Morgan Stanley's Digital Asset Strategy Reflects Financial Infrastructure Modernization

Morgan Stanley's head of digital asset strategy, Amy Oldenburg, highlighted at the New York Digital Asset Summit that major Wall Street banks' entry into the cryptocurrency sector is driven by the modernization of financial infrastructure rather than fear of missing out. According to ChainCatcher, Oldenburg explained that Morgan Stanley's digital asset strategy encompasses trading, asset management, and infrastructure. The bank plans to introduce tokenized stock trading on its alternative trading system in the second half of 2026, which currently handles stocks, ETFs, and American Depository Receipts. Internally, Morgan Stanley is revamping its decades-old core systems to enable faster settlement and continuous trading. Oldenburg emphasized that the complexity of financial institutions' systems exceeds the expectations of startups, and that modernization requires collaboration across the global financial network.