Charles Schwab has confirmed its mid-2027 target for crypto spot trading and custody on its advisor platform, with Managing Director Jalina Kerr stating the company is 'on track for next year, probably more like the middle of the year' according to a Citywire report. The firm custodies roughly $10 trillion in client assets, making this one of the larger commitments yet from a traditional US custodian to put direct crypto buying and selling in front of the advisor channel. The planned rollout would give advisor clients access to direct trading, asset transfers and custody through Schwab's existing wealth management infrastructure, expanding the firm's digital asset strategy beyond self-directed retail users. For now, the plan remains tied to a flexible timeline as Schwab works through product design, cash movement rules and custody controls before launch, with Kerr noting the company doesn't have 'exact dates' yet.
The advisor crypto service launch comes as the GENIUS Act implementation timeline approaches, with the legislation becoming effective on January 18, 2027, or 120 days after federal regulators issue final implementing regulations. As reported by CoinDesk, the GENIUS Act will introduce cross-agency federal oversight and many requirements including limiting reserve composition, fundamentally changing the risk profile of legal stablecoins in the United States. This regulatory evolution is driving advisors to revisit their crypto due diligence practices, with three key questions emerging: how client cash management should be reviewed, how regulatory assumptions should be disclosed, and how AI-driven crypto infrastructure should be validated. The convergence of AI agents settling transactions on crypto rails and the IMF's flagging of gaps in operational resilience and governance is pushing advisors to prioritize security, validation controls, and privacy governance when AI tools touch client and confidential information.
Schwab's planned advisor crypto service represents a significant competitive threat to pure-play crypto custodians, particularly Coinbase Prime, which currently oversees roughly $330 billion in institutional assets and has built deep ties with major institutional managers including BlackRock. As reported by The ETF Store's President Nate Geraci, 'Looks like Schwab planning on rolling out direct spot crypto trading to advisors next year... We're talking about the largest RIA custodian. Over $5 trillion in assets on custody platform.' The expansion disclosed by Kerr during a media roundtable reveals that advisors currently route client crypto allocations off-platform to specialized providers such as Coinbase Prime, BitGo, and Anchorage, creating fragmented reporting and parallel compliance workflows alongside traditional institutional custody providers. Schwab's planned product would let advisors trade, transfer, and safekeep digital assets on the platform holding their traditional book, potentially pulling RIA allocations off those specialized rails.
The advisor plan follows Schwab's successful rollout of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading to its retail clients in May 2026, opening access to 39 million retail accounts after earlier confirming a phased launch. As reported by crypto.news, Schwab began rolling out that service to select U.S. clients this year, after earlier confirming a phased launch for direct access to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Schwab oversees more than $10 trillion in client assets and said the retail crypto account is offered through Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB. Paxos provides trade execution and sub-custody services, while Schwab clients can view crypto beside traditional investments on Schwab.com, Schwab Mobile and thinkorswim. The retail platform started with Bitcoin and Ethereum, while Schwab said it plans to add more cryptocurrencies and transfer features over time, though the service excluded residents of New York and Louisiana due to licensing restrictions.
