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How Morgan Stanley plans to bring crypto custody, staking and lending support in-house

Morgan Stanley received preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to build its own crypto custody, staking and lending capabilities, allowing the bank to consolidate these services internally.

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What happened

Morgan Stanley received preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to build its own crypto custody, staking and lending capabilities, allowing the bank to consolidate these services internally.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Bringing crypto services in‑house could make institutional investors more comfortable using digital assets, increase the bank’s fee revenue, and pressure third‑party crypto providers to compete on price and technology.

Analyst inference

Major banks are slowly entering the crypto space as regulators grant limited permissions, while the broader market still relies on external custodians and lending platforms to meet demand for secure and compliant digital‑asset services.

Analyst inference

What to watch

  1. Whether the OCC moves from preliminary to full approval, which would let Morgan Stanley launch the services to clients and potentially attract more institutional crypto flow. Proposed
  2. How existing crypto custodians and lending platforms respond, such as adjusting fees or enhancing technology to retain business that might shift to the bank’s in‑house solution. Analyst inference
  3. Regulatory developments in other jurisdictions that could either encourage or restrict banks from offering similar crypto services, influencing the pace of industry adoption. Analyst inference

Evidence