Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association is a proposed national trust bank for custody and servicing of digital assets. On 18 June 2026 the OCC granted preliminary conditional approval under Corporate Decision CD #1378.
The approval allows the bank to continue organising subject to capital, governance, technology and other conditions; it is not final approval and the bank has not begun operations. Until launch, ETRADE's retail crypto trading continues through Zero Hash. This page covers the approved business perimeter, current ETRADE infrastructure, pricing and the limitations of the transition period.
Group, application and preliminary OCC approval
Morgan Stanley operates one of the world's largest wealth-management platforms: as of the second quarter of 2026 Morgan Stanley's total client assets crossed $10trn, of which $8trn sits in wealth management. The group's retail leg came from E*TRADE: the online broker, with 8.6m client accounts, was bought for $13bn in a deal announced in February 2020 and closed in October of the same year.
The crypto line was built in steps. In March 2021 the bank became the first major US institution to open access for wealth clients to the Galaxy and FS NYDIG bitcoin funds — only for qualified investors with at least $2m in assets and a cap on the portfolio share. In August 2024 its advisers gained the right to offer spot bitcoin ETFs, again first among the big banks. In September 2025 the group selected Zerohash as its infrastructure partner for crypto trading on E*TRADE and took part in its $104m round at a valuation of ≈$1bn.
The regulatory treatment of bank crypto custody also changed. In January 2025 the SEC rescinded Staff Accounting Bulletin 121: custodied crypto stopped landing as a liability on the custodian's balance sheet, and custody became economically sensible for banks again; in March 2025 the OCC, through Interpretive Letter 1183, confirmed the right of national banks to hold and service digital assets. Morgan Stanley's application went to the OCC on 18 February 2026 and became public on 2 March; the signature followed on 18 June. Approximately four months passed between filing and preliminary conditional approval. Final launch remains subject to satisfaction of the OCC's conditions.
Key parameters of the project.
| Regulator and decision | OCC, Corporate Decision CD #1378 |
|---|---|
| Status | preliminary conditional approval; operations not begun |
| Filing and approval | filed 18 February 2026, public on 2 March, approved 18 June 2026 |
| Entity and site | Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association; Purchase, New York |
| Parent | Morgan Stanley Capital Management within the holding company |
| Approved perimeter | custody, purchase, sale, swap and transfer of coins, fiduciary staking, collateral administration |
| Infrastructure partner | Zerohash: liquidity, execution, storage and settlement |
| Pricing | custody pricing not published; 50 basis points per retail trade on E*TRADE |
Products and pricing
MSDTNA's approved perimeter is described in CD #1378: custody of digital assets, the purchase, sale, swap and transfer of coins, staking on a fiduciary basis, and collateral administration for crypto lending by affiliated structures. The site is Purchase, New York; the parent is Morgan Stanley Capital Management within the holding company.
ETRADE's retail trading infrastructure is already operating through Zero Hash. On 16 July 2026 E\TRADE completed the rollout of spot trading: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana at a fee of 50 basis points of the trade amount, with no marked-up spreads. The fee can be compared with the published rates of other retail platforms: Coinbase, Robinhood and Schwab charge 60–95 basis points on comparable retail trades. For now the assets sit in separate non-brokerage accounts at Zero Hash; transfers of coins to external wallets are promised later in 2026, and the group plans to move the digital services themselves onto the balance sheet of Morgan Stanley Digital Trust.
Custody pricing for wealth clients is not public: the bank is still launching and there is no price list. The published rates of the specialised custodians that set the market benchmark — Fidelity Digital Assets, Coinbase Custody, Gemini and BitGo — are collected, with the rest of the segment, on the crypto banks and custodians map. The only public pricing reference for the group itself is the 0.50% retail trading fee on E*TRADE from 16 July 2026. Next on the plan: conversion of coins into ETFs without an intermediate sale, and tokenised equities closer to the end of 2026.
Competitive landscape
The custody giants chose a different route: they are grafting crypto onto existing platforms. BNY has held digital assets since 2022, first among the big banks, and in August 2026 announced staking in partnership with Galaxy on top of a platform servicing tens of trillions of dollars under custody and administration; USDC storage had been added to the perimeter earlier. State Street, with $51.7trn under administration, launched its Digital Asset Platform on technology from Switzerland's Taurus — tokenised funds and deposits first, with crypto custody announced for 2026. Citi is aiming to launch custody in 2026, combining in-house development with external vendors; JPMorgan executes client trades and has no plans for custody of its own.
Specialist crypto companies are also applying for national trust charters, and part of the queue has already cleared the OCC.
| Applicant | OCC status | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Digital | federal charter, first crypto bank | January 2021 |
| Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets | conditional approval | December 2025 |
| Coinbase National Trust Company | conditional approval | 2 April 2026 |
| Bridge (Stripe) and a large crypto exchange | conditional approval | 2026 |
| Laser Digital, Nomura group | conditional approval, Corporate Decision CD #1377 | May 2026 |
The scale of the concentration shows in Coinbase: assets on platform of $376bn as at 31 December 2025 on the Q4 2025 shareholder letter of 12 February 2026 — a figure that includes custody services and excludes assets whose keys the client holds — and over 80% of the assets of US spot BTC/ETH ETFs in safekeeping, a concentration that has already pushed BlackRock and 21Shares to add Anchorage and BitGo as backup custodians. Coinbase does not publish a separate assets-under-custody line in that letter. Anchorage Digital, according to press reports, is discussing a round of ≈$400m ahead of a possible IPO in 2027, and Zerohash has joined the queue for a charter of its own.
Morgan Stanley's difference lies in the construction and the audience. BNY, State Street and Citi hang crypto on an existing bank balance sheet with deposits and FDIC insurance, and their clients are funds and asset managers; Morgan Stanley moves digital assets into a separate de novo legal entity, insulating the new risks from the group's insured banks, and builds the service around E*TRADE retail and the wealth client base — millions of private accounts that need a custodian under the same brand as the rest of the portfolio.
Potential use cases and current limitations
After final launch, Morgan Stanley Digital Trust could combine crypto custody, trading, transfers, staking and collateral administration within a separate regulated group entity. This may reduce the number of external providers used by a client, but it does not eliminate market, technology, custody or counterparty risk.
There is preliminary conditional approval only, granted on 18 June 2026. Retail assets remain with Zero Hash, future custody pricing has not been published, and external-wallet transfers and coin-to-ETF conversion are announced rather than fully available. Qualified-custodian status and the precise contractual regime should be assessed against the final structure and applicable SEC rules at launch.
Proposed legal and operating structure
The proposed model separates the trust-bank licence and client relationship from technology and execution services provided by Zerohash. Zerohash covers liquidity, execution, storage and settlement; the bank adds the licence, the brand and the group's client base. Use of an external backend may shorten implementation time but creates vendor concentration, outsourcing and operational-resilience obligations.
The management frame is assembled from insiders: John Ryan, president of the group's US banks, was appointed CEO; Chad Turner, who ran the wealth management platforms, is president; Amanda Kan, COO of the banking block, is chief operating officer. The proposed trust bank would be separate from the group's insured deposit banks and would not take ordinary deposits or benefit from FDIC insurance: a trust charter permits fiduciary and custodial services while prohibiting deposit-taking and lending from its own balance sheet. The business model is fee-based and excludes ordinary deposit-funded lending, though operational, fiduciary and custody risk remains.
CD #1378 includes conditions relevant to this specific applicant.
| Capital | minimum $50m in tier 1 capital, half of it in highly liquid assets |
|---|---|
| Liquidity | buffer covering 180 days of operating expenses |
| Audit | independent, annually for the first three years |
| Compliance | BSA/OFAC programmes |
| OCC notice | 60 days' notice of any deviation from the business plan |
| Capital contributions | non-cash excluded for the three-year de novo period |
Another applicant would require its own charter analysis, capital plan, management, technology, BSA/OFAC programme and vendor-governance framework; the Morgan Stanley conditions are not a universal template.
Regulation and status
The preliminary conditional approval of 18.06.2026 is in force; final approval will come once the pre-launch requirements are met, and there are no public start dates. The retail layer is already in production: spot trading of BTC, ETH and SOL on E*TRADE since 16.07.2026, with coin transfers later in 2026. The timing of this application does not guarantee the same schedule or outcome for another applicant.
Q/A
When will Morgan Stanley's custody open to clients?
For now the preliminary conditional approval of 18.06.2026 is in force: the bank is meeting the OCC's conditions and preparing to launch, and there are no public start dates. The retail layer is already working — E*TRADE completed the rollout of crypto trading on 16.07.2026. The group has stated a plan to move its digital services onto Morgan Stanley Digital Trust once the bank launches.
Which coins are available right now, and at what price?
On E*TRADE, since 16.07.2026, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana have traded at a fee of 50 basis points of the trade amount, with no additional spreads; Coinbase, Robinhood and Schwab charge 60–95 points on comparable trades. Trades run through separate accounts at Zero Hash, and trading is round the clock. Transfers of coins to external wallets are promised later in 2026.
What makes a bank trust charter stronger than a specialised custodian?
A national trust bank is subject to direct OCC supervision and applicant-specific capital, audit and reporting conditions. Whether it qualifies as a qualified custodian for a particular client and rule must be assessed under the final SEC and contractual framework. Group ownership does not make the trust bank's obligations FDIC-insured or guarantee them automatically.
Why did Morgan Stanley take someone else's backend?
Speed: proprietary custody technology takes years to build, while renting Zerohash compressed the path to months — the partnership was announced in September 2025 and the bank was approved in June 2026. The licence, the balance sheet and the client relationships stay with the bank. The same logic makes the construction available to captives of far smaller size.
How does MSDTNA differ from the crypto services of BNY and State Street?
In construction and audience. BNY and State Street are adding crypto to existing custody platforms for funds and asset managers; Morgan Stanley is building a separate de novo bank for E*TRADE retail and the wealth client base, insulating the risks from the group's insured deposit banks. A separate legal entity means its own capital, its own audit and a clean OCC supervisory perimeter.