Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
- Morgan Stanley has launched a crypto trading pilot on E*Trade, offering major assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana at a low 0.5% transaction fee.
- The move could spark fee reductions across the industry.
Morgan Stanley has reportedly introduced a pilot program for crypto trading on E*Trade, offering trades at a rate of 50 basis points (0.5%) per trade, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday.
Currently, the pilot is available to a select group of users, with plans to expand access later this year to E*Trade’s 8.6 million clients.
The initial offerings will include major digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL).
Morgan Stanley's Competitive Edge in Crypto Trading Fees
The bank's move positions it as a competitive player in the retail crypto market, with its 0.5% transaction fee undercutting typical fees charged by competitors like Coinbase, Robinhood, and Charles Schwab.
This initiative builds on Morgan Stanley’s increasing footprint in the digital assets space, following its recent launch of the MSBT spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated that Morgan Stanley's aggressive pricing could intensify fee competition within the industry, potentially driving further reductions in trading costs.
SHOTS FIRED: Morgan Stanley is rolling out crypto trading on its E*Trade platform for 50bps/trade, undercutting Schwab's 75bps (who undercut Coinbase). If I know Schwab, they likely won't let this stand. Others will prob undercut too. By the time the dust settles it'll be pretty… pic.twitter.com/CEnZ3zmTPm
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 6, 2026
He compared the trend to the early days of Bitcoin ETFs, where issuers slashed expense ratios to attract inflows, ultimately leading to a decrease in costs across the board.
As competition heats up, Balchunas suggested that trading fees could eventually be reduced to near zero, with platforms potentially turning to alternative revenue models like payment for order flow.
While he acknowledged the possibility of zero-fee models, he emphasized that ETFs would likely remain the preferred vehicle for attracting capital in the near term.
This development is part of a broader trend of traditional financial institutions moving into digital assets.
Charles Schwab has already rolled out spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, albeit at higher fee levels, and other major firms such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, BNY Mellon, and Citigroup are expanding their crypto offerings in custody and trading services.
