Bank

2026

Bitcoin

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Spot

<p>On Tuesday, May 12, Charles Schwab opened spot trading for Bitcoin and Ether to a first wave of US retail clients through its <a href="https://pressroom.aboutschwab.com/press-releases/press-release/2026/Charles-Schwab-Announces-Details-of-Spot-Crypto-Trading-Launch/default.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Schwab Crypto</a> platform.</p>
<p>The brokerage manages approximately $11.77 trillion in client assets across 39.1 million active brokerage accounts, making it the largest US wealth platform to enable direct spot crypto trading.</p>
<p><a href="https://crypto.ro/en/cryptocurrencies/bitcoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Bitcoin</a> trades near $81,000 and <a href="https://crypto.ro/en/cryptocurrencies/ethereum/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ether</a> near $2,400 as the rollout begins.</p>
<h2 id="live">Schwab Crypto goes live for first wave of retail clients</h2>
<p>The launch is phased. The first eligible clients received access on Tuesday, with broader availability to follow over the coming weeks.</p>
<p>The service operates as a separate crypto account within a client’s Schwab profile and integrates with Schwab.com, the Schwab Mobile app, and the thinkorswim trading platform. Spot BTC and ETH appear in the same account view as stocks, bonds and ETFs.</p>
<p>The service is available in all US states except New York and Louisiana. Schwab notes that not all clients will qualify for the offering in the initial wave.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
 <p>Schwab Crypto<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/2122.png" alt="™"> accounts are now being rolled out to retail clients.</p>
 <p>Starting today, the first group of clients can trade Bitcoin and Ethereum at Schwab, right alongside their other investments.</p>
 <p>Sign up for updates and a chance to get early access: <a href="https://t.co/ELe1HWHS8Y" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://t.co/ELe1HWHS8Y</a><a href="https://t.co/HJKbPUD7Ob" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/HJKbPUD7Ob</a></p>
 <p>— Charles Schwab Corp (@CharlesSchwab) <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlesSchwab/status/2054234006489588119?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">May 12, 2026</a></p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="custody">Charles Schwab Premier Bank custody with Paxos execution layer</h2>
<p>The operational stack splits custody and execution. Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB acts as the primary custodian holding client crypto.</p>
<p>Paxos handles trade execution and sub-custody. The split reflects how legacy financial firms are entering digital assets, using internal banking and trust relationships while contracting crypto-native infrastructure providers for the execution layer.</p>
<p>Schwab survey data referenced in the launch materials identified three drivers that brought clients to the offering: low transparent pricing, brand familiarity, and confidence in asset security. The custody structure addresses the third directly.</p>
<p>Schwab Premier Bank operates under existing US bank regulation, separating Schwab Crypto from the offshore-domiciled or sole-purpose custodial models of several crypto-native exchanges.</p>
<h2 id="fee">75 basis-point fee and phased rollout structure</h2>
<p>Schwab Crypto charges 75 basis points (0.75%) per trade on the dollar value of each transaction. The pricing sits below Fidelity Crypto’s 1% retail fee and matches the upper end of Robinhood’s published range. The fee applies symmetrically to buy and sell orders.</p>
<p>Jonathan Craig, Head of Retail Investing at Charles Schwab, framed the launch in the official press release:</p>
<blockquote>
 <p>“We know our clients want to conduct more of their financial lives at Schwab. With Schwab Crypto, clients who want direct access to the asset class can trade it alongside their other investments, while benefiting from the service, education, and research they expect from us.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>CEO Rick Wurster had signaled the timeline last July, telling investors the company was tracking demand from clients who held a small share of their portfolio with crypto-native firms but wanted to consolidate inside Schwab.</p>
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<h2 id="etp">20% of Schwab assets already sit in US spot crypto ETPs</h2>
<p>The internal demand signal supporting the launch is unusual. Schwab disclosed in its launch materials that its clients already hold approximately 20% of all assets invested in US spot crypto exchange-traded products,&nbsp;a position built entirely through ETF wrappers since the January 2024 spot <a href="https://crypto.ro/en/news/bitcoin-etf-approval-marks-historic-milestone-for-asset-size-states-michael-saylor/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC ETF approvals</a>.</p>
<p>That captive interest helps explain the phased rollout: Schwab is not trying to convert clients to crypto, it is trying to keep existing crypto-curious clients from moving assets to Coinbase, Robinhood, or Kraken to access direct ownership.</p>
<p>The launch closes a gap. Until Tuesday, Schwab clients seeking direct BTC or ETH exposure had to leave the platform.</p>
<p>Schwab Q1 2026 earnings, $6.48 billion in revenue (+16% YoY) and $2.6 billion in adjusted net income (+38% YoY EPS), give the firm balance-sheet room to absorb any margin compression from a competitive fee structure during the phased rollout.</p>

Schwab opens spot BTC and ETH trading to 39M retail clients

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