The proposed Morgan Stanley Digital Trust would house custody, transaction administration, fiduciary staking and collateral support for wealth management clients, pending final approval and capital requirements.
Morgan Stanley received preliminary conditional approval in June from the OCC (U.S. national bank regulator) to establish Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, a national trust bank for digital assets. The proposed wholly owned subsidiary would serve Morgan Stanley Wealth Management clients and bring custody, transaction administration, fiduciary staking (staking handled in a fiduciary capacity) and collateral support for affiliate digital-asset lending inside the firm. The OCC application record classifies the filing as a new bank charter under a holding company with trust powers requested, and lists the charter action as approved on June 18. The approval remains conditional: Morgan Stanley Digital Trust must hold at least $50 million in Tier 1 capital, maintain a set pool of liquid assets and keep enough liquidity to cover 180 days of operating costs, according to Corporate Decision 1378. If finalized and implemented, the move would allow Morgan Stanley to consolidate key crypto service functions under one roof, increasing pressure on crypto-native custodians, staking administrators and collateral-service providers whose offerings overlap with the bank's approved functions, while leaving execution, liquidity, lending counterparties, validator operation and broader blockchain infrastructure outside the trust-bank plan.