Morgan Stanley rolled out crypto trading on its E*Trade platform with a trading fee of 50 basis points per trade, undercutting competitors including Coinbase, Robinhood and Schwab. Morgan Stanley has 8.6 million clients that it aims to keep within its banking system, reflecting its large retail client base. Gate posted nearly $2 billion in 24-hour trading volume and ranks seventh on CoinGecko.
Reports of the fee competition list Morgan Stanley charging 50 basis points per trade and Schwab charging 75 basis points per trade, with coverage noting that these rates undercut Coinbase in the ongoing pricing battle. The reporting explicitly frames Coinbase as being undercut by the sequence of fee announcements from traditional brokerage firms. Commentary in the reporting invokes a historical analog to the 2024 ETF trading fee race, citing a 14 basis point fee from that episode. The reporting thus presents both current brokerage fee figures and the 14 basis point ETF example as comparative markers in the fee competition. These elements are included in accounts of the competitive landscape between brokerage and exchange platforms.
Eric Balchunas is quoted in the coverage describing Morgan Stanley’s move as ‘SHOTS FIRED’. He is also quoted predicting that ‘by the time the dust settles it’ll be pretty dirt cheap to trade crypto everywhere.’ Balchunas’s quoted language appears alongside the reported fee figures and the 14 basis point ETF reference in the same reporting. The reporting presents these quoted assessments and the fee data as part of the discussion of shifting pricing dynamics in crypto trading.
Eric Balchunas framed the move by Morgan Stanley as an intensification of competition from traditional financial firms, saying crypto-native exchanges should be worried about the implications. He characterized the action as an aggressive signal from TradFi and noted that the strategy can disintermediate existing intermediaries in crypto markets. Balchunas also suggested that other firms are likely to respond, leading to increased pressure on exchange margins and market structure. He predicted that trading will become markedly more competitive over the next couple of years.
The coverage includes a caveat that this perspective feels somewhat localized to the U.S. market. Experts cited in the reporting therefore present the trend as significant but noted its U.S.-centric framing. That U.S.-focused caveat was included alongside the expert commentary in the reporting.
Morgan Stanley’s rollout of competitive crypto trading on E*Trade has prompted market responses in which brokerages and exchanges are repositioning pricing and services, increasing pressure on exchange margins and reshaping the competitive landscape. Industry experts characterize this shift as an intensification of TradFi competition that can disintermediate existing intermediaries and predict a markedly more competitive trading environment in the coming years, while noting the perspective is largely U.S.-focused.
