BREAKING: Charles Schwab CEO Teases Bitcoin & Ethereum Trading for Clients as GENIUS Act Goes Live
Wall Street's sleeping giant just woke up—and it's holding crypto keys.
Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger dropped the clearest signal yet that the $8.5 trillion asset manager will soon offer Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. The move comes hours after the GENIUS Act—Washington's rare bipartisan nod to crypto regulation—signed into law.
Why Schwab Matters
This isn't just another exchange listing. Schwab's 34 million clients represent Main Street's 401(k)s and IRAs—the exact demographic crypto's been struggling to onboard. When Schwab sneezes, the wealth management world gets pneumonia.
The GENIUS Effect
The freshly minted law gives firms regulatory aircover to custody digital assets. No more 'innovate first, apologize later' dance that's defined crypto's relationship with the SEC. Even Goldman Sachs couldn't lobby this one away.
Cynic's Corner
Funny how trillion-dollar firms suddenly 'believe in blockchain' when there's a law protecting their margins. Schwab's move reeks of FOMO—their retail traders were already buying GBTC at 30% premiums anyway.
One thing's certain: The old guard's embrace means crypto's institutional era isn't coming. It's here.
Charles Schwab signals Bitcoin and Ethereum trading rollout following Crypto Week success
Charles Schwab is considering launching Bitcoin and ethereum trading services as client demand grows, CEO Rick Wurster revealed in an interview with CNBC on Friday.
Wurster said the $10 trillion asset manager plans to roll out the products "sometime soon," adding that many clients want to bring their crypto holdings to the company's platform.
"What we hear from many of our clients are that they have 98% of their wealth here at Schwab, and they might hold a percent or 2% at some digital native firm to hold their crypto, and they really want to bring it back to Schwab because they trust us," Wurster told CNBC.
He stated that the company's clients currently hold over 20% of digital asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs), accounting for $25 billion, which is just above 0.2% of its $10.8 trillion assets under management (AuM).
With the inclusion of Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, Wurster expects the company to compete with Coinbase for a share of the spot market. "If they're buying their crypto on Coinbase, we'd love to see them bring it back to Schwab," Wurster said.
He also noted that the company is preparing to launch a stablecoin, joining a growing list of traditional finance giants that are exploring the token category, including Fidelity and J.P. Morgan.
The development comes as crypto community members celebrate President Trump's signing of the GENIUS bill on Friday, following the success of the House's Crypto Week, where lawmakers passed three pieces of crypto legislation.
GENIUS aims to regulate stablecoin issuers in the US by establishing proper guidelines, including anti-money laundering (AML) rules, and ensuring that assets are fully backed by the US Dollar. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday along with the CLARITY and Anti-CBDC bills, which are headed to the Senate floor for deliberation.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are changing hands at $117,800 and $3,540, respectively, at the time of publication.
