Andrew Peel, who led Morgan Stanley’s digital asset markets unit, is departing to start out a Zug-based enterprise bridging conventional finance and decentralized finance.
Morgan Stanley’s head of digital asset markets Andrew Peel has left the financial institution to launch a brand new crypto enterprise, Bloomberg has realized, citing an individual aware of the matter.
Peel, a former Credit score Suisse dealer, joined Morgan Stanley in 2018. He stepped down from his function in March and plans to start out fundraising for his new enterprise within the coming months, per the sources near the matter.
The corporate will reportedly be based mostly in Zug, Switzerland‘s crypto hub, and can embrace an “asset management vehicle that will both invest in and issue DeFi assets such as tokenized funds,” the sources say. The agency may also “operate a technology business to develop trading products that help traditional firms bridge the gap into the space as it becomes more regulated.”
Earlier this 12 months, Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Choose stated the financial institution needs to work carefully with the U.S. Treasury and different regulators to outline its function within the crypto market. Choose additionally stated the agency would search readability on whether or not the financial institution can increase its function as a transactor within the crypto market.
Peel’s exit comes as Morgan Stanley is getting ready to supply crypto buying and selling to retail traders by way of its E*Commerce platform. The service is predicted to go dwell in 2026, when crypto buying and selling might be obtainable for all of its 5.2 million retail purchasers.