Charles Schwab plans to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading services in the first half of this year

BlockBeats message: On April 4, U.S. brokerage giant Charles Schwab announced that it plans to launch cryptocurrency spot trading services through its banking subsidiary in the first half of 2026, supporting the buying and selling of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

It is understood that the service will be provided through “Schwab Crypto” accounts. A waitlist for customers has already been opened. Users must already hold a Schwab brokerage account in order to apply. Charles Schwab’s CEO Rick Wurster said that this move is intended to meet customer demand and to integrate digital assets with traditional assets such as stocks and bonds into a single account view.

Notably, this crypto business will be operated by the banking subsidiary. The relevant assets are not protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and are not eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) deposit insurance. In addition, in its initial phase, the service will not cover certain U.S. regions, including New York and the state of Louisiana.

At present, Schwab has already offered crypto-related products such as Bitcoin ETFs and futures. With direct spot trading going live, the market generally believes that this initiative will further drive the integration of crypto assets into the mainstream financial system, and could put potential pressure on the fee structures of native crypto trading platforms such as Coinbase.