The financial giant is expected to first list Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
TradFi giant Morgan Stanley has revealed plans to venture into the crypto space by offering crypto trading services to its retail customers. The firm has partnered with crypto startup ZeroHash to achieve this and plans to roll out this service in the first half of next year.
Morgan Stanley To Launch Crypto Trading Services
According to a Bloomberg report, the firm is partnering with ZeroHash to enable its E-Trade clients to trade crypto assets starting from the first half of next year. The company plans to first list Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, according to Jed Finn, its head of wealth management.
This continues the growing trend of traditional financial firms adopting cryptocurrency and exploring ways to offer crypto services to their clients. Notably, JPMorgan had earlier this year partnered with Coinbase to improve crypto purchases for customers.
Meanwhile, Finn revealed that Morgan Stanley’s move to let clients trade crypto is just “phase one” as the firm plans to build a “robust wallet infrastructure” for its clients. He explained that they are planning for a future in which their clients expect both traditional and crypto assets to trade in the same environment.
Therefore, the wallet solution will enable them to also custody the crypto assets for their clients. It is worth noting that the firm already boasts almost $1.7 trillion in assets under management, and the addition of crypto custody could provide a huge boost for the asset manager.
The Firm Sets Its Sights On Tokenization
Furthermore, the Morgan Stanley executive remarked that “offering clients the ability to trade crypto is the tip of the iceberg.” He revealed that they expect to help clients also hold tokenized equities. This could include stocks, bonds, and real estate. Finn believes that tokenization has the power to “significantly disrupt the wealth management industry.
His statement comes at a time when companies such as Galaxy Digital have begun to tokenize their stocks. Meanwhile, Nasdaq has already filed a proposed rule change to enable tokenized stock trading on its platform.
The Morgan Stanley executive added that they see “immense power” in the crypto space, not just in crypto assets as an investment, but also in blockchain technology and tokenization. Meanwhile, ZeroHash also revealed that the banking giant invested in its latest funding round, in which it raised $104 million.
The company provides infrastructure for businesses to offer crypto, stablecoin, and tokenization solutions for their customers. Notably, the company’s infrastructure powers BlackRock’s tokenized fund BUIDL.
