Banking giant Morgan Stanley plans to offer several Bitcoin-related product offerings in the future, according to Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy.
Morgan Stanley currently manages approximately $9 trillion in assets and will consider giving its clients the ability to hold and trade Bitcoin directly on its platform, Amy Oldenburg said during her appearance at the Bitcoin for Corporations conference in Las Vegas on February 26.
Regarding Bitcoin-based yield and lending services, she said it was a “natural part of the roadmap to explore,” but added that the company was still “at the beginning of the journey.”
However, the banking giant plans to build its Bitcoin infrastructure from scratch through an internal offering to ensure reliability and control of the technology stack.
“People expect Morgan Stanley – they trust our brand – to be infallible. When you’re in this role, you have a significant responsibility to your clients and you have to make sure you deliver that at any level of technology,” Oldenburg said.
Additionally, 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 these 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.
Getting started in crypto
Morgan Stanley was once cautious about crypto-related offerings, but the Wall Street giant has gradually readjusted to this space amid a more favorable regulatory climate following the election of US President Donald Trump.
Last year, the firm’s analysts 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 also called Bitcoin “like digital gold,” describing it as a rare asset that can potentially provide long-term value within diversified portfolios.
The bank also confirmed plans to offer retail trading services for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana through its E*Trade app as part of its broader digital assets push. Last month, it filed three separate crypto fund registrations linked to these assets.