A new pricing war is emerging in crypto trading as traditional brokerages move to challenge both crypto-native platforms and retail trading apps on fees, access, and trust.
E*TRADE, owned by Morgan Stanley, has launched a pilot spot crypto trading service for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, charging 50 basis points (0.5%) per transaction. That undercuts rival Charles Schwab’s 75-basis-point spread on similar trades and competes directly with Robinhood, which charges spreads ranging from 35 to 95 basis points.
E*TRADE customers will initially gain access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana—the same three cryptocurrencies Morgan Stanley plans to offer via ETF products. The infrastructure is powered by Zerohash, which Morgan Stanley brought on as its crypto rails partner last year. The bank plans to expand access to all 8.6 million E*TRADE clients by the end of 2026.
The most notable impact comes from pricing. Combined with Morgan Stanley’s full-service brokerage offering, the move could reshape the spot crypto trading market.
“Crypto-native exchanges have historically had high fees and spreads,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “We saw the same pattern take place in equities with traditional brokerages, where the differentiation will shift towards features like the ecosystem, custody, and lending.”
Benefits of Traditional Brokerages
Large incumbents like Morgan Stanley already serve millions of clients across stocks, ETFs, retirement accounts, and cash management, giving them a built-in distribution advantage over newer, crypto-first platforms.
Morgan Stanley also tends to serve higher-net-worth clients than Robinhood’s largely retail base, and those investors often prioritize regulated, custodial-grade access to digital assets. By also undercutting Robinhood on pricing, Morgan Stanley appears increasingly well positioned to compete across both segments.
How ETFs May Respond
The addition of spot crypto trading follows Morgan Stanley’s recently introduced spot Bitcoin ETF, which has attracted $211 million in inflows since debuting last month. That product is priced competitively, with fees of just 14 basis points.
A similar fee-driven played out when Bitcoin ETFs first launched in early 2024, as issuers aggressively lowered expenses to capture market share ahead of and immediately after launch. A comparable dynamic could extend into spot trading, with brokerage platforms and ETF issuers continuing to compete on price as the market matures.
“It’s mostly separate so I don’t think it’ll impact the ETFs,” Hugentobler said. “The ETFs will still charge the management fee. Their prices may come down over time, but most of them are already pretty low.”
