Morgan Stanley Launches Crypto Trading on E*Trade With Fees Below Coinbase and Robinhood

TLDR

• Morgan Stanley is piloting crypto trading on E*Trade at 0.50% per transaction
• The fee undercuts Coinbase, Robinhood, and Charles Schwab’s standard retail rates
• The pilot will expand to all 8.6 million E*Trade clients later this year
• Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF (MSBT) has pulled in $92 million in total net inflows since launch
• Charles Schwab launched its own spot crypto trading last month at 0.75% per trade

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Morgan Stanley has launched a crypto trading pilot on its E*Trade platform, setting a fee of 50 basis points (0.50%) per transaction. The bank confirmed the details to Cointelegraph after a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.

The fee is lower than standard retail rates at Coinbase, Robinhood, and Charles Schwab. Schwab launched its own spot Bitcoin and Ether trading in April under the “Schwab Crypto” brand, charging 0.75% per trade.

The E*Trade pilot is currently limited, but Morgan Stanley plans to open it to all 8.6 million E*Trade clients before the end of 2025.

This move follows Morgan Stanley’s launch of its spot Bitcoin ETF, ticker MSBT, on the New York Stock Exchange in April. The fund carries a 0.14% management fee, one of the lowest in the market.

Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF Gains Traction

According to Farside Investors data, the MSBT ETF has recorded $92 million in total net inflows since its launch. On its first day of trading on NYSE Arca, the fund brought in $30.6 million.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described the launch as a “big deal,” pointing to Morgan Stanley’s $7 trillion in assets under management. He said the low-cost structure could make it easier for the bank’s advisors to allocate client money into Bitcoin.

Morgan Stanley is the first major bank to issue its own Bitcoin ETF. VanEck’s HODL ETF still holds an edge with a fee waiver, but MSBT is among the cheapest in the space.

Other Wall Street Firms Are Moving Into Crypto Too

Goldman Sachs filed with the SEC in April to launch a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF. The proposed fund would generate income by selling call options on Bitcoin exchange-traded products, rather than holding Bitcoin directly.

BNY Mellon launched a digital asset custody platform in October 2022, allowing select clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin and Ether.

These moves show that several major financial institutions are expanding crypto services for retail and institutional clients.

Morgan Stanley is pricing its crypto trading service more aggressively than rivals. It is using a similar low-cost approach to what it applied to the MSBT ETF.

It is worth noting that platforms like Kraken Pro, Binance US, and some Coinbase Advanced tiers do offer lower fees than Morgan Stanley’s 0.50% rate for certain users.

The E*Trade crypto pilot is currently live in limited form. The full rollout to all clients is expected later this year.

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