Summary
- Morgan Stanley executives say the era of traditional 9-to-5 banking is ending as markets move toward 24/7 trading and settlement.
- They expect tokenized assets to bring blockchain technology to mainstream investors before many buy cryptocurrencies directly.
- The bank is expanding its digital asset offerings with crypto trading on E*TRADE and new Bitcoin, Ether and Solana ETFs.
The financial industry is moving toward a world where markets never close, payments settle in real time and investors expect access to their money around the clock, as reported by Morgan Stanley executives, who say tokenization is accelerating a shift away from traditional banking hours.
Speaking during a panel discussion on digital assets, Betsy Graseck, Morgan Stanley’s global head of banks and diversified finance research, argued that the move to tokenized assets is about far more than cryptocurrencies. Instead, she stated, the focus is on rebuilding financial infrastructure for an always-on economy.
“I do phrase it as, look, this is the end of banker hours,” Graseck stated. “Your batch processing mentality is going to be a thing of the past.”
The comment reflects a broader trend taking shape across financial markets. Banks, exchanges and custodians are investing in technology that allows assets to move 24 hours a day, seven days a week rather than only during business hours. While cryptocurrencies demonstrated that round-the-clock markets were possible, executives stated the same infrastructure is increasingly being applied to traditional assets.
