finance
Morgan Stanley to Offer Crypto Trading on E*Trade Platform With 50 Basis Point Fee
Morgan Stanley is rolling out cryptocurrency trading on its E*Trade platform at a 50-basis-point fee, undercutting rivals including Schwab, Coinbase and Robinhood. The move comes as Wall Street expands further into digital assets following the 2024 launch of spot ETFs. Industry executives offered contrasting views on the competitive impact.
May 11, 12:29 PM·2m read1 source
CoinDeskAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Developing·Limited corroboration so far. This page will refresh as more sources emerge.
Morgan Stanley is launching crypto trading on its E*Trade platform with a 50-basis-point fee, undercutting rivals including Coinbase, Robinhood and Schwab. The fee is lower than Schwab's 75 basis points for crypto trading. 6 million clients.
Jed Finn, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management, announced the rollout on May 11, 2026. "This is much bigger than trading crypto at a cheaper rate. In a way, the strategy is disintermediating the disintermediators," Finn said.
He added that "It’s going to be very competitive in the next couple of years" and the move aims to keep its clients within its banking system as crypto demand increases. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas called the development a "SHOTS FIRED" moment. " Balchunas noted that Schwab will likely respond and that by the time the dust settles it will be pretty dirt cheap to trade crypto everywhere.
CoinDesk reported that the announcement intensifies a price war in digital-asset trading. The battle for cheap crypto trading resembles the trading fee race when spot ETFs launched in 2024. Providers initially offered fees around 50 basis points before Morgan Stanley undercut them with a 14 basis point offering for those products.
Crypto exchanges face potential margin compression from the lower fees. Coinbase reduced its workforce by 14% after citing financial issues.
U.S. Crypto exchanges. Crypto-native executives pushed back against narratives of a TradFi takeover.
U.S. Gate ranks seventh on CoinGecko with a 24-hour volume of nearly $2 billion. Lee told CoinDesk that global platforms have moved on from fee-only models to diversified revenue streams including staking, structured products, institutional services, and ecosystem growth.
