Charles Schwab to Introduce Spot Bitcoin Trading by April 2026 as Crypto Interest Grows

Highlights:

• Schwab plans to launch spot Bitcoin trading services by April 2026, expanding its crypto offerings.
• Website traffic surged by 400%, with 70% of visitors coming from outside Schwab’s client base.
• Schwab partnered with Trump Media to combine crypto with traditional finance through innovative services.

Charles Schwab Corp. is increasingly focused on cryptocurrency, with new CEO Rick Wurster stating this is just the start. Wurster, is planning to start offering Bitcoin trading services to Schwab clients by April 2026.

💥BREAKING:

CHARLES SCHWAB CEO SAYS BITCOIN AND CRYPTO TRADING COMING IN 12 MONTHS! pic.twitter.com/IW7UgGpUSc

— Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) April 19, 2025

Rick Wurster said on a recent conference call that the company, based in Westlake, Texas, is already seeing strong interest in digital assets and is ready to grow its crypto services even more. He said that visits to Schwab’s crypto website went up, showing that investors are very interested in digital assets.

The CEO predicted:

“Our expectation is that with the changing regulatory environment, we are hopeful and likely to be able to launch direct spot crypto. Our goal is to do that in the next 12 months, and we are on a great path to be able to do that.”

Schwab Sees Growing Crypto Interest

The Schwab CEO’s comments show that more traditional financial companies are starting to use crypto and offer services that mix digital assets with regular finance. Like crypto ETFs and Bitcoin futures and that interest from both current and potential customers is growing quickly. 

The company currently offers crypto access via closed-end funds, ETFs, and futures. Wurste also added: “We saw a 400% increase in traffic to our crypto site recently—70% of whom were not clients.” 

Wurster said the surge in website traffic shows that curious users see Schwab as a trustworthy financial firm, even if they were previously unsure about crypto. He added that when the idea of crypto comes up, many might prefer working with a well-established firm — and Schwab could be that option.

Rick Wurster became CEO of Schwab in 2025. In a November last year interview with Yahoo Finance, he shared the company’s excitement about providing digital asset trading services to its clients. The move, expected in 2026, is drawing a lot of attention.

Schwab Looks to Web3 with Truth.Fi Partnership

After Donald Trump was re-elected in the U.S., Wurster said the company expected a better regulatory environment to grow its digital asset services. The Schwab CEO had previously mentioned that he didn’t own any cryptocurrency. He also felt “silly” for not investing in it, given its high returns.

Schwab’s move into the spot market would be a big shift, driven by client demand and improving regulations. As digital assets become more mainstream, Schwab’s future could focus more on Web3 than traditional finance. In January, Charles Schwab partnered with Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG). Together, they aim to offer custom ETFs and crypto services for the upcoming “Truth.Fi” platform.

Truth.Fi aims to combine digital assets with traditional finance as an alternative to the current banking system. TMTG CEO Devin Nunes stated the goal is to assist those worried about censorship, debanking, and privacy violations by tech.