Schwab Is Finally Letting You Buy Bitcoin Directly. And It’s a Huge Deal.
Charles Schwab just confirmed what a lot of people have been waiting for.
Starting in the first half of 2026, you’ll be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether directly in your Schwab account. No separate crypto exchange. No weird wallet setup. Just trade it like you would Apple stock.
This is massive. Why? Because Schwab manages nearly $12.2 trillion in client assets. That’s trillion with a “T.” They have about 46 million brokerage accounts.
That’s one of the biggest pools of investor money in the world. And soon, all of it will have a direct path to crypto.
How it’s going to work
The service is called “Schwab Crypto.” It’ll run through their bank division, Charles Schwab Premier Bank.
You won’t need a third-party exchange. Schwab will handle the orders internally. The rollout happens in phases: first employees, then invited clients, then everyone else.
They’ve already opened a waitlist for early access. Right now, it’s only for US residents, but sorry New York and Louisiana—you’re left out for now.
Why now?
Schwab has wanted to do this for years. The holdup was always regulation. But with the Trump administration rolling back some SEC rules and the Fed loosening its grip on crypto guidelines, the path finally cleared.
And the demand is real. Schwab said traffic to its crypto site jumped 400% in 2025. And 70% of that traffic came from people who aren’t even Schwab clients yet.
That’s a lot of people knocking on the door.
What this means for the crypto world
Right now, if you want to buy crypto, you mostly use exchanges like Coinbase or Kraken. Schwab entering the game changes everything.
They have 46 million existing customers. That’s a distribution advantage no crypto-native company can match. Analysts also think Schwab could charge lower fees than competitors, which would put serious pressure on the rest of the market.
And Schwab isn’t stopping with Bitcoin and Ether. They’ve hinted at a stablecoin product down the road, following the GENIUS Act.
The competition isn’t sleeping
Morgan Stanley is also getting ready to launch something similar through its E*TRADE platform. So this is becoming a race.
But Schwab already offers crypto ETFs and Bitcoin futures. Spot trading is just the next logical step. Their CEO, Rick Wurster, put it simply: “We’re ready to compete.”
One more thing
At the time of the announcement, Bitcoin was trading near $66,800—down about 47% from its all-time high. Ether was around $2,050, roughly 59% below its peak.
So prices aren’t exactly ripping. But that’s not the point. The point is that one of the biggest, most trusted names in finance is opening the door. And once that door opens, it’s not closing.
