Morgan Stanley is exploring the possibility of offering lending and yield products tied to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency holdings. The bank's head of digital assets, Amy Oldenburg, confirmed these explorations are part of developing native custody and trading infrastructure.
"It's a natural part of the roadmap to continue to explore," Oldenburg stated, noting the rapid evolution of decentralized lending products. Morgan Stanley plans to allow E*Trade customers to buy and sell spot crypto before launching its in-house custody and exchange solution, positioning itself as a leader among major US banks in offering direct crypto services.
Oldenburg highlighted the importance of building proprietary technology for an institution of Morgan Stanley's global reach, noting the firm's presence in countries with high crypto adoption. The bank previously filed for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana exchange-traded products and has advised clients to allocate 2% to 4% of their portfolios to Bitcoin.