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In a major move signaling Wall Street’s continued embrace of digital assets, Charles Schwab, the financial behemoth with over $11 trillion in assets, has announced plans to launch spot cryptocurrency trading in the first half of 2026. The decision, confirmed by CEO Rick Wurster following the company’s Q3 earnings report, is a direct response to surging client demand.
JUST IN: $11 trillion Charles Schwab says the interest in their crypto products is increasing, with 90% more visits to their crypto site.
Institutions are here 🚀 pic.twitter.com/y6NURYEcHN
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) October 17, 2025
Wurster revealed that traffic to the firm’s crypto education portal has skyrocketed by 400%, a clear indicator of growing investor interest. The upcoming service will allow Schwab’s clients to directly trade Bitcoin and Ethereum spot, positioning the firm as a direct competitor to established crypto-native platforms like Coinbase.
Catering to a New Generation of Investors
The new spot trading capability will be integrated into Schwab’s comprehensive wealth management framework, presented as a key tool for portfolio diversification. The firm is seeing a powerful demographic shift, with approximately one-third of all new retail accounts coming from investors under the age of 28. This trend underscores the critical demand for digital asset access among younger generations shaping their financial futures.
While Schwab currently offers crypto exposure through ETFs, closed-end funds, and futures, the spot platform will provide a more direct and complete investment option. Wurster emphasized that this fills a gap even for clients who already hold significant crypto ETFs.
Looking ahead, Schwab is also evaluating services related to stablecoins and asset tokenization, with plans to advance these initiatives as regulatory frameworks become clearer.
Strong Quarterly Performance Underpins Expansion
The crypto announcement was bolstered by robust Q3 2025 earnings. Schwab reported net new assets of $134.4 billion, a 48% year-over-year increase that surpassed analyst expectations of $130.2 billion. Daily revenue trades also saw significant growth, rising 30% to 7.42 trillion.
In its banking segment, Schwab Bank reported a net profit of $199 million for Q2, up 16% year-over-year. The Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio stood at a strong 11.94%, significantly above the company’s strategic target, providing a solid foundation for its new ventures into the digital asset space.
