Almost two years to the day after former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said that he “never really understood the value of Bitcoin as a form of stored value”, the company has now announced that it will launch a crypto trading platform and a crypto wallet in 2026.
This builds on earlier announcements that Morgan Stanley had filed for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana ETFs.
It’s quite the turnaround from 2024 when Gorman stated that Bitcoin was a speculative asset and should only represent a small percentage of investors’ portfolios.
A Custodial Crypto Wallet for Institutional Clients
Morgan Stanley’s wallet is expected to be launched in the second half of 2026, and to begin with it will be offered to institutional clients as a custodial service.
This means that Morgan Stanley would hold the private keys and assets would be accessed through their systems rather than directly on-chain.
The wallet will also support tokenized versions of real-world assets, such as stocks for example, linking traditional finance with blockchain-based assets.
As BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated in October, “We’re at the beginning of the tokenization of all assets”. Coins such as Ethereum and Solana are expected to play a huge part in real-world asset tokenization.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading Platform
Morgan Stanley will also launch crypto trading on its E*Trade platform in the first half of 2026 through a partnership with Zerohash.
This will operate separately from the planned crypto wallet and will allow users to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and also Solana.
On top of this, Morgan Stanley also filed for an Ethereum staking ETF earlier this week, this means that some of the fund would stake ETH to earn income.
Staking is basically the process of locking up tokens to help secure and validate a blockchain, users who stake are paid a reward in the same token of the blockchain they are securing.
Best Non-Custodial Wallets
As crypto wallets, ETFs, and trading platforms continue to gain traction, Morgan Stanley’s relationship with crypto is increasingly moving from caution to participation. If successful, they could play a role in bringing crypto and tokenized assets even further into the financial mainstream.
For those who advocate for the original vision of Bitcoin however, which is full ownership of your assets without banks, there are already options available.
Best Wallet, a multi-chain, non-custodial wallet allows you to easily buy, swap and hold crypto. Despite arriving on the market just over a year ago, this solution quickly emerged as one of the most widely used new wallets in 2026.
Interestingly, there are several reasons behind its rapid adoption, such as its intuitive interface, rich selection of features, and the fact that users can use it without jumping through the hoops of identity verification.
Thanks to its non-custodial posture, users maintain full control over their assets, thereby boosting security. More so, at the basic level, Best Wallet is easy-to-use, featuring a user-friendly UI that even those new to crypto can navigate without assistance.
At the same time, it removes the need to move cryptos between platforms and pay multiple transfer fees by acting as an exchange itself. That attribute not only distinguishes Best Wallet from older wallet brands but has also helped it attract crypto users from around the world.
Not only that, Best Wallet supports a variety of blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Base, Solana, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain. Hence, it can be used to store nearly any crypto running on those chains.
The benefits don’t stop here, however. Best Wallet also allows users to buy cryptos with fiat directly inside of its app, swap them for one another seamlessly, and maximize staking perks, irrespective of what chain they are on. Similarly, it has its own token launchpad where users can freely browse and invest in any upcoming cryptocurrency.
Add the fact that it doesn’t require its users to complete KYC, and it is clear why even experts are recommending this wallet as the ideal solution for everyone.
Download Best Wallet
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