Morgan Stanley Acquires EquityZen, Plans ZeroHash Crypto Trading by Mid-2026
Morgan Stanley acquired EquityZen in January 2026 to facilitate private-share trading and partnered with ZeroHash to enable Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading on E*TRADE by mid-2026. Its AI-focused tie-up with Snowflake and deeper Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group alliance merging Japanese brokerage units aim to boost analytics, efficiency and client growth.
1. EquityZen Acquisition
Morgan Stanley acquired EquityZen in January 2026 to integrate its private-company share trading platform into wealth-management services, expanding access to high-growth private assets and providing liquidity solutions for employees and early investors.
2. ZeroHash Crypto Trading Integration
Morgan Stanley partnered with ZeroHash to enable Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading on the E*TRADE platform, with backend support for liquidity, custody and settlement set to launch in the first half of 2026, broadening its digital-asset offerings.
3. Snowflake Partnership for AI Analytics
The long-standing collaboration with Snowflake has evolved from basic data warehousing to advanced AI-driven workloads, enhancing customer insights, operational efficiency and regulatory compliance through cloud-based analytics.
4. Deeper MUFG Brokerage Alliance
Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group are merging Japanese equity research, sales and execution services within their joint ventures, strengthening profitability and market presence in Japan through unified brokerage operations.