Brokerage companies big Charles Schwab plans to roll out spot cryptocurrency trading in the first half of 2026, pushing it deeper into digital property.
“We stay on observe to launch our spot crypto supply in the first half of 2026, starting with bitcoin and ether (ETH),” an organization spokesperson informed CoinDesk on Friday.
The agency has opened a waitlist for purchasers in search of early entry to what it calls a “Schwab Crypto” account, which can enable customers to purchase and promote the 2 largest cryptocurrencies. The agency will supply the service by way of Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB.
The transfer builds on feedback from CEO Rick Wurster, who said final July that Schwab aimed to introduce crypto trading “sometime soon” in response to shopper demand. He framed the trouble as a approach to carry digital property into the identical account view as shares and bonds in a push towards a extra unified funding platform.
Schwab’s scale may give it an edge because it enters a market lengthy dominated by crypto-native exchanges. The agency reported $11.9 trillion in shopper property in 2025, providing a built-in base of retail and institutional traders who might choose trading crypto inside a well-recognized brokerage surroundings moderately than utilizing standalone platforms.
The agency already permits purchasers to take a position in ETFs linked to cryptocurrencies and commerce bitcoin futures on its platform. It additionally launched the Schwab Crypto Thematic Index (STCE), an ETF that tracks the efficiency of firms linked to the digital asset sector.
