Charles Schwab Joins the Crypto Revolution: Spot Bitcoin & Ethereum Trading Goes Live

Wall Street's old guard just got a blockchain facelift. Charles Schwab—the 800-pound gorilla of traditional brokerage—is flipping the switch on spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. No more dipping toes through ETFs or futures; clients get direct access to crypto’s heaviest hitters.

Why now? Because even suits smell the FOMO.

The move smacks of desperation—or genius. With retail traders fleeing stale equities for crypto’s 24/7 adrenaline rush, Schwab’s playing catch-up. Better late than never? Maybe. But let’s see how fast they blame 'volatility' when the first 10% swing hits.

One thing’s certain: the dinosaurs are learning to code. Whether they’ll survive the crypto winter is another story.

Spot crypto trading volume dropped in Q2

Charles Schwab’s interest in crypto trading comes as spot crypto volume fell by 22% in the second quarter of 2025. Crypto spot trading volumes on major centralized exchanges (CEXs) fell from $5.3 trillion in Q4 2024 to $4.6 trillion in Q1 2025 and then fell even more to $3.6 trillion in Q2, according to data from TokenInsight.

Bitcoin’s price increased significantly in Q2, reaching 25% gain. This was due to inflows into Bitcoin funds and more companies using it. This is a big change from the 12% drop in Q1. However, Bitcoin dominance, at the same time, dropped by 4.36% over the past week to 61.84%.

Meanwhile, Ether spot ethereum exchange-traded funds saw their most significant daily net inflow on Wednesday, totaling $726.74 million. The inflows were led by $499 million into BlackRock’s ETHA, with eight out of nine ether funds reporting positive daily flows.

Following the news today, Charles Schwab will join the London-based international banking group Standard Chartered, which launched a US dollar-paired bitcoin and Ether spot trading service for institutional clients this week, including corporates, investors, and asset managers.

Charles Schwab benefited from Trump’s tariffs

Charles Schwab also revealed today that it benefited from a surge in trading activity around President Trump’s tariffs. The brokerage’s profits ROSE 60% in the quarter compared to a year ago.

Also, late-quarter market bounce not only increased the amount of money that brokerages managed, but it also allowed companies like Schwab to charge higher fees.

Schwab posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.14 while total client assets climbed 14% to $10.76 trillion. According to a statement, this is in comparison to the same period last year. Revenue from client trades also jumped 23% to $952 million.

For the three months ending June 30, Charles Schwab made $2.13 billion, or $1.08 per share. This is in comparison to the $1.33 billion, or 66 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Daily average revenue trades just barely beat analysts’ expectations at 7.57 million. 

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