Charles Schwab Launches Crypto Trading Service
As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the "Crypto Currents" weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio.CHARLES SCHWAB DETAILS SPOT CRYPTO TRADING LAUNCH:On Thursday, Charles Schwabannouncedoffer that will begin a phased rollout to retail clients in the coming weeks. Schwab Crypto will provide direct access to bitcoin and ethereum trading, combined with educational content and experienced professional support. At launch, Schwab Crypto will include direct trading in bitcoin and ethereum, in-depth digital assets education and resources, including insights and commentary from the Schwab Center for Financial Research and crypto-focused content through Schwab Coaching, as well as the ability to view and trade cryptocurrency and traditional investments side-by-side across Schwab.com, Schwab Mobile, and thinkorswim. It will also include access to Schwab's 24/7 support from thousands of tenured service professionals and will be priced among the lowest in the industry at 75 basis points on the dollar value of each trade. Over time, Schwab plans to add additional cryptocurrencies to the platform, as well as transfer capabilities for both deposits and withdrawals, allowing clients with existing digital asset investments to bring them to Schwab alongside their other investments."With Schwab Crypto, investors can access familiar cryptocurrencies within an all in one investing and banking experience, backed by an ecosystem of education, tools, resources, and support so they can make informed decisions about how crypto might fit into their broader investing goals," said Joe Vietri, Head of Digital Assets. "Whether you're new to crypto and looking for a firm you know and trust, or you already own digital assets, our goal is to be the destination of choice for retail investors who want to incorporate digital assets into their portfolios with confidence."ETORO ENTERS AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE ZENGA:eToroannounced Wednesday that it has entered intoa self-custodial crypto wallet provider, in a move that deepens eToro's digital asset capabilities and accelerates its strategy of connecting traditional finance with on-chain infrastructure and the crypto native economy. The acquisition brings together eToro's global multi-asset platform and distribution with Zengo's non-custodial wallet technology, supporting Zengo's next phase of growth while expanding eToro's digital asset capabilities. The transaction strengthens eToro's ability to support evolving digital asset use cases, including tokenized assets and emerging decentralized trading models such as prediction markets and perpetuals, as these markets develop.Yoni Assia, CEO, said, "We believe the future of finance will be increasingly digital, decentralized and user-controlled, with self-custody playing an important role in that evolution. Zengo has built an innovative and secure wallet experience, and this acquisition will enable us to accelerate its growth while continuing to provide users with choice in how they access digital assets. As we often say, crypto downtimes are the time to build and this acquisition reflects that long-term approach. At the same time, we continue to demonstrate the strength of our diversified business model. We've seen strong capital market activity so far this year, with commodity trading accounting for 60% of trading commissions by asset class in Q1 2026, with commodities trading volume nearly 4x higher year over year. This growth was driven by shifting global macro dynamics, our standing as a top-tier global multi-asset platform, and our strategic expansion of 24/7 trading, including gold and oil."On Thursday, eToro announced the relaunch of Tori, its AI investing companion, introducing three upgrades: persistent memory, real-time market sentiment from X powered by Grok 4.2, and the ability to create and manage user-defined AI-driven Agent Portfolios entirely through conversation.eToro also announced Tuesday the launch of the eToro App Store, a marketplace enabling investors and developers to build, share and access trading and analytics applications directly within the eToro platform.SEC APPROVES PLAN TO REMOVE DAY TRADING LIMITS:The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved changes to the pattern day trading rule, shifting from a fixed $25,000 threshold for small investors to risk-based margin requirements applied to all traders. Public feedback "overwhelmingly supported" the plan, which includes the "elimination of the $25,000 minimum equity requirements and definition of pattern day trader," SEC Assistant Secretary Sherry Haywood wrote in an order.Goldman Sachs noted the change and pointed out that as this likely reduces margin requirements for traders, which would allow more smaller-sized accounts to trade more actively, this could drive increased retail trading volumes in equities, which could benefit brokers under coverage, including Buy-rated Robinhoodand Interactive Brokersand Neutral-rated eToro. This could be particularly true for the former, which has smaller average account sizes and mostly U.S. exposure, whereas Interactive Brokers has larger average accounts, and eToro is predominantly non-U.S. exposed.Meanwhile, BernsteinThe firm has an Outperform rating on the name with a $130 price target. The upside will be driven by a recovery in crypto markets and "breakout" revenue growth in prediction markets, the analyst said. Bernstein believes a "weak" Q1 report is already priced into Robinhood shares. The market will be forward looking as trading volumes recover Q2 onwards, contended the firm.Additionally, Truist lowered the firm's price target on Robinhood to $100 from $120 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm updated its Robinhood model to incorporate trading data from February and March ahead of Q1 earnings. While shares have been under pressure year-to-date with revenue headwinds from crypto prices and high-beta equity volatility, shares have consolidated in recent months around $70, which the firm views as an attractive entry point for a platform poised to organically grow assets 20%+ annually for the next three years, the analyst said.CRYPTO COMPANIES SEEK MYTHOS ACCESS:Major crypto exchanges and custodians including Coinbaseand Binance are racing to prepare for powerful AI models like Anthropic's Mythos, which the AI company says could be dangerously good at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities, The Information's Yueqi Yang reported Tuesday. Coinbase has been in "close communication" with Anthropic about Mythos, "a highly restricted model not available to the public," Coinbase Chief Security Officer Philip Martin said. "Mythos, and future models like it, will enable even deeper testing of software and systems at scale. This will accelerate digital threats as well as digital defense."Meanwhile, Piper Sandler raised the firm's price target on Coinbaseon the shares. Heading into Q1 earnings, the firm expects management teams to strike a positive tone on the outlook for trading volumes, especially in futures as the Iran War continues to impact global energy and commodities markets. Piper is somewhat cautious on the tough year-over-year comparisons facing exchanges in Q2, but a continuation of the Iran War is a strong counter.NORTHERN TRUST, DIGITAL ASSET PARTNER FOR CUSTODY CAPABILITIES:Northern Trustannounced Thursday it hasto support the development of custody capabilities for tokenized financial assets. This integration will advance Northern Trust's broader digital asset strategy as the firm continues to evolve its asset servicing model in response to changing market structures. As part of this agreement, Northern Trust will integrate with Canton Network's infrastructure to develop and deploy applications that bridge digital and traditional markets, supporting institutional grade custody and asset servicing workflows for network participants. This move also creates opportunities with other regulated partners and financial services utilities that provide services for digitally issued assets. Northern Trust will utilize its digital assets platform to support custody and asset servicing for tokenized assets issued or transacted on the network."As institutional adoption of digital assets progresses, clients are looking for custody and servicing models that align with established market standards and regulatory expectations," said Guy Gibson, co‑president, Asset Servicing and head of Institutional Banking and Markets. "Connecting to the Canton Network allows us to extend our asset servicing role into new market structures while maintaining the same principles of scale, control, and risk management that clients expect from Northern Trust."OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:Benchmark startsHoldingswith a BuyBitGo, tradias expandHyperscale DatareportsStrategyacquiresprice target raised to $385 from $350 at TD CowenBitmine ImmersionannouncesCanaanreportsTeraWulfreports preliminaryStrivepurchasesEmpery DigitalsellsBGIN BlockchainannouncesDeFi Technologiesprice target loweredat MaximLM FundingminesHigh Rollerteams with Crypto.com toVisalaunchesBitdeerproducesExodus Movementexpandsfiles lawsuit to compel W3C to complete saleSolunaacquiresfor $16.5MLQR Houseto acquireCypherpunk TechnologiesincreasesMorpheus Research saysTechnology, 'short position justified'CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS:Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital, Coinbase, Core Scientific, Greenidge Generation, Mara Holdings, Strategy, Riot Platformsand TeraWulf.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin rose roughly 6% this week to $77,225 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.
