Crypto Exchanges
By Maheen Hernandez
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Traditional Brokers Rush Into Crypto. Morgan Stanley isn't alone. Charles Schwab rolled out spot crypto trading for retail clients…
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What the Pilot Means for Retail Traders. Morgan Stanley announced plans to integrate crypto trading with E*Trade back in 2025, so this…
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Fee Wars and Market Share. The retail crypto trading market is becoming a fee war.
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Morgan Stanley just launched direct crypto trading on E*Trade. Fees sit at roughly 50 basis points per trade, undercutting several big names in the space and marking a pretty…
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The pilot went live for a small group of users first. Morgan Stanley wants to roll the service out to all 8.
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Morgan Stanley isn't alone. Charles Schwab rolled out spot crypto trading for retail clients recently, and SoFi Technologies turned its crypto trading back on after some…
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But Morgan Stanley has something those pure crypto exchanges don't: a massive existing client base that already trusts the firm with their portfolios.
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The competitive landscape is getting messy. Pricing matters a lot now. When Coinbase went public in 2021, it could charge whatever it wanted because there weren't many…
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Morgan Stanley announced plans to integrate crypto trading with E*Trade back in 2025, so this pilot has been in the works for a while.
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The 50-basis-point fee is competitive but not the cheapest option out there. Robinhood's spread-based model can work out cheaper for small trades, though it's hard to tell…
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Crypto trading on traditional platforms has grown sharply over the past two years. Retail interest in Bitcoin and Ether surged during the 2024 bull run, and even after prices…
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Related: Morgan Stanley Slashes Crypto Fees on E*Trade to Undercut Coinbase in Retail Push
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Morgan Stanley's move also puts pressure on other big banks. Goldman Sachs has been cautious about retail crypto, focusing mostly on institutional clients.
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The retail crypto trading market is becoming a fee war. Pure crypto exchanges built their businesses on transaction fees, but they're getting squeezed by brokers who can afford…
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Coinbase is probably watching this closely. The company's revenue depends heavily on trading fees, and if traditional brokers pull away a big chunk of retail volume, Coinbase…
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