Morgan Stanley Unveils Native Custody and Exchange Platform Plans

Morgan Stanley plans to build its own native custody and exchange platform for digital assets. The bank's head of digital asset strategy, Amy Oldenburg, revealed this at Strategy World on February 25.

The new platform will allow clients to hold legal custody of their digital assets under Morgan Stanley's oversight. This is expected to roll out over the next year, following an initial phase that will enable E-Trade clients to buy and sell spot cryptocurrencies through an existing partnership.

Oldenburg acknowledged that some clients may prefer self-custody arrangements for Bitcoin, but believes that bringing those assets onto the platform would allow Morgan Stanley to offer a comprehensive suite of services, including custody, trading, and yield or lending products. The bank is exploring yield and lending products tied to crypto holdings, tracking momentum in decentralized finance lending.