Morgan Stanley Files for an OCC National Trust Bank Charter to Custody, Trade, and Stake Crypto Under Its Own Roof

Morgan Stanley filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on February 18, 2026, to establish a de novo national trust bank called "Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association." The subsidiary would handle digital asset custody, execute purchases, sales, swaps, and transfers for client investments, and offer cryptocurrency staking services, as of the time of writing.

The filing transforms what was a conference-stage promise into a regulatory commitment. Two days before the OCC application, Amy Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley's head of digital assets, told attendees at Strategy's Bitcoin for Corporations conference in Las Vegas that the bank planned to build native crypto infrastructure rather than outsource it. Now there is paperwork behind the words.

The Charter That Changes Everything

A national trust bank charter from the OCC is not a license to experiment. It is a federally supervised banking license that permits fiduciary activities including trust services, custody, and asset safekeeping. For Morgan Stanley, a bank managing roughly $2 trillion in assets, this is the regulatory vehicle that would allow it to hold client crypto directly, without routing through third parties like Coinbase or Zerohash.

The scope is broader than custody alone. The application explicitly covers trading (purchases, sales, swaps, transfers) and staking, meaning Morgan Stanley Digital Trust could eventually let wealth management clients earn yield on proof-of-stake assets held in trust. If approved, it would be the first Wall Street megabank to operate a dedicated crypto trust charter.

The distinction matters. Several banks already offer crypto exposure through ETF wrappers or brokerage partnerships. JPMorgan runs Onyx for tokenized assets. Goldman Sachs has a digital assets platform. But none have applied for a standalone OCC charter specifically designed to custody and stake crypto for clients at scale.

A Crowded Starting Line

Morgan Stanley is not filing into a vacuum. The OCC conditionally approved five crypto-related trust bank applications in December 2025, including Ripple, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Assets. Bridge and Crypto.com received conditional approvals in February 2026, with Payoneer also filing recently.

The OCC processed 14 de novo bank charter applications in 2025 alone, a pace not seen since the post-2008 banking reforms. Acting Comptroller Rodney Hood has publicly stated that the OCC intends to provide a clear federal path for digital asset firms that meet prudential standards, a sharp contrast to the Biden-era approach that discouraged banks from touching crypto.

For crypto-native firms, the charter race is about legitimacy. For Morgan Stanley, it is about control. The bank does not want to be a customer of Coinbase Custody or BitGo. It wants to be the custodian, the trading desk, and the staking operator, all under a single federal charter that its wealth management clients already trust.

From Plans to Paperwork in 10 Days

The speed of this filing is notable. Amy Oldenburg's remarks at the Bitcoin for Corporations conference came on February 26. The OCC application was filed on February 18, eight days before the public announcement. That means the charter filing was already in motion while the bank was still framing its crypto ambitions as forward-looking plans at industry events.

This sequencing is standard for large banks. You file first, announce second. But it reveals that Morgan Stanley's crypto buildout is further along than the conference commentary suggested. The bank is also actively recruiting for a digital assets strategy director and product lead, roles that would report into Oldenburg's unit and focus on building the trust infrastructure.

Morgan Stanley's crypto trajectory has been methodical. The bank offered Bitcoin ETF access to its 15,000+ financial advisors in August 2024, dropped restrictions on crypto fund access in October 2025, filed for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana ETFs in January 2026, and appointed Oldenburg to lead the digital assets division the same month. The OCC charter is the next domino: moving from distributing other people's crypto products to manufacturing its own.

What This Means for Crypto Card Holders and DeFi Users

When a $2 trillion bank starts staking crypto in-house, it validates the same infrastructure that crypto card issuers have been building for years. Ether.fi lets users stake ETH and spend from the same wallet. Nexo offers yield on deposited crypto alongside a spending card. Crypto.com built its entire tiered card system around staked CRO.

Morgan Stanley entering this space does not threaten these providers directly. A wealth management client with $5 million in assets is not the same user as someone loading USDC onto a RedotPay virtual card. But it does two things. First, it normalizes the idea that crypto should be held, staked, and spent from a single platform, which is exactly the thesis that self-custody card issuers have been pitching. Second, it creates regulatory precedent. If the OCC approves Morgan Stanley's charter, it becomes harder for regulators to argue that crypto custody and staking are inherently risky activities that banks should avoid.

The staking rewards space in particular stands to benefit from institutional legitimacy. The argument against crypto staking has always been counterparty risk: Celsius, BlockFi, and Genesis all collapsed while offering yield. A federally chartered Morgan Stanley trust bank offering staking under OCC supervision is a different proposition entirely.

The Regulatory Chessboard

The OCC charter wave is happening alongside parallel regulatory developments. The OCC recently fired the starting gun on GENIUS Act rulemaking, creating a path for national banks to issue stablecoins. Senate Democrats are debating stablecoin yield provisions. Indiana just passed a crypto rights bill that opens state pensions to Bitcoin.

Morgan Stanley's filing fits into this broader pattern: traditional finance is not waiting for Congress to finalize crypto legislation. Banks are filing for charters, hiring digital asset teams, and building infrastructure now, betting that the regulatory environment will continue to open rather than close.

The risk is that it does not. A change in OCC leadership, a high-profile staking loss at a chartered bank, or a broader market downturn could slow approvals. But Morgan Stanley's filing signals that the bank's risk committee has already done the math and decided the regulatory trajectory favors building.

FAQ

What is Morgan Stanley Digital Trust? It is a proposed national trust bank that Morgan Stanley filed to establish with the OCC on February 18, 2026. If approved, it would handle crypto custody, trading (including swaps and transfers), and staking for Morgan Stanley clients.

How is this different from Morgan Stanley's existing crypto services? Currently, Morgan Stanley offers crypto exposure through ETF wrappers and plans to launch spot trading on E-Trade via Zerohash. The OCC charter would allow the bank to custody and stake crypto directly, without relying on third-party infrastructure.

When could this be approved? OCC charter reviews typically take 12 to 18 months, though recent approvals (Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets in December 2025) suggest the agency is processing applications at an accelerated pace.

Will Morgan Stanley clients be able to stake crypto? The charter application explicitly covers staking services. If approved, clients could potentially earn yield on proof-of-stake assets held in the trust, though specific products and supported assets have not been announced.

Overview

Morgan Stanley filed for an OCC national trust bank charter on February 18, 2026, under the entity name "Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association." The subsidiary would custody digital assets, execute crypto trades, and offer staking services. The filing follows a string of OCC approvals for crypto firms including Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Bridge, and Crypto.com, and positions Morgan Stanley as the first Wall Street megabank to pursue a dedicated crypto trust charter. Combined with its E-Trade spot crypto launch planned for H1 2026 and recent Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana ETF filings, the charter application marks Morgan Stanley's transition from distributing third-party crypto products to building proprietary infrastructure.