Charles Schwab to debut Bitcoin and Ethereum trading

Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading will be available soon for Charles Schwab customers, the banking and investment firm has said.

The Texas-based company now has a new cryptocurrency investing page where it teases a product, Schwab Crypto, which will be clients’ “new gateway to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrencies.”

Charles Schwab did not immediately respond to questions from DL News. 

The firm is the latest Wall Street titan to push further into the digital asset space as clients demand more crypto-related services. In January, Morgan Stanley filed for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund; its launch is imminent.

Banks including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Citi are all offering new institutional digital asset initiatives related to trading, custody and tokenisation.

No intrinsic value?

Charles Schwab did not reveal much more about its new crypto product. Investors right now can buy exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs via their brokerage accounts.

Rick Wurster, the firm’s CEO, last year first spoke about offering spot trading because there was a surge in interest from clients.

Regarding Bitcoin, the firm’s crypto page warns customers that it does not “endorse any method for determining its intrinsic value beyond current market price” because the coin has no “earnings, revenues, or conventional valuation metrics such as price-to-earnings or book value.”

Top Wall Street firms have changed their positions on Bitcoin over the years. Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon previously criticised the coin but in February admitted owning some as the bank also offers new crypto services.

Most famously, BlackRock’s Larry Fink said the leading cryptocurrency was an “index of money laundering.” He has since said he’s a “believer” in Bitcoin — and Ethereum — after the asset manager debuted hugely successful crypto ETFs.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin was trading for $67,190 per coin on Saturday, flat over the past 24 hours but up by 1% over the past seven days. 
• Ethereum’s price was trading for $2,053, also flat over the past day. Over the past week, it’s up nearly 3%.

What we’re reading

• North Korea behind $286m Drift Protocol hack, investigators say — DL News
• How Ethereum’s biggest conference exposes crypto’s identity crisis — DL News
• Crypto startups raised $5 billion in Q1 — here are the top 10 funding rounds — DL News 
• AI stocks vs. crypto: a mispricing? — Milk Road
• We are on a scary trajectory — Milk Road

Mathew Di Salvo is a news correspondent with DL News. Got a tip? Email at mdisalvo@dlnews.com.