Bitcoin briefly rises over $97K as Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab plan to offer crypto trading to clients

Bitcoin (BTC) rose briefly above $97,000 on Thursday as Wall Street giants Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab revealed plans to offer crypto trading to clients.

Bitcoin shortly reclaimed $97K as Wall Street companies eye crypto trading

Morgan Stanley is allegedly seeking to begin offering crypto trading on its E*Trade platform, according to a report from Bloomberg. 

The report stated that the launch may involve partnerships with established crypto firms to support trading assets like Bitcoin and Ether. It is also reportedly seeking to begin the process next year. The plan would allow Morgan Stanley's E*Trade retail clients to buy and sell crypto assets directly from their existing brokerage accounts.

Morgan Stanley already offers crypto-linked ETFs trading for products such as BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) to high-net-worth clients through its wealth management division.

Charles Schwab is also planning to begin spot crypto trading on its platform, according to a statement from the firm's CEO, Rick Wurster, during its earnings call. Wurster suggested that the company has been considering opening its doors to crypto trading for some time, but will kick off once crypto regulations are properly set. He hinted at a huge possibility for the firm to begin within the next 12 months.

Wurster also stated that crypto investing carries "meaningful risks," notably extreme price volatility, which makes it challenging for investors to determine appropriate allocation strategies.

Meanwhile, Strategy released its Q1 report, stating that it held 553,555 BTC as of April 28, which it acquired at a total cost of $37.9 billion for an average price of $68,459 per BTC. The company also revealed that it made a 13.7% BTC yield in Q1 despite the market downturn in February and March.

As a result, Strategy has increased its Bitcoin yield and dollar gains target for 2025, raising them from 15% to 25% and from $10 billion to $15 billion, respectively. This change comes after the company announced a new $21 billion at-the-market (ATM) equity offering, which may be used to expand its Bitcoin holdings.

BTC briefly rallied above $97,000 within the past 24 hours, pushing prices closer to the $100,000 threshold before dropping back to the $96,000 range at publication time.