Morgan Stanley Partners with Zerohash to Offer Crypto Trading on E*Trade Platform

The move makes Morgan Stanley the latest among a growing group of major traditional financial institutions that are beginning to offer clients access to cryptocurrency trading. 

“The underlying technology has been proven and blockchain-based infrastructure is obviously here to stay,” said Jed Finn, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management in an interview with Bloomberg, which first reported the story. Additionally, Finn wrote “we are well underway in preparing to offer crypto trading through a partner model to E-Trade clients in the first half of 2026,” in an internal memo obtained by CNBC.

Startup growing

Zerohash is a startup focused on providing blockchain-based infrastructure enabling crypto trading, stablecoins, and tokenization. At first, users will only be able to trade the major coins Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana. 

The company recently completed a round of fundraising, collecting $104 million from a variety of investors, including Morgan Stanley. “We are building the AWS of on-chain infrastructure,” said Edward Woodford, Founder and CEO of Zerohash, in a press release. 

In the announcement, SoFi, Apollo-managed funds, Jump Crypto, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, FTMO, IMC and Liberty City Ventures, were all identified as having put funding into the startup alongside Morgan Stanley.

Woodford added that “Crypto, stablecoins and tokenization aren’t coming - it’s here - and Zerohash is the engine behind the scenes.”

Major bank participation

With the increasing structure and clarity being brought to the cryptocurrency market by legislation such as the GENIUS Act, and the upcoming CLARITY Act, it’s expected that an increasing number of major financial institutions will begin to offer access to crypto assets to clients. 

According to a recent survey by EY-Parthenon, stablecoins are on the cusp of breaking into mainstream finance. Most banks surveyed are preparing to offer stablecoin services, either in-house or via a partnership.

Just this year, Sandmark has reported that:

• JP Morgan recently launched JPMD, a deposit-token. It also announced that it expects to start lending against crypto assets in 2026,
• Chase card holders can now link their Coinbase wallets directly to their bank account, and purchase crypto using their cards or rewards.
• US Bank announced plans to renew cryptocurrency custody services.
• Japan Post Bank is considering using tokenized deposits in 2026.
• Western Union is exploring stablecoin adoption for cross-border payments.

Major bank pushback

However, it’s not all just funds and games. Lobbyists for major banks have also pushed back against crypto firms such as Circle and Ripple applying for banking licences. In July of this year, they wrote a letter addressed to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), urging leadership to delay any decisions on the crypto firms’ applications. 

The lobbyists argued that the proposals represent a significant departure from traditional banking frameworks and warrant greater public scrutiny. Their letter noted that “A postponement would allow time and, hopefully, sufficient information for the public to meaningfully assess the applications and the novel issues they present.” 

For now though, Finn told Bloomberg that “sitting between the client and this emerging tradfi-defi divide, and simplifying the user experience” is a “massive opportunity.”