Charles Schwab chief executive Rick Wurster told analysts on Thursday that “all clients can now access Schwab Crypto,” closing the phased rollout that began with a first wave of eligible retail customers in May. Spot bitcoin and ether trading is now open across the brokerage’s retail base, following the 16 April announcement that set out the product’s pricing and custody arrangements.

Wurster made the remark on the same morning Schwab reported $13.33 trillion in client assets and 40.3 million active brokerage accounts for the third quarter. He committed to two further steps for Schwab Crypto on the call, saying the firm is “rolling out the ability for clients to transfer their crypto holdings to Schwab” and is “launching access to three new coins by the end of the year.”

Schwab Crypto Charges 0.75% and Runs Through a Separate Account at Premier Bank

Schwab Crypto does not live inside an ordinary brokerage account, and the structure behind it is bank-based rather than broker-dealer. The product requires a separate account offered by Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, linked to an existing brokerage account, with the bank acting as custodian and Paxos providing sub-custody and trade execution, according to the launch release. Holdings appear alongside stocks and funds on Schwab.com, Schwab Mobile and thinkorswim.

Pricing is 75 basis points on the dollar value of each trade with zero spread, and Schwab’s product page notes that minimum fees apply. That rate undercuts Fidelity’s spread-based model and Coinbase’s retail tiers. The coins themselves carry none of the usual wrappers, since Schwab states plainly that they fall outside securities law, SIPC coverage and FDIC insurance.

Both assets were trading higher on Friday morning as the retail rollout of Schwab Crypto reached its conclusion. Bitcoin changed hands at about $82,300 on Friday, up roughly 1.4% over 24 hours, after sliding under $82,650 on the hot September CPI print, with CoinDesk quoting $82,189 earlier in the session. Ether was near $2,473, up about 4.4% on the day and recovering from the $2,350 level it reached as ETF outflows mounted.

Investor Takeaway

The 0.75% charge on every Schwab Crypto trade is a transaction fee rather than a spread, which makes the cost visible on the confirmation in a way that most retail crypto venues avoid.

Wurster Said All Clients Have Access, but Schwab’s Own Terms Exclude Two States

The “all clients” phrasing on the call is looser than the eligibility rules Schwab publishes on its own site. Schwab Crypto accounts are available in every US state except New York and Louisiana, and are offered in no US territory and no international jurisdiction. Applications go through review, and the firm states that not all applicants will qualify, with timing left to the discretion of Charles Schwab Premier Bank.

That gap matters for the 40 million figure now circulating. The 40.3 million number in Schwab’s quarterly results counts active brokerage accounts as of 30 September, and the firm has published no count of how many clients are approved to trade on Schwab Crypto. Total client accounts, including workplace and banking relationships, run to 48.6 million.

Wurster Grouped Crypto With Prediction Markets as a Transactional Revenue Stream

Asked about monetizing the platform, Wurster described crypto as part of a push into “new areas that create additional transactional-based revenue streams,” naming “things like crypto, things like prediction markets” in the same breath, per the call transcript. He told one analyst the prediction markets build would run over the next 12 to 18 months and would avoid sports gambling.

Schwab has not isolated what Schwab Crypto contributes to any line of the quarterly results. Third quarter revenue reached a record $7.2 billion, up 17%, with adjusted earnings of $1.69 a share and core net new assets of $190.4 billion. The release mentions the product once, in a line about plans to expand the digital assets available, so none of the quarter’s growth can be traced to crypto from the disclosures. Executives have separately estimated that Schwab clients hold about 20% of all US spot crypto exchange-traded products.

Investor Takeaway

Schwab has given no trading volume, revenue or account figure for Schwab Crypto two quarters after launch, which leaves the revenue case resting on the chief executive’s framing rather than on disclosure.

Crypto Transfers and Three New Coins Are Due Before the End of 2026

Deposits and withdrawals were missing from Schwab Crypto on day one, which forced clients to buy everything they held through the platform and left anyone with coins elsewhere unable to consolidate. Wurster’s confirmation that transfers are rolling out removes the single largest functional gap in the product, though he attached no completion date to it.

The three coins Wurster referred to have already been named in a separate announcement. Schwab said on 27 August that Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink would join Schwab Crypto, with head of digital assets Joe Vietri saying clients “will have more choices to build a digital asset allocation,” in a release that put the timing at “the coming months.” Wurster’s year-end marker on the call is the first hard deadline attached to that list, and Schwab reserves the right to delay or withdraw support for any asset it has announced.