Charles Schwab now lets 40 million brokerage clients trade BTC and ETH directly, charging 75 basis points per trade. The rollout covers 48 states and comes with a cautious risk warning from the firm's own research.
Charles Schwab made Bitcoin and Ethereum trading available to roughly 40 million brokerage accounts starting August 13, according to Forbes. The service, called Schwab Crypto, charges 0.75% of each trade's dollar value and lets clients buy and sell the two largest tokens by market cap on the same platform they use for stocks and bonds.
The product is live in 48 U.S. states. New York and Louisiana are excluded. Trades settle through Charles Schwab Premier Bank and Paxos, the report said.
“We know our clients want to conduct more of their financial lives at Schwab,” Jonathan Craig, Schwab’s head of retail investing, said in the firm's announcement. Joe Vietri, head of digital assets, said Schwab aims to become “the destination of choice for retail investors who want to incorporate digital assets into their portfolios with confidence.”
The rollout builds on earlier indirect exposure. Schwab clients already hold roughly 20% of all spot crypto ETPs, the firm said. The direct-trading feature was first teased in May, when Schwab said its crypto rollout was “going as planned.”
Schwab's own research on the asset class is cautious. An April report found that even a 1% to 3% allocation to Bitcoin or Ether can account for an outsized share of a portfolio's total risk. “Any allocation to cryptocurrency is likely to increase a portfolio's volatility,” Schwab wrote, noting both tokens have fallen more than 70% in past cycles. There is “no correct allocation,” the report concluded, calling crypto a speculative, high-risk satellite holding.
The 0.75% fee positions Schwab among the lower-cost options in the industry, according to Cryptopolitan's reporting on the launch. The firm oversees more than $12 trillion in client assets.
Schwab joins a broader Wall Street push. Morgan Stanley has opened crypto trading on its E-Trade platform, and Goldman Sachs has filed for a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, Cryptopolitan reported. All three moves come as Congress works on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would split oversight between the SEC and the CFTC and set federal rules for tokens, stablecoins, and DeFi.
Schwab's own AlphaScore sits at 52 out of 100, labeled Mixed, according to AlphaScala's proprietary scoring. That neutral rating reflects the tension between the firm's cautious research stance and its aggressive distribution move.
The firm said it plans to expand its crypto lineup beyond Bitcoin and Ether and eventually support deposits from external wallets. A timeline has not been set.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.