Charles Schwab is preparing to offer spot crypto trading, transfer, and custody to financial advisors on its custody platform, with a target timeline of mid-2027. The move follows the firm's retail crypto launch in April, which gave individual investors direct access to bitcoin and ether. Schwab's advisor custody arm holds about $5.31 trillion in client assets, giving it significant reach into the wealth management channel.
The advisor rollout timeline
Jalina Kerr, a managing director at Schwab, said the firm is “on track” for a rollout “more like the middle of the year” — meaning mid-2027. That date is still subject to change. The retail version launched in April 2026, so the advisor product trails by roughly a year. Schwab hasn't said whether the advisor service will start with only bitcoin and ether, or if the fee will match the 75 basis points charged on the retail side.
What's still unknown
The firm hasn't confirmed which crypto assets will be available, or whether Paxos — the sub-custodian and trade execution provider for its retail accounts — will also support the advisor infrastructure. Retail crypto accounts are offered through Charles Schwab Premier Bank, with Paxos handling the backend. The warnings are the same: the products aren't FDIC-insured, SIPC-protected, or bank deposits, and can lose value.
Existing crypto access
Schwab already lets clients get crypto exposure through a range of products: exchange-traded products, futures, mutual funds, trusts, and options on spot bitcoin ETPs. The advisor rollout would add direct spot holdings to that mix, a feature that many wealth managers have been waiting for.
With $12.61 trillion in total client assets and over 39 million brokerage accounts, Schwab sits at the center of American retail and advisory wealth. The advisor custody platform alone manages more than $5 trillion. If Schwab delivers direct crypto trading and custody for advisors, it could open up a massive distribution channel for the asset class — but the firm is moving deliberately, and key details remain unresolved.
At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.32 trillion. Schwab's next move: confirming the fee structure and supported coins for the advisor platform, likely later this year or early 2027.
