Traditional finance is aggressively moving on-chain, and Morgan Stanley ($MS) is leading the charge. The Wall Street giant just officially filed an application with the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) for a new "de novo" national trust bank charter. They are launching a newly created entity called "Morgan Stanley Digital Trust" specifically to handle digital asset custody.
This is a massive fundamental shift. Until now, traditional banks have mostly relied on third-party crypto-native custodians or just offered proxy exposure through ETFs. By securing their own federal bank charter, Morgan Stanley will be fully authorized to hold digital assets directly on behalf of their institutional clients. But they aren't stopping at just holding the assets. The filing reveals they plan to actively execute purchases, sales, swaps, and—most importantly—direct crypto staking services.
Wall Street realizes that the real money isn't just in trading fees; it's in capturing on-chain yield. With the OCC recently granting conditional approvals to crypto-native companies like Crypto.com and Stripe's Bridge, Morgan Stanley is positioning itself to compete directly as a federally regulated, all-in-one crypto bank. They are building the infrastructure to bring legacy client wealth directly onto the blockchain.
(Disclaimer: Institutional adoption does not guarantee immediate price appreciation. This is market observation only and not financial advice. Always manage your risk.)