Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street investment giant overseeing nearly $9 trillion in client assets, has confirmed a major expansion of its digital asset offerings. Amy Oldenburg, the bank's newly appointed Head of Digital Asset Strategy, outlined the roadmap at the Bitcoin for Corporations conference during Strategy World 2026 in Las Vegas.
The plan involves a multi-phase approach. In the near term, Morgan Stanley will enable its E*TRADE clients to buy and sell spot cryptocurrency through a partnership. However, the bank's strategic goal is to develop and launch its own proprietary, in-house custody and exchange solution within the next year. Oldenburg emphasized that this move is critical for control, trust, and liability, stating, "We really need to build this out internally. We can't just primarily rent the technology to do this." She positioned this as a step toward becoming "the first major bank" to offer such an integrated, native solution.
Beyond custody and trading, Oldenburg confirmed the bank is actively exploring yield and lending services backed by Bitcoin. When asked directly if Morgan Stanley plans to offer such services, she replied, "Absolutely. That's part of the discussion and the exploration. It's a natural part of the roadmap." She noted the bank is in the early stages of product design but is observing renewed momentum in on-chain credit and DeFi lending markets.
The commercial impetus for this push is clear. With $8-$9 trillion in on-platform assets, the bank recognizes that a "considerable number" of its current clients hold significant crypto wealth off-platform. This expansion is framed as a response to client behavior and the ongoing institutionalization of crypto. Oldenburg, who previously ran the bank's emerging markets investing business, linked her perspective to years of observing crypto adoption firsthand.
This announcement follows a series of preparatory moves by Morgan Stanley. In late 2025, the firm filed S-1 registrations with the SEC for spot Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana ETFs. It had also previously confirmed plans to offer trading in these three cryptocurrencies via E*TRADE in early 2026. In October 2025, the bank classified Bitcoin as "digital gold" and recommended a 2%-4% portfolio allocation to digital assets.