[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] U.S. major brokerage Charles Schwab will start spot trading in bitcoin and ether for U.S. retail clients within weeks.

Cointelegraph reported on April 16 that Charles Schwab plans to support direct trading in the two assets via a dedicated cryptocurrency account linked to its brokerage platform.

The service is Charles Schwab’s first spot cryptocurrency direct-trading product. Clients can view and trade cryptocurrencies alongside other assets such as stocks on web, mobile and the Thinkorswim platform. A subsidiary will handle custody, and order execution will be processed through a partnership with federally regulated trust company Paxos (팍소스).

Only bitcoin and ether will be supported at launch. Trading fees are set at 75 basis points per transaction, or 0.75 percent. The company said it plans to expand supported cryptocurrencies and to introduce deposit and withdrawal functions in stages.

The service will be offered through a dedicated cryptocurrency account. Assets will be managed under Charles Schwab’s bank-subsidiary custody model. The rollout will be phased over several weeks, with the initial 대상 being eligible U.S. retail clients. Residents of New York and Louisiana will be excluded from the initial offering.

The fee is somewhat higher than at existing cryptocurrency exchanges. Based on company websites, Kraken starts at about 0.25 to 0.40 percent depending on trading volume, and Coinbase is about 0.40 to 0.60 percent for small traders. Charles Schwab’s 0.75 percent falls in a higher or similar range than those levels.

The company described the move as an extension of its expansion of existing digital asset products. It already offers digital asset-related exchange-traded products, futures and funds. It said internal estimates show clients hold about 20 percent of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products. Adding direct spot trading broadens a product lineup that has centered on indirect investment.

The company is also sizable. A recent filing showed total client assets of $12.22 trillion as of February 2026. Charles Schwab is a major U.S. financial company that provides brokerage, banking and wealth management services, and its direct support for spot trading is making the expansion of crypto services in traditional finance even clearer.

Large financial firms have recently expanded crypto exposure through trading, exchange-traded funds and structured products. Morgan Stanley launched the spot bitcoin ETF MSBT on April 8 and recorded $30.6 million in inflows on its first day of trading on NYSE Arca. The fund’s website showed total net assets of $87.6 million as of April 15. Goldman Sachs also filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in April for a bitcoin-linked ETF using an options strategy. The product aims to reduce volatility while providing indirect exposure to bitcoin.

By contrast, cryptocurrency companies are expanding into traditional markets. Coinbase introduced stock and ETF trading in December last year, and Kraken launched tokenised stock perpetual futures in February offering leveraged exposure to U.S. stocks, indices and commodities.

Against that backdrop, Charles Schwab’s move into spot trading shows traditional financial firms and crypto companies expanding into each other’s markets. Schwab has said it will start with bitcoin and ether and gradually expand supported cryptocurrencies and deposit and withdrawal functions, making future expansion of supported assets and service regions the next points to watch.