Schwab Crypto Adds Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink, Reaching Five Assets

Charles Schwab opened Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink trading to eligible US retail clients on November 9, taking Schwab Crypto from two tradable assets to five, Finance Magnates reported. Clients can buy and sell SOL, AVAX and LINK against the US dollar alongside Bitcoin and Ether, which the brokerage added earlier in its rollout.

The additions had been telegraphed since August, when Schwab said the three tokens would arrive “in the coming months.” Blockchain Reporter put the gap between that August 27 statement and delivery at 74 days, during which the account moved from early access in May to general availability for eligible retail clients in October.

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Key facts

• SOL/USD, AVAX/USD and LINK/USD trading began November 9 for eligible retail clients, per Charles Schwab’s announcement.
• Schwab charges 0.75% of the dollar value of each purchase or sale, with a minimum fee of $0.01.
• Accounts sit at Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, separate from but affiliated with Charles Schwab & Co.; Paxos provides sub-custody and trade execution.
• The service runs in every US state except New York and Louisiana, and is unavailable in US territories and internationally.
• Schwab reported 48.6 million client accounts and 40.3 million active brokerage accounts at Sept. 30, according to Blockchain Reporter.

A flat fee applied to a familiar platform

Schwab Crypto accounts are separate from a client’s brokerage account but linked to it, funded by moving available cash across. Holdings appear next to traditional investments on Schwab.com, Schwab Mobile and thinkorswim, and the firm says its account terms include round-the-clock phone and chat support.

At 0.75% a side, the schedule is proportional rather than tiered: Blockchain Reporter calculated $7.50 on a $1,000 order and $375 on a $50,000 order, so a round trip costs 1.5% before any price movement. Schwab called the pricing “among the lowest in the industry” without naming a comparison venue, a claim that outlet noted stands as a company statement rather than a measured ranking.

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The July custody setup leaves the assets outside familiar protections. Schwab’s disclosures state that crypto holdings are not bank deposits, are not FDIC insured, are not SIPC protected and are not securities, and warn of the risk of total loss of principal. The release also reserves the right to delay, modify or withdraw support for any listed asset on market, regulatory, operational or risk grounds, according to crypto.news.

Why it matters

Schwab’s clients already reached digital assets through crypto ETPs, futures, options on spot crypto ETPs and sector funds; the firm estimated in April that its customers held roughly 20% of spot crypto ETPs, a figure about exchange-traded product holdings rather than direct token ownership. Listing tokens on a platform used for stocks and bonds moves a large retail base from indirect exposure toward direct ownership without opening an account at a crypto-native exchange.

The state carve-out limits reach. Leaving out New York excludes the largest US metropolitan market, and Schwab’s disclosure does not give a reason or a timetable for closing the gap. Blockchain Reporter sized the opportunity against Schwab’s $13.33 trillion in client assets at the end of the third quarter, noting that a crypto allocation equal to 10 basis points of that book and a single turn at 75 basis points would produce about $100 million in fees.

What to watch

Schwab’s current FAQ says clients can send and receive supported cryptocurrencies once accounts are enabled and transfer enrollment is complete, so how broadly that transfer feature reaches determines whether the product is a trading venue or a custody offering. Whether New York and Louisiana gain access, and whether Schwab breaks out crypto revenue or volume when it reports fourth-quarter results in January, are the next checkpoints.

Schwab has said it intends to add more tokens over time but has not identified which ones, and its digital-assets head Joe Vietri framed the expansion as a matter of choice rather than a change in strategy.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Crypto markets are volatile and prices can be uncertain; readers should do their own research before trading.

Written by

StockPil Editorial

The StockPil Editorial desk covers stock markets, business, finance, forex and crypto. Our AI-assisted newsroom builds each article from published, linked sources, checks it for accuracy before it goes live, and our editors review published articles and correct anything that needs it.

Sources: Finance Magnates, Blockchain Reporter, crypto.news