Key Takeaways:
Financial services giant Charles Schwab is entering the digital asset market with the launch of "Schwab Crypto," a platform for spot trading Bitcoin and Ethereum, for a 0.75 percent fee per trade.
"Whether you’re new to crypto and looking for a firm you know and trust, or you already own digital assets, our goal is to be the destination of choice for retail investors who want to incorporate digital assets into portfolios with confidence,” Joe Vietri, Schwab's head of digital assets, said in a statement.
The Texas-based brokerage, which manages over $12 trillion in assets, will begin offering the service in the second quarter of 2026. The rollout will be phased, starting with an internal employee pilot before opening to a client waitlist. Access will initially exclude customers in New York and Louisiana due to state-specific licensing requirements. The 0.75 percent trading fee is positioned below the one percent charged by Fidelity Crypto, but remains a stark contrast to the commission-free model offered by competitors like Robinhood.
Schwab's entry into the crypto space is a significant move toward the mainstream adoption of digital assets, potentially unlocking a vast new pool of capital from its 46 million active brokerage clients. The launch places Schwab in direct competition with crypto-native exchanges like Coinbase and further blurs the line between traditional finance and the blockchain. The move follows similar crypto integrations by other Wall Street firms, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which have recently explored or launched spot Bitcoin ETF products.
The announcement came on the same day Schwab reported a record net revenue of $6.48 billion for the first quarter of 2026, which narrowly missed analyst expectations. Shares of Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) fell 7.70 percent to close at $92.51 following the news. On the same day, Bitcoin was trading near $75,000, while Ethereum was priced around $2,355.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
