmap to win market share in the cryptocurrency market. The bank expects traditional finance, or TradFi, to converge with decentralized finance, or DeFi, and is building crypto-related products across its business to attract clients who previously had to rely on external financial institutions.

Jed Finn, head of Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit, said the move is about much more than trading crypto at lower fees. In some ways, he added, it is a strategy to “re-intermediate” people who had been trying to eliminate intermediaries.

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