Banking giant Morgan Stanley has plans to offer multiple Bitcoin-related product offerings in the future, according to its digital assets strategy head Amy Oldenburg. Summary Morgan Stanley is weighing plans to let clients custody and trade Bitcoin directly on its platform, with yield and lending services also under discussion. The bank plans to build its Bitcoin infrastructure in-house to meet reliability standards. Morgan Stanley currently manages roughly $9 trillion worth of assets, and it will consider giving its clients the option to custody and trade Bitcoin directly on its platform, Amy Oldenburg said during her appearance at the Bitcoin for Corporations conference in Las Vegas on Feb. 26. Regarding Bitcoin-based yield and lending services, she said that it was a “natural part of the roadmap to continue to explore,” but added that the firm is still “early in the journey.” However, the banking giant plans to develop its Bitcoin infrastructure from scratch through an in-house offering to ensure reliability and control over the technology stack. “People expect Morgan Stanley—they trust our brand—to be no-fail. When you sit in that position, you have a significant responsibility to your clients to make sure that you’re delivering that in any level of technology,” Oldenburg said. Further, she confirmed that the bank already has “a considerable number” of cryptocurrencies that its clients hold off-platform, but added that she does not expect all of those assets to flow into Morgan Stanley’s custody solutions, noting that self-custody remains a natural part of the space, particularly within the Bitcoin community. Easing in on crypto Morgan Stanley was once cautious toward crypto-related offerings, but the Wall Street giant has gradually warmed up to the space under a more favourable regulatory climate following the election of United States President Donald Trump. Last year, analysts at the firm increased their recommended crypto allocation from 1% to 2% for income and balanced growth portfolios to up to 4% for strategies focused on what they described as “opportunistic growth.” They have also called Bitcoin “akin to digital gold,” describing it as a scarce asset that can potentially offer long term value within diversified portfolios. The bank has also confirmed plans to offer retail trading services for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through its E*Trade app as part of its broader digital asset push. Last month, it filed three separate crypto fund registrations tied to these assets.
