Schwab opens crypto trading to all clients, adds transfers

Schwab Crypto all clients access is now live. "All clients can now access Schwab Crypto," chief executive Rick Wurster said on Charles Schwab's third-quarter earnings call on Oct. 15, adding that the brokerage is rolling out transfers of outside crypto holdings and will add three more coins before year-end, CoinMarketCap reported.

What happened

Schwab Crypto launched with spot bitcoin and ether trading, first unveiled in April and opened to retail customers in May. Until now clients had to buy inside Schwab rather than move existing coins in. In August, Schwab said on X that it planned to add Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink.

The service charges a 0.75% transaction fee with no added spread, and Paxos Trust Company handles sub-custody and execution, CryptoLately reported, citing Schwab's filings. It said the rollout reaches 40.3 million active brokerage accounts.

The reach is large. Schwab ended the quarter with 48.6 million client accounts and $13.33 trillion of client assets after 1.2 million new brokerage accounts, according to its earnings release. Net revenue hit a record $7.2 billion, up 17%, and core net new assets were $190.4 billion.

Results were strong across the board. Third-quarter earnings per share reached a record $1.62, or $1.69 on an adjusted basis, up 29% from a year earlier, and margin loan balances rose 14% in the quarter to $187.9 billion. Schwab also announced single stock futures on its thinkorswim platform and a partnership with Anthropic to offer Claude to independent advisers.

Why it matters

Wurster tied crypto directly to revenue. Asked how Schwab could better monetize its platform, he said the firm is "expanding into new areas that create additional transactional-based revenue streams," naming crypto and prediction markets. Daily average trades rose 44% from a year earlier to 10.7 million, showing how active Schwab clients already are.

Schwab Crypto all clients access puts pressure on crypto exchanges and on rivals adding similar features, such as Interactive Brokers' ether staking. Incumbent finance is also going global with crypto, from Standard Chartered's UAE trading desk to U.S. brokerages.

Wurster also said Schwab ranks first among brokerages by total client assets. Its wealth business is growing quickly: Pledged Asset Line balances rose 59% from a year earlier to $37.3 billion, and net flows into Schwab Wealth Advisory increased 55%, the company said. That gives Schwab a large base of affluent clients who could add crypto to existing accounts rather than open exchange wallets.

Prediction markets are next on the list. Schwab already offers a limited form through S&P 500 binary options with Cboe and plans to expand within about a year into contracts on financial events and company metrics, building a "pretty broad suite" over 12 to 18 months, Wurster said.

What's next

The near-term milestones are the transfer rollout and the three new coins promised by year-end. Schwab's release also said it plans to expand the digital assets available in Schwab Crypto.

The broader product push continues on the AI side too. During the quarter Schwab introduced Charley, an AI-powered assistant that gives U.S. retail clients conversational access to its tools and insights, alongside its new futures and crypto features.

Whether active traders move holdings from exchanges will depend on fees and the coin list. The first test of Schwab Crypto all clients adoption will come in fourth-quarter trading data.