Key Takeaways
- Charles Schwab has opened signups for updates and possible early access to Schwab Crypto, a forthcoming account for buying and selling Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- The move expands Schwab’s crypto offering, which already includes spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded products.
- Schwab’s rollout lands as major brokerage platforms push deeper into direct crypto trading.
Charles Schwab has opened a waitlist for direct Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, giving clients a new path toward buying the two largest cryptocurrencies through a forthcoming Schwab Crypto account.
On its cryptocurrency page, the firm says Schwab Crypto is “coming soon” and invites users to sign up for updates and an opportunity to gain early access.
says eligible clients will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum through Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB.
Expansion
The signup page adds a new layer to Schwab’s crypto strategy.
The brokerage already offers spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded products on Schwab.com, alongside other crypto-related investment options.
A direct trading account would expand that lineup from fund-based exposure to trading in the assets themselves.
The move also tracks with management’s public comments over the past year.
In a July 2025 interview, CEO Rick Wurster said about 20% of all crypto ETF assets in the U.S. were held by Schwab clients, calling the category an area of strong client interest.
That helps explain the logic behind the rollout. Schwab already has clients using its platform for crypto-linked exposure.
A direct trading product gives the firm a way to serve demand that might otherwise stay on specialist crypto platforms.
Schwab Broadens Its Crypto Offering
For traditional brokerages, crypto ETFs opened the door to digital-asset exposure inside standard investment accounts.
Schwab leaned into that model, offering access to products tied directly to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies, while continuing to warn that digital assets carry substantial risk.
Direct crypto trading serves a different slice of the market.
Some investors want to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum directly while keeping that activity on the same platform they use for stocks, ETFs and other assets.
Schwab’s waitlist suggests the firm sees enough demand to build around that use case.
The company’s language remains cautious.
Its public crypto materials continue to stress volatility, security risks and the different regulatory treatment of digital assets.
The signup page also stops short of giving a launch date.
Even so, the waitlist shows Schwab preparing a broader crypto product set for brokerage clients.
A Broader Brokerage Shift
Schwab’s move lands as other large brokerage platforms deepen their own crypto offerings.
Fidelity already offers direct crypto trading through Fidelity Crypto, which lets users buy, sell and transfer digital assets from the same platform where they manage stocks and ETFs.
The service currently supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Litecoin and Fidelity’s digital dollar product.
E*TRADE, meanwhile, has posted its own “coming soon” page for crypto trading.
The page says users will soon be able to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana through the Morgan Stanley-owned platform.
That broader industry context gives Schwab’s waitlist more significance.
Spot ETFs brought crypto onto large brokerage platforms. Direct trading is shaping up as the next leg of that expansion.
For Schwab, the opportunity is clear: keep more client crypto activity inside its own ecosystem and make the brokerage account a more complete destination for digital-asset investing.
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PhD, researcher and writer exploring AI, blockchain, and the philosophy of tech, with a focus on DeScAI, governance, and trust.
