- Morgan Stanley has applied to the OCC for a new national trust bank charter, named “Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association,” to custody and transact in digital assets for clients, including staking.
- The application, received on Feb. 18, follows the OCC’s recent conditional approval of similar charters for several major crypto firms, including Ripple, Fidelity, and Bridge.
- The move is part of the bank’s broader crypto expansion, which includes launching a dedicated digital assets unit, filing for multiple crypto ETFs, and hiring for related roles.
Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street banking giant, has officially applied for a new type of banking charter that will allow it to hold and transact cryptocurrencies for its clients, signaling a major institutional commitment to the digital asset space. The public filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shows the application for a “de novo” national trust bank charter was received on February 18 under the name “Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association.”
More details revealed that the subsidiary’s business plan includes custodying digital assets and executing purchases, sales, swaps, and transfers for clients. The OCC charter would also authorize the entity to engage in crypto staking activities on behalf of its investors.
This strategic move aligns the $2 trillion bank with a growing roster of financial and crypto-native firms securing similar regulatory approval. In fact, the OCC already conditionally approved five applications in December, including for firms like First National Digital Currency Bank and BitGo.
Subsequent approvals have followed, such as stablecoin platform Bridge and crypto.com” rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>Crypto.com earlier this month. Consequently, the rush for national trust bank charters highlights a significant trend of traditional finance merging with the digital asset ecosystem under federal oversight.
Morgan Stanley’s application is a pivotal step in its own accelerated push into cryptocurrency. The bank recently appointed Amy Oldenburg to lead its new crypto unit and is actively hiring for digital assets strategy and product roles.
Furthermore, the firm filed to launch spot Bitcoin, Solana, and, later, a staked Ether exchange-traded fund in January. This expansion into regulated crypto custody and services demonstrates a clear institutional strategy to capture market demand.
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