Morgan Stanley Names Exec to Lead Digital Asset Strategy

Crypto reporter

Shalini Nagarajan

Crypto reporter

Shalini Nagarajan

Since part of the group

January 2024

About the author

Shalini is a crypto reporter who provides in-depth reports on daily developments and regulatory changes in the cryptocurrency sector.

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Last Updated:

January 28, 2026

Morgan Stanley has created a new role to coordinate its digital asset strategy, tapping longtime executive Amy Oldenburg as the bank ramps up its push into crypto.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that Oldenburg will be placed in a strong broader strategy and execution effort, according to an internal memo sent Monday by co-presidents Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz.

She comes from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where she most recently led emerging-markets equities and oversaw the division's digital-asset initiative.

The appointment comes as the bank moves from offering crypto products to building a complete toolkit.

ETFs Mark Morgan Stanley Push Deeper into Crypto

In early January, Morgan Stanley Investment Management filed initial registration statements for Bitcoin and Solana-related exchange-traded products, a clear sign that it wants a bigger position in regulated crypto exposure.

The filing comes as U.S. laws regarding the crypto market pipeline continue to evolve and attract more traditional financial firms into the space.

Reuters reports that Morgan Stanley's ETF push is part of a broader trend of banks moving more into digital assets under President Donald Trump's administration.

Risk guidance forms how customers access crypto

Through the brokerage, Morgan Stanley said it plans to offer cryptocurrency trading on an e-commerce platform using ZeroHash for digital asset infrastructure in the first half of 2026, with Bitcoin, Ether and Solana among the first tokens.

In wealth management, the bank has started guarding around how clients approach the asset class.

A report by the International Investment Committee described the cryptocurrency as speculative and assigned 2 to 4 percent depending on risk appetite, likening bitcoin to “digital gold.”

Oldenburg's new charge ties those threads together, giving Morgan Stanley a single senior point person to oversee product development, partnerships and execution as crypto moves into mainstream markets.