Morgan Stanley is gearing up to introduce cryptocurrency trading for retail clients via its E-Trade platform, according to recent reports. The investment bank is collaborating with Zerohash, having participated in a $104 million funding round aimed at supporting the infrastructure for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
Zerohash’s Series D-2 funding round was spearheaded by Interactive Brokers, with contributions from Morgan Stanley, SoFi, Apollo-managed funds, Jump Crypto, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, FTMO, IMC, and Liberty City Ventures.
According to a memo cited by CNBC, Zerohash will assist Morgan Stanley with liquidity, custody, and settlement processes related to crypto trading on E-Trade. Jed Finn, head of wealth management at Morgan Stanley, indicated in the memo that the firm is actively preparing to launch crypto trading through a partner model for E-Trade clients in the first half of 2026.
Beyond cryptocurrency, the bank also has plans to offer tokenized versions of traditional assets. Finn remarked on the transformative potential of the cryptocurrency sector, emphasizing its significance not only as an investment avenue but also in the realms of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and tokenization.
Zerohash intends to utilize the newly acquired funding for product development and expansion efforts. Adam Berg, CFO and CAO of Zerohash, highlighted that financial institutions are keen to provide access to the crypto asset class and to innovate with this technology at scale. He mentioned that many CEOs of major banks and financial services executives are dedicating significant time—over 50%—to advancing on-chain innovation within their organizations.