Morgan Stanley Hires Credit Suisse 'Bitcoin Expert' to Head Digital Assets Division

Announced July 31, 2018, investment banking giant Morgan Stanley hired a former Credit Suisse VP to head its digital assets division.

Morgan Stanley is hiring Credit Suisse's VP of Sales and Innovative Trading to head its new Digital Asset Markets division, reports eFinancialCareers.

While working as a derivates trader for Credit Suisse, Peel took an interest in cryptocurrency and began advocating digital asset investing in 2013.

By 2016, the firm recognized a crypto market opportunity and appointed Peel as the VP for Sales and Trading Innovation - acting as a 'trading subject matter expert for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Morgan Stanley ranks sixth among the largest U.S. banks with over $851 billion in assets under management, according to data from Bankrate.

Morgan Stanley's recent hire follows a series of job postings seeking equity analysts with "Knowledge of cryptocurrencies" in early March 2018.

In the same month, former CS trader Nelson Minier took a job at Kraken, according to eFinancialCareers.

To meet increasing client demand, Morgan Stanley quietly began clearing Bitcoin futures contracts at the start of 2018.

In the onset of regulated digital asset derivatives and security token markets, it's apparent Morgan Stanley is preparing for the developing digital economy.

Currently, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are the only major Wall Street firms offering cryptocurrency-backed derivatives trading.