Key Notes
- Schwab offers direct Bitcoin and ether trading to eligible retail clients, extending crypto access across its established investment platforms.
- The company reports $13.33 trillion in client assets and 40.3 million active brokerage accounts, which are distinct from unique approved crypto users.
- Each purchase or sale carries a 0.75% fee, while external-wallet transfers remain subject to a phased rollout and separate enrollment.
Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) now offers direct Bitcoin and ether trading to eligible retail clients, bringing the two cryptocurrencies into a financial platform with $13.33 trillion in client assets.
The company’s crypto offering lets approved customers buy, hold and sell BTC and ETH through Schwab.com, Schwab Mobile and thinkorswim. It expands the ways investors can access digital assets alongside their traditional holdings.
The scale is substantial, but the account figures require context. Schwab reported 40.3 million active brokerage accounts at September-end. That is an account count, not a tally of unique people approved for crypto trading, and the service retains jurisdiction and eligibility restrictions.
Direct Trading Builds on a Phased Launch
Schwab announced its spot-crypto service in April and began rolling it out to clients in May. An August 27 update confirmed that Bitcoin and ether trading was already available during that rollout.
The current offering is therefore the expansion of an existing service, rather than Schwab’s first move into direct crypto trading. Its website now invites brokerage customers to apply for a Schwab Crypto account.
The account is provided by Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, a separate affiliate from the broker-dealer that supplies Schwab brokerage accounts. Customers can view the investments within familiar platforms, but the crypto and brokerage accounts remain distinct.
In August, Schwab also announced plans to add Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink in the coming months. Its current product page identifies Bitcoin and ether as available now; the earlier announcement should not be read as confirmation that the three additional tokens are already tradable.
Eligibility Limits the Reach of the Service
Schwab’s account requirements specify an eligible brokerage account and residence in a supported U.S. jurisdiction. New York and Louisiana residents are excluded, as are residents of U.S. territories and international jurisdictions. Applications remain subject to approval.
Customers fund the crypto account by moving available cash from its linked brokerage account. The process adds an account-opening step rather than automatically converting every existing brokerage relationship into a cryptocurrency account.
That makes the distinction between distribution and adoption important. Schwab has a large established audience, but availability does not establish how many customers will apply, how much they will allocate or whether purchases will represent new investment rather than assets moved from another provider.
A 0.75% Fee Applies to Each Trade
Schwab charges 0.75% of each purchase or sale, with a minimum fee of one cent, and says it adds no spread markup. A transaction with a notional value of $1,000 therefore carries a $7.50 trading fee.
Buying and later selling the same $1,000 notional amount would incur $15 in combined fees. Actual sale fees change with the value sold, so this example assumes an unchanged notional amount and excludes any blockchain withdrawal charge.
The fee model differs from simply holding a crypto-linked fund in a brokerage account. Direct trading generates transaction charges; a fund has its own expense structure and legal arrangement. The appropriate cost comparison depends on the product and how often an investor trades.
Schwab supports dollar-based and coin-based orders, with market, limit, stop and stop-limit choices. The company also offers round-the-clock specialist support, extending its existing service model to the digital-asset account.
External Transfers Are Still Rolling Out
Trading access and wallet transfers are separate features. Schwab’s FAQs say external transfers are being enabled in phases, with eligible account holders notified by email. Enrollment requires identity verification and a passkey.
Supported transfers use the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. Outgoing addresses must be approved in advance, with a minimum 24-hour waiting period after a new address is added. Customers should not assume that trading approval means transfers are immediately enabled.
Schwab says customers legally own the cryptocurrency in their accounts, with custody provided by its Premier Bank affiliate in collaboration with Paxos Trust Company. The cryptocurrencies themselves are neither FDIC insured nor SIPC protected.
That distinction matters when digital assets sit beside conventional investments in the same interface. Platform integration simplifies access without making the legal protections of every holding identical.
What the Expansion Means for Schwab’s Business
The company’s October 15 earnings release reported $190.4 billion in third-quarter core net new assets and $7.17 billion in revenue. The $13.33 trillion client-asset total describes investments and other assets held for clients, not Schwab’s market capitalization or money committed to crypto.
For SCHW shareholders, direct trading creates another way to retain customer activity and earn transaction fees. Its contribution will depend on adoption, trading volumes and operating costs; the cited results do not separately quantify crypto revenue.
The move also fits a broader shift among established financial firms. As we previously reported, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is targeting tokenized-stock trading in early 2027. That is a different product and timetable, but both developments show traditional institutions adding digital-asset capabilities to existing financial services.
