Schwab Wealth Management opens Bitcoin and Ethereum trading: 38.9 million users enter, disrupting the crypto market landscape

Gate News message: Traditional finance giant Charles Schwab announced that it will launch the “Schwab Crypto” service in the second quarter of 2026, opening spot trading in Bitcoin and Ethereum to about 38.9 million brokerage customers, marking the mainstream broker’s official entry at scale into the realm of direct crypto asset trading.

The service will be operated through its banking subsidiary. Users will not need to create an additional platform account; they can directly hold Bitcoin and Ethereum within their existing brokerage framework. This model changes the previous path of indirectly gaining exposure to crypto assets only through ETFs or futures, further lowering the entry barrier for traditional investors. The company’s CEO, Rick Wurster, said this move is a natural extension following years of planning.

From a market-structure perspective, Schwab manages $12.22 trillion in assets under management. Its crypto-related traffic grew 400% in 2025, and 70% of that came from customers who were not already existing clients, indicating a strong demand among traditional investors for compliant channels. With the regulatory environment gradually easing at the margin—including adjustments to accounting rules and mitigation of limits on bank participation—the conditions for bringing this business to market are becoming more favorable.

On the competitive front, this move directly pressures existing crypto platforms. Schwab’s ability to offer low fees and its massive customer base give it a clear advantage in user acquisition and asset retention. At the same time, similar institutions are also accelerating their deployments, and the boundary between traditional finance and the crypto industry is rapidly narrowing.

It’s worth noting that Schwab also revealed that it may launch stablecoin products in the future, possibly after related bills are passed, showing that its strategy is not a single trading business, but rather building a full ecosystem around digital assets.