NEW YORK — Amy Oldenburg, head of digital assets strategy at Morgan Stanley (MS), dismissed the idea that Wall Street is only embracing crypto now out of fear of missing out, arguing that big banks are acting after years of preparation.
“TradFi is getting FOMO and getting involved now… that’s really not accurate,” Oldenburg said during a panel at the Digital Asset Summit in New York on Tuesday. “We have been working on the complete modernization of the financial infrastructure for years. »
His comments come as major U.S. banks, long seen as cautious on crypto or as laggards in the sector, begin to expand their offerings. For years, companies like Morgan Stanley have limited their activities to indirect exposure, for example by offering their wealthy clients access to Bitcoin. funds.
Most recently, this includes spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on its E*Trade platform and the bank even filed an application this month to launch its own spot Bitcoin ETF.
Wider participation has been slowed by regulatory uncertainty and concerns about conservation, compliance and market structure. This position has started to change and Morgan Stanley has now laid out a more defined digital asset strategy, with efforts spanning trading, asset management and infrastructure.
Oldenburg said the bank was preparing to support tokenized stock trading on its alternative trading system.
“One of the things we are planning for the second half of 2026 is to activate our cross-trajectory… to support tokenized stocks later this year,” she said. The platform already manages stocks, ETFs and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which it described as a natural base for expansion.
Within the company, the transition requires reworking central systems. “We have to relearn what existing infrastructure, pipes and plumbing look like,” Oldenburg said, highlighting the challenge of upgrading decades-old financial architecture to enable faster settlement and seamless trading.
She also highlighted the gap between crypto startups and large institutions.
“There are so many other points of connectivity that we need to integrate,” she said, noting that founders often underestimate the complexity of banking systems.
Despite this, areas such as stablecoins are gaining ground as a way to move money faster and cheaper than traditional systems.
Adoption, however, depends on coordination within the financial system. “We can’t modernize alone,” Oldenburg said. “This is an incredibly complex integrated global network. »
Despite the low token prices, she said business continues to grow. “We’re just at the very beginning,” Oldenburg said, signaling that Wall Street’s deeper integration with crypto might be gradual, but is underway.
