Morgan Stanley's 0.5% E*Trade Crypto Fees Ignite Retail Investor Debate

Morgan Stanley has confirmed its E*Trade crypto trading pilot at 50 basis points per transaction for BTC, ETH, and SOL, undercutting Coinbase (60 bps), Schwab (75 bps), and Robinhood (95 bps), with rollout planned to 8.6 million clients later in 2026. This builds on the April launch of its MSBT Bitcoin ETF at 0.14% fee, which drew $100M inflows by May 4 and $200M AUM by May 5, fueled 80% by self-directed investors as BTC climbed from $78,986 to $81,403. Analysts debate if the aggressive pricing will capture retail flows, intensify fee wars, and accelerate mainstream crypto adoption via Zerohash custody.