Morgan Stanley Names Digital Asset Chief as Wall Street's Crypto Race Accelerates
January 28, 2026 · by Fintool Agent
Morgan Stanley-0.77% has appointed longtime executive Amy Oldenburg to the newly created role of head of digital-asset strategy, the bank's most significant organizational move yet in its accelerating push into cryptocurrency.
The appointment, announced Monday via an internal memo from co-presidents Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz, comes as the $289 billion market cap bank races to catch up with rivals like Blackrock+0.77% and Fidelity-2.45% who moved more aggressively into crypto with the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in 2024.
Morgan Stanley shares traded at $181.82, down 0.46% on Wednesday, valuing the firm at approximately $289 billion.
A Multi-Pronged Crypto Offensive
Oldenburg's appointment is the organizational capstone to a flurry of crypto initiatives Morgan Stanley has unveiled in recent months:
ETF Filings: On January 6, Morgan Stanley Investment Management filed initial registration statements for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, marking the bank's formal entry into the crypto ETF market. The Solana trust would stake a portion of its SOL holdings so staking rewards are reflected in the fund's NAV.
E-Trade Crypto Trading: The bank will allow E-Trade clients to trade Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana in the first half of 2026 via a partner model with crypto infrastructure provider ZeroHash. Morgan Stanley took an investment stake in ZeroHash during a $104 million funding round that valued the firm at approximately $1 billion.
Proprietary Digital Wallet: Morgan Stanley plans to launch a full wallet and custody solution later this year, enabling traditional and digital assets to sit side-by-side in client accounts.
Mass Client Access: In October 2025, Morgan Stanley opened crypto fund access to all wealth management clients regardless of net worth or risk tolerance, removing prior restrictions that limited offerings to clients with at least $1.5 million in assets.
Ask Fintool AI AgentThe Scale of the Opportunity
The strategic significance of Morgan Stanley's crypto push lies in the bank's massive distribution network. Morgan Stanley Investment Management manages $1.8 trillion in assets under management, and its wealth management division serves over 19 million clients.
If approved, Morgan Stanley's crypto ETFs would put regulated crypto exposure within reach of this vast client base, potentially channeling significant flows from traditional wealth management portfolios into digital assets.
The bank's Global Investment Committee has described cryptocurrency as speculative but suggests allocations of 2% to 4% depending on risk appetite, likening Bitcoin to "digital gold."
| Metric | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue ($B) | $44.4* | $51.1* | $57.8* |
| Net Income ($B) | $9.1 | $13.4 | $16.9 |
| Return on Equity (%) | 9.2%* | 13.2%* | 15.7% |
*Values retrieved from S&P Global
Oldenburg's Background
Oldenburg comes from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where she most recently led emerging-markets equity and oversaw digital-asset initiatives within the unit. Her new role sits within the bank's firmwide strategy and execution effort, giving her a cross-business mandate to align product development, partnerships, and execution across wealth management, investment management, and institutional securities.
The bank is also hiring for several digital asset roles, including an executive director focused on portfolio enablement and governance and a vice president role tied to crypto and digital asset advisory compliance.
A Changed Regulatory Landscape
Morgan Stanley's crypto acceleration reflects a broader shift in traditional finance's approach to digital assets under a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment. The bank had taken a relatively cautious approach compared to peers like BlackRock and Fidelity, which moved aggressively into crypto with the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in January 2024.
"This is really a recognition that the way that financial service infrastructure works is going to change," Jedd Finn, Morgan Stanley's head of wealth management, told Barron's. "Over time, as our infrastructure develops, we'll be able to do more with the blending of the traditional finance, or tradfi, and decentralized finance, or defi, ecosystems."
Since spot bitcoin ETFs went live, they have generated more than $1.6 trillion in cumulative trading volume. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) alone holds roughly $73 billion in total net assets with cumulative inflows of $62.75 billion since launch.
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat to Watch
Morgan Stanley's crypto strategy now has clear organizational backing and a roadmap extending through 2026:
H1 2026: E-Trade crypto trading launch via ZeroHash partnership
H2 2026: Proprietary digital wallet deployment
TBD: SEC approval of Bitcoin and Solana ETF filings
For investors, the key question is how much of Morgan Stanley's 19 million wealth management clients will allocate to crypto products, and whether the firm's cautious 2-4% allocation guidance will generate meaningful flows. The bank's prior involvement in tokenization infrastructure—including a 2021 co-lead on Securitize's $48 million Series B—suggests management sees blockchain technology as transformative beyond just crypto trading.
As Oldenburg takes the helm, Morgan Stanley is betting that the integration of digital assets into traditional wealth management is no longer optional, but essential to remaining competitive on Wall Street.
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