One of the largest custody platforms in the world is moving beyond retail crypto and building the infrastructure for independent advisors to manage client digital assets natively.
Key Takeaways:
Schwab targets mid-2027 launch of crypto spot trading and custody for advisors.
Retail spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading already live through phased rollout since May 2026.
0.75% transaction fee with zero spread, positioning against crypto-native exchange fees.
Advisors will be able to transfer client crypto holdings directly into Schwab custody.
Schwab built its own internal ledger rather than white-labeling a third-party crypto vendor.
According to Yahoo Finance, Charles Schwab oversees more than $12 trillion in client assets and for years offered only indirect crypto exposure through ETFs and futures. That changed in May 2026 when the firm launched direct spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading for retail clients through its Thinkorswim platform, with a wider rollout continuing onto Schwab.com and its mobile app. The service runs through Charles Schwab Premier Bank and charges a 0.75% transaction fee with no spread, a model designed to undercut the higher fee structures that crypto-native exchanges have historically relied on.
That retail rollout is already underway. The bigger announcement is what comes next.
The 2027 Advisor Platform
Jalina Kerr, Managing Director of Schwab Advisor Services, confirmed the firm is targeting a mid-2027 launch of crypto spot trading, transfer, and custody capabilities for independent financial advisors on its custody network. The timeline remains subject to change, but Kerr described it as currently on track.
What Schwab is building for advisors goes beyond simple trading access. The focus is on in-kind transfers, meaning advisors would be able to move client crypto holdings that currently sit on external platforms directly into Schwab’s native custody environment. For wealth managers this solves a practical problem that has existed since institutional crypto adoption began: clients hold digital assets across multiple wallets and exchanges that do not integrate cleanly into traditional portfolio reporting systems. Bringing those holdings under one custody roof changes the reporting and aggregation picture significantly.
The scale of Schwab’s advisor custody network is what makes this consequential. Independent registered investment advisors who custody client assets through Schwab manage substantial pools of wealth. When those advisors gain native crypto infrastructure, the assets that could flow into compliant custody are not marginal.
Why Schwab Built Its Own Systems
Rather than licensing technology from an existing crypto infrastructure provider, Schwab’s internal technology group built its own transaction and record-keeping ledger. That decision reflects the firm’s institutional custody obligations. White-labeling a third-party vendor introduces counterparty risk and limits control over the systems that ultimately hold client assets. Building in-house gives Schwab the ability to maintain the safety standards its custody business requires while still offering a crypto-native product.
The firm is also monitoring developments in tokenized real-world assets, including partnerships between traditional exchanges and crypto venues aimed at settling tokenized equities directly on-chain. Schwab has not announced specific partnerships in this space but has flagged it as an area of active interest within its research divisions.
What This Means for the Market
Schwab’s move follows a broader pattern of traditional financial institutions building direct crypto infrastructure rather than wrapping existing products in ETF structures. The retail launch in May 2026 and the advisor platform targeting 2027 represent a two-stage entry: capture retail clients first, then build the institutional layer that brings professional asset managers into the same ecosystem.
For the crypto industry, a $10 trillion custody platform offering native spot trading and in-kind transfers to independent advisors represents a distribution channel of a scale that purpose-built crypto firms have not been able to reach. The advisors who custody through Schwab serve clients who may have crypto holdings sitting outside their managed portfolios today. By 2027 those holdings could sit alongside everything else in a single, compliant account.
