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Morgan Stanley launches spot Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana trading on E*TRADE with a 0.50% fee, expanding crypto access for its 8.6 million retail clients.
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley opened spot trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana on July 16, 2026, giving eligible customers the ability to buy, sell and hold the three tokens directly on the brokerage platform through a partnership with Zero Hash [1].
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Launch date | July 16 2026 |
| Assets offered | Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) |
| Trade fee | 0.50% per transaction, no spreads or mark‑ups |
| Custody partner | Zero Hash (digital‑asset infrastructure provider) |
The rollout follows Morgan Stanley’s broader push into digital assets, including earlier ETF filings for Bitcoin and Solana and token‑money‑market initiatives announced earlier in the year [2]. Trades are executed via Zero Hash, which also handles custody; the crypto account is a separate, non‑brokerage account in the client’s name, meaning the assets are not FDIC insured or SIPC protected [1]. The 0.50% fee matches the rate disclosed on E*TRADE’s official crypto page and is presented without additional spreads, positioning the offering competitively against other U.S. retail brokerages that charge higher commissions or rely on mark‑ups [3].
E*TRADE’s client base of roughly 8.6 million accounts will gain direct exposure to the three major cryptocurrencies, placing the platform among a small group of U.S. brokerages that now provide spot crypto trading [3]. The inclusion of Solana, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, reflects Zero Hash’s compliance vetting process, which approved SOL after institutional gatekeepers deemed it suitable for a regulated broker [3]. By allowing crypto holdings to sit alongside traditional equities on the same dashboard, Morgan Stanley aims to meet evolving client expectations for an integrated financial‑planning experience [2].
The launch signals Morgan Stanley’s commitment to embedding digital assets within its traditional wealth‑management suite, but the long‑term impact will hinge on client adoption, fee competitiveness, and the outcome of pending crypto‑ETF filings.
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AI-assisted synthesis by the TrendWatcher Editorial Desk · sourced from 3 outlets · Jul 17, 2026 · How we report
Bitcoin is an innovative, decentralized payment network and a form of digital money that operates without banks or a central authority. It utilizes peer-to-peer technology and a public ledger called a blockchain to manage transactions and the issuance of currency.
Bitcoin functions through a network of computers acting as nodes that maintain an independent copy of a public transaction ledger. These nodes reach consensus on the state of the blockchain through a process called mining, which uses cryptography to secure transactions.
Bitcoin was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group who published a white paper under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The project was released as open-source software in 2009.
Bitcoin mining has been criticized for its environmental impact due to the large quantities of electricity required for the proof-of-work process. As of the provided sources, some surveyed miners reported that 52% of their electricity usage was derived from sustainable energy sources.