Report: E-Trade Considers Adding Crypto Trading

E-Trade, the online stock trading arm of Morgan Stanley, is reportedly considering adding cryptocurrency trading.

The move would make E-Trade one of the largest mainstream financial firms to offer crypto trading, The Information reported Thursday (Jan. 2).

E-Trade is considering doing so because it expects the regulatory environment to be more friendly to crypto under President-elect Donald Trump, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

Reached by PYMNTS, Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the report.

Because Morgan Stanley is a bank holding company, it falls under the oversight of the Federal Reserve, and any E-Trade effort to add crypto trading would need the approval of the Fed and other regulators, according to the report.

The news came on the same day it was reported that exchange-traded fund companies have submitted more than a dozen filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking approval to launch cryptocurrency-focused ETFs in 2025.

“We’ll see a lot of these in 2025,” Bloomberg Intelligence’s Athanasios Psarofagis said in a Thursday report by Bloomberg. “It’s the hot thing — issuers love to strike when the theme is hot. We’ll see crypto everything.”

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase upgraded its Coinbase One subscription program and launched a new tier called Coinbase One Premium in December, saying that with these new offerings, “Coinbase One now truly benefits all types of traders.”

The new Coinbase One Premium tier offers members around the world unlimited zero trading fees, unlimited boosted USDC rewards, 25% back on an unlimited amount of Coinbase Advance spot fees, $250,000 worth of coverage for unauthorized account access, free gas on Base, exclusive partner benefits and exclusive access to the company’s concierge desk.

Also in December, digital assets solutions provider BitGo debuted a dedicated retail platform, saying the platform is designed to offer retail customers access to the company’s digital asset trading, staking, wallets and qualified custody services.

“Retail investors need a security-first, crypto-native platform, and we are excited to serve as that trusted partner,” BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said in a Dec. 2 press release. “We look forward to enhancing the retail investing, trading, storage and staking experience for investors around the world.”