Morgan Stanley launched a crypto price war on E*Trade at 50 basis points, undercutting Coinbase and Schwab.

Morgan Stanley has launched a crypto trading pilot on its ETrade platform at 50 basis points per trade, immediately undercutting every major retail rival. Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana are available directly inside ETrade brokerage accounts via Zerohash, which handles liquidity, custody, and settlement.

The 50-basis-point fee sits below Schwab’s 75bps, Fidelity’s 1%, and Coinbase retail fees that can exceed 0.5% depending on tier and payment method. Jed Finn, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management, said the move is “much bigger than trading crypto at a cheaper rate,” describing it as a strategy to keep its 8.6 million clients inside its own ecosystem.

Why crypto exchanges are watching nervously

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas warned immediately after the launch that “crypto exchanges should be scared.” He drew a direct comparison to the fee race that followed the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs, which saw providers start at 50 basis points before Morgan Stanley undercut them all with a 14-basis-point offering.

“By the time the dust settles it’ll be pretty dirt cheap to trade crypto everywhere,” Balchunas said. Industry leaders pushing back noted the perspective is US-centric, with global platforms already diversified beyond spot-trading fees into derivatives, DeFi, and international markets.

Coinbase, which posted a $1.49-per-share quarterly loss for Q1 2026 on revenue of $1.41 billion, already launched commission-free stock trading in February as part of its “Everything Exchange” strategy to reduce dependence on crypto trading fees.

The scale of Morgan Stanley’s distribution advantage

Morgan Stanley’s 16,000 financial advisors oversee $9.3 trillion in client assets, a distribution channel crypto-native platforms cannot match. The pilot is small for now, but the bank plans to roll out access to all 8.6 million E*Trade clients later in 2026 alongside a proprietary digital wallet capable of holding crypto alongside tokenized stocks, bonds, and real estate.

The move follows Morgan Stanley’s April 8 launch of its own spot Bitcoin ETF, MSBT, which charges just 14 basis points and avoided outflows throughout its entire first month of trading, a record no other spot Bitcoin ETF matched during the same period.

Crypto compliance demand is surging as AI fraud evolves faster than firms can respond, Sumsub CEO Andrew Sever says.

Crypto compliance firms are reporting a sharp rise in demand as AI fraud attacks become faster, more sophisticated, and harder to stop. Sumsub co-founder and CEO Andrew Sever told Consensus Miami that fraud is evolving faster than the industry can respond.

“Before, the main things were verification speed and conversion rate,” Sever said. “Today, the majority of companies prioritize verification accuracy.” High-quality AI fraud attacks on crypto surged 180% year over year, with sophisticated attacks now using deepfakes, synthetic identities, and automated phishing networks that can bypass standard verification systems.

What is driving the compliance surge

Sever warned that bad actors now use large language models to launch thousands of personalised phishing attempts per minute, mimicking legitimate exchanges without detectable errors. “Imagine a bad actor trying to penetrate the system using a deepfake. If it fails, they try again in two minutes,” he said.

Only 23% of crypto companies are currently ready to comply with incoming identity and fraud regulations, according to Sumsub’s State of the Crypto Industry 2026 report. Sever noted that 72% of firms told Sumsub they would change their internal compliance processes as a result of the pressure.

Illicit crypto reached $154 billion in 2025 according to Chainalysis, up 162% from the prior year, with scammers and sanctioned entities both driving volume higher. The scale of the problem is pushing compliance teams toward automated systems.

How the industry is responding

Chainalysis launched blockchain intelligence agents in March designed to absorb the growing alert load facing compliance teams, triaging, gathering context, and surfacing conclusions faster than human analysts working alone. Emmanuel Marot, vice president of products at Chainalysis, said the company wants to “automate the tasks of our customers as much as possible.”

A DOJ rollback of crypto enforcement in early 2026, flagged by senators citing the same Chainalysis data, has added further pressure on private-sector compliance teams to fill the gap left by reduced federal oversight.

Tom Lee has slowed Bitmine ETH purchases after the firm amassed over 5.2 million tokens and 4.3% of Ethereum’s supply.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) bought 26,659 ETH last week worth roughly $63 million, sharply down from the more than 100,000 ETH it had been acquiring each week for months. The purchase lifted total holdings to over 5.2 million ETH, worth approximately $12.1 billion, making Bitmine the world’s largest Ethereum treasury company.

Chairman Tom Lee said the firm had deliberately reduced its pace. “We have decided to slow down our pace of weekly accumulation from over 100,000 per week,” he said. “Our previous pace of buys would have us reach 5% by mid-July.”

Why Bitmine is pulling back on purchases

Bitmine originally expected to reach its 5% Ethereum supply target in late 2026. The aggressive accumulation pace shortened that timeline to weeks, prompting a reassessment. The company now holds 4.31% of Ethereum’s circulating supply of approximately 120.7 million ETH.

Lee reiterated his view that “crypto spring” has begun, pointing to Ethereum’s recent price recovery. “If ETH closes above $2,100 at the end of May, this would be the third consecutive monthly gain. This has never been seen in a crypto bear market,” he said.

Since the start of 2026, Bitmine has acquired more than 1 million ETH. Its total crypto, cash, and equity holdings stood at $13.4 billion as of May 10, including 201 Bitcoin, a $200 million stake in Beast Industries, and $775 million in cash.

Staking strategy and what comes next

Bitmine has staked 4,712,917 ETH, representing more than 90% of its total holdings and generating an estimated $319 million in annualised staking rewards based on a 2.86% seven-day yield. That makes it the largest ETH staker of any public company globally.

The company’s MAVAN staking platform, launched earlier in 2026, is being positioned to serve institutional clients alongside Bitmine’s own treasury operations.

Lee said Ethereum’s two primary drivers going forward are Wall Street’s move to tokenization and the rise of agentic AI systems relying on public blockchains for payments and verification.

France-listed Bitcoin treasury company Capital B raised 15.2 million euros ($17.8 million) from strategic investors including Blockstream CEO Adam Back and Paris-based asset manager TOBAM as it seeks to expand its BTC treasury.

The new capital was raised through a private placement of shares, with four share subscription warrants attached to each share at a fixed price of $0.78, the company said Monday.

The company said the proceeds, together with ongoing operations, could allow it to acquire another 182 Bitcoin, potentially lifting its total holdings to 3,125 BTC.

If all warrants issued in connection with the transaction were exercised, Capital B could raise an additional $116.5 million through the issuance of about 92 million additional shares, wrote Alexandre Laizet, the board director of Bitcoin strategy at Capital B.

The raise shows Capital B is still pursuing Bitcoin accumulation while parts of the corporate Bitcoin treasury sector are taking a more defensive posture, including hedging programs, debt reduction and asset sales after months of weaker market conditions.

The company’s latest raise comes a week after Capital B raised $1.3 million from Adam Back to accelerate its Bitcoin treasury strategy.

Capital B raises $17.8 million from Adam Back and TOBAM. Source: Capital B

Capital B shares rise after capital raise

Capital B shares rose around 4.3% after the announcement on Monday and traded around 0.67 euros ($0.79) at the time of writing.

The company’s shares are down by around 11% year-to-date, data from Yahoo Finance shows.

Capital B shares, 24-hour chart, in euros. Source: Yahoo Finance

Capital B is currently the 25th-largest Bitcoin treasury firm, holding 2,943 BTC, worth about $237 million. It ranks as Europe’s second-largest Bitcoin treasury following Germany’s Bitcoin Group SE, according to Bitcointreasuries data.

Related: Adam Back says Bitcoin’s post-quantum shift may reveal true Satoshi stash 

On April 20, Michael Saylor’s Strategy raised an additional $2.5 billion from the issuance of Stretch (STRC) and the sales of Class A common stock (MSTR). On April 23, XCE raised $794,000 of capital in a round backed by Adam Back.

Barring these raises, no other Bitcoin treasury companies have publicly announced a capital raise during the past six weeks. However, some companies are looking to hedge against the downside risk of the bear market.

On April 24, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto announced an actively managed Bitcoin derivatives program seeking to generate recurring income from volatility and hedge part of its corporate BTC holdings against downside exposure. A month earlier, the company announced the sale of 284 Bitcoin (worth about $20 million at the time), in a March 30 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Earlier in February, Bitcoin treasury company Genius Group said it sold its remaining treasury holdings of 84 BTC for about $5.7 million, which it used toward repaying an $8.5 million debt obligation, according to an SEC filing.  

Magazine: Bitcoin vs. the quantum computer threat — Timeline and solutions (2025–2035)  

Key Takeaways

• HIMS tumbles in after-hours trading as expanding Q1 losses eclipse revenue gains.
• Growing subscriber base provides support, but profitability concerns weigh heavily on sentiment.
• Company outlook indicates continued expansion, though margin compression maintains downward pressure.
• Extended-hours selling intensifies as HIMS swings from prior-year profit to significant loss.
• GLP-1 product expansion offers growth potential while earnings challenges push stock downward.

Shares of Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) tumbled during extended trading hours despite the digital health platform delivering increased first-quarter revenue. The stock finished regular trading at $29.14, posting a 3.08% gain, before plummeting 9.75% to $26.30 following the earnings announcement. The after-hours decline reflected investor concerns over deteriorating profitability, margin compression, and a dramatic earnings reversal compared to the previous year.

Hims & Hers Health, Inc., HIMS

Top-Line Gains Cannot Mask Profitability Concerns

Hims & Hers delivered first-quarter revenue totaling $608.1 million, representing a 4% increase from $586.0 million in the comparable period last year. The uptick demonstrated persistent consumer demand for its telehealth offerings. Nevertheless, this incremental growth proved insufficient to alleviate investor worries about deteriorating bottom-line performance.

Gross profit margin contracted significantly to 65% from 73% recorded in the year-ago quarter. This compression reflected escalating operational expenses tied to the company’s broadening service offerings. The margin deterioration also raised questions about earnings sustainability despite growing revenue volumes.

The company reported a net loss of $92.1 million for the quarter. This marked a stark reversal from net income of $49.5 million achieved in the same quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA similarly declined to $44.3 million from $91.1 million.

Customer Base Expands While Domestic Revenue Softens

Hims & Hers concluded the quarter with approximately 2.6 million subscribers on its platform. This represented a 9% year-over-year increase from 2.37 million subscribers. The expanding customer base strengthened the foundation for delivering customized healthcare solutions.

Average monthly revenue per subscriber decreased to $80 from $85 in the prior-year period. This 6% reduction indicated challenges in extracting higher value from existing customers. The decline partially negated the positive impact of adding new subscribers.

Domestic revenue contracted 8% to $529.9 million during the quarter. Conversely, international revenue surged to $78.2 million compared to just $7.3 million previously. This substantial overseas expansion provided crucial support for consolidated revenue amid weakening U.S. performance.

Forward Guidance Shows Growth Ambitions Amid Margin Challenges

Management provided second-quarter revenue guidance ranging from $680 million to $700 million. The company also projected adjusted EBITDA between $35 million and $55 million. This forecast translates to an EBITDA margin of approximately 5% to 8%.

For the complete 2026 fiscal year, Hims & Hers anticipates revenue between $2.8 billion and $3.0 billion. Full-year adjusted EBITDA is expected to fall within a range of $275 million to $350 million. These projections exclude any potential contributions from the pending Eucalyptus acquisition.

The organization continues investing in branded GLP-1 offerings and additional care verticals. Management also announced a transition from quarterly to annual shareholder communications. Despite these strategic initiatives, the sharp after-hours decline demonstrated that investors remain focused on margin weakness and earnings inconsistency as primary concerns for HIMS stock.

With lawmakers on the US Senate Banking Committee set to consider a markup on a cryptocurrency market structure bill this week, some Democrats are holding the line — and potentially their votes — on ethics provisions.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY), passed by the US House of Representatives in July 2025, is scheduled for a markup in the Banking Committee on Thursday after months of delays due to concerns about language on stablecoin yield, tokenized equities, ethics and more issues related to the crypto industry.

Although the Senate Agriculture Committee passed its version of the bill in a January markup, the legislation must pass through both panels to address different aspects of securities and commodities laws.

“Negotiations continue to be positive, and I remain confident we can get a bipartisan bill over the finish line this Congress,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told Cointelegraph. “Americans deserve a well-regulated market with strong consumer protections and real ethics reforms so politicians can’t cash in on their insider status for personal gain.”

Earlier this month, Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks, both of whom sit on the banking committee, announced a compromise deal on stablecoin yield that could allow the CLARITY Act to move forward after months of delays. However, New York’s Gillibrand said that even if the bill were to pass the banking committee, her fellow Democrats would not vote in favor of CLARITY without an ethics provision to deal with potential conflicts of interest by members of Congress, elected officials and the US President and Vice President.

Prediction market sentiment on CLARITY Act passage. Source: Polymarket

Related: 7 Democrats seen as ‘key’ to advancing CLARITY Act: Galaxy

Even before taking office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump had close ties to the industry, through the launch of his memecoin Official Trump (TRUMP) and his family’s crypto business, World Liberty Financial. Forbes reported that the president’s personal fortune had increased by about $1.2 billion as of July 2025 due to his crypto ventures. 

Full steam ahead for some Republican lawmakers

Senator Tim Scott, the Republican who chairs the banking committee, said that concerns about the president’s crypto ties were outside the body’s purview for markup and needed to be addressed by the ethics committee before any potential floor vote in the chamber. Tillis, also a Republican, said in April that he would not support any bill without “a bipartisan agreement when it comes to the ethics provision.”

Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming’s junior senator who has led the charge on the bill in the Senate and will be retiring in 2027, has urged lawmakers to vote for CLARITY on Thursday.

Source: Cynthia Lummis

“I’m hopeful, given that there seems to be so much momentum from the Democrats, from the Republicans saying ‘hey, we’re ready to get a deal to get this done’ that they can resolve ethics and that it won’t hold this up,” Cody Carbone, CEO of crypto advocacy organization The Digital Chamber, told Cointelegraph. “Ethics has to be tackled on the floor, it’s not within the jurisdiction of the Senate Banking Committee, so I don’t expect it to hold up the markup.”

Even if the bill were to advance in the banking committee and get the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate, CLARITY would likely need to return to the House for both chambers to pass a reconciled version before it could go to Trump’s desk to potentially be signed into law.

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