How Morgan Stanley plans to bring crypto custody, staking and lending support in-house
Morgan Stanley received preliminary conditional approval from the OCC to create Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, a national trust bank for digital assets serving Wealth Management clients. The proposed subsidiary would let the firm bring custody, transaction administration, fiduciary staking, and collateral support for affiliate digital-asset lending in-house under a regulated banking structure. The filing covers asset safeguarding plus purchases, sales, swaps, transfers, staking administration, and collateral administration. If fully approved, the move could reduce reliance on third-party crypto custodians, staking providers, and collateral-service firms by consolidating key operational functions inside Morgan Stanley. Outside firms would still matter for areas not covered by the charter, such as execution venues, liquidity, counterparties, validator operations, and broader blockchain infrastructure. Final approval still requires capital and liquidity conditions, including at least $50 million in Tier 1 capital and coverage for 180 days of operating costs.
