Breaking: Charles Schwab Joins the Crypto Revolution with Spot Bitcoin Trading Launch

Wall Street's old guard just got a blockchain facelift. Charles Schwab—the $8 trillion asset management behemoth—is finally diving headfirst into crypto with spot Bitcoin trading.

Why now? Because even boomer brokers can't ignore 2025's $2T crypto market cap.

The move shocks exactly no one. Schwab's been quietly building crypto infrastructure since 2023, when 'institutional FOMO' became a boardroom buzzword. Now they're cutting the ribbon on what analysts call "the most compliant backdoor into crypto" since BlackRock's ETF.

Expect:

- Zero-fee trading wars (Schwab vs. Fidelity vs. Coinbase)

- "Educational" webinars that are really sales pitches

- At least one exec calling it "Gold 2.0" unironically

The twist? They'll probably still charge $25 for an OTC trade—some traditions never die.

Key Takeaways

• Charles Schwab will offer spot bitcoin and ether trading to expand digital asset services.
• Regulatory changes have enabled traditional institutions to participate in bitcoin custody and trading.
• Institutional investors are rapidly increasing their bitcoin allocations and exploring digital asset payments.

Charles Schwab is set to expand its digital asset services by introducing spot trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to CEO Rick Wurster.

The MOVE is intended to accommodate clients who wish to manage both their traditional and digital asset portfolios within a single platform.

Client demand for bitcoin access

Wurster noted that Schwab clients already have considerable exposure to digital assets through exchange-traded products, accounting for over 20% of the sector’s ETP market.

Despite this, digital assets represent only about $25 billion of Schwab clients’ total $10.8 trillion in wealth.

Wurster explained:

“We anticipate launching bitcoin and Ether sometime soon so that our clients have access to that. We think that will be an acceleration of our growth.”

He added that clients often keep 98% of their wealth with Schwab but hold most of their digital assets with other providers, expressing a desire to consolidate these holdings due to trust in Schwab’s platform.

Competing with digital exchanges

Wurster confirmed Schwab’s intent to compete directly with exchanges such as Coinbase by providing spot bitcoin trading.

The company has observed a significant rise in user interest, with a 400% increase in traffic to its digital asset website earlier this year. Schwab had previously targeted an April 2026 launch window for these services.

Recent regulatory changes, including the reversal of restrictive guidelines by the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve, have enabled banks like Schwab to participate more actively in digital asset custody and trading.

Schwab now offers a range of bitcoin-related products, including ETFs and mutual funds.

Institutional interest continues to grow

A March survey by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon indicated that 83% of institutional investors intend to increase their bitcoin allocations in 2025.

The survey also found that many institutions expect to allocate at least 5% of their portfolios to digital assets this year. This trend is reinforced by additional research showing widespread institutional exploration of stablecoins and other blockchain-based payment tools.