Morgan Stanley Acquires EquityZen, Launches Crypto Trading With Zerohash in H1 2026
Morgan Stanley acquired EquityZen in January 2026 to expand private-company share trading and partnered with Zerohash to launch Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading on its E*TRADE platform in H1 2026. Long-standing alliances with Snowflake for AI-driven analytics plus a deepened 15-year MUFG joint venture in Japan boost efficiency and support revenue growth.
1. Strategic Acquisitions and Crypto Partnership
In January 2026, Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of EquityZen, granting the bank direct access to private-company share trading and enabling liquidity for employees and early stakeholders. The bank also partnered with crypto infrastructure provider Zerohash to integrate Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading on its E*TRADE platform, with services like liquidity, custody and settlement scheduled to roll out in the first half of 2026.
2. Data Analytics and AI Collaboration
Morgan Stanley’s collaboration with Snowflake has evolved from basic data warehousing to advanced AI-driven workloads. This partnership powers customer insights, streamlines operational processes and enhances regulatory compliance by leveraging cloud-based analytics and machine-learning models across the bank’s businesses.
3. Japan Joint Venture Expansion
The deepened 15-year alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group merges equity research, sales and execution services under Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities. This integration aims to improve profitability and expand market reach in Japan by consolidating institutional brokerage operations and leveraging combined research capabilities.