Charles Schwab, one of the largest brokerages in the United States, plans to add Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX) and Chainlink (LINK) to its crypto trading platform in the coming months, a major expansion of its direct cryptocurrency offering beyond Bitcoin and Ether.
The move marks the next step in the evolution of Schwab Crypto, the firm’s dedicated digital asset service that began rolling out to retail clients in May. The initial launch offered direct Bitcoin and Ether trading alongside traditional investments through Schwab’s website, mobile app and thinkorswim platform, and the brokerage said from the start that it planned to expand the roster over time.
With Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink now on the roadmap, Schwab is signaling that it sees demand for a broader set of altcoins among its mainstream client base, not just the two largest cryptocurrencies.
How the platform works
Schwab Crypto charges 75 basis points, or 0.75 percent, on the dollar value of each crypto trade. The service is available in all US states except New York and Louisiana, and it is not offered in US territories or internationally.
The accounts are offered through Charles Schwab Premier Bank, with affiliated brokerage Charles Schwab and Co. performing certain operational functions on the bank’s behalf. The structure reflects the regulatory tightrope that traditional banks must walk when entering digital asset markets, keeping crypto activity within a chartered banking framework rather than the brokerage entity itself.
The brokerage did not specify which additional assets it is considering beyond the three newly announced tokens, nor did it provide a detailed timeline for the rollout.
Mainstream money meets altcoins
The decision to list Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink is significant for the altcoin market. Schwab oversees trillions of dollars in client assets, and as of July 31 it held 13.04 trillion USD in client assets across 39.9 million active brokerage accounts. The firm also reported record second-quarter net revenue of 7.1 billion USD and net income of 2.8 billion USD.
Even a small fraction of that client base gaining direct access to SOL, AVAX and LINK represents a new channel of distribution for assets that were previously confined to specialized exchanges. For Solana, the listing follows a period of extraordinary network growth, with the chain processing record transaction volumes this summer. For Avalanche and Chainlink, the Schwab seal of approval offers exposure to a demographic of long-term investors who have historically been slow to move on-chain.
It also places Schwab in more direct competition with both crypto-native platforms and fellow traditional brokers. Morgan Stanley has been piloting low-fee crypto trading through its E*Trade platform, and the race to serve mainstream investors eager for digital asset exposure is clearly accelerating.
Beyond trading: prediction markets
The crypto expansion is not happening in isolation. Schwab is simultaneously moving into other new trading products, including prediction markets. In June, The Wall Street Journal reported that Schwab plans to offer prediction contracts tied to the S&P 500 index through a partnership with Cboe Global Markets.
The contracts would allow clients to wager on whether the S&P 500 will close above or below a specified level, with the product reportedly expected to launch within months. Unlike platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, Schwab’s planned offering would initially be limited to index outcomes, a more conservative entry into event-driven trading.
The two initiatives together sketch out a broader strategy: Schwab is building a modern trading venue where stocks, cryptocurrencies and event contracts sit side by side in a single client relationship.
What it means for the market
For years, crypto advocates have argued that the real inflection point for adoption would come when Wall Street’s distribution giants, the brokerages with tens of millions of retirement and brokerage accounts, made digital assets a default menu option. Bitcoin ETFs opened the first door. Direct altcoin trading inside Schwab, the largest US brokerage by client assets, opens another.
The choice of assets is also telling. Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink represent three distinct narratives, high-throughput payments, institutional subnet infrastructure, and oracle-driven real-world data, suggesting Schwab’s selection criteria favor established networks with clear use cases over memecoins or speculative launches.
For now, no firm launch date has been given beyond the coming months. But the direction is unmistakable: the wall between traditional finance and the altcoin market is thinning by the quarter, and the biggest brokers in America are now leading the charge through it.
39.9 million accounts getting one tap access to LINK. oracle tokens are about to learn what boomer flow does to a float
^ people said the same about ETH on robinhood. worked out fine until the listings dumped
^ boomer flow meets a token with a fixed job. LINK chart is gonna look like a utility stock with occasional 40% wicks
a utility stock that pays no dividend and wicks 40 percent. boomers will hold LINK through three halvings out of pure stubbornness
Utility stock with 40 percent wicks is exactly the pitch. Boomers lived through 2008, they can handle a wick
custody sitting at schwab premier bank instead of the broker entity tells you the SEC side is still radioactive. slow workaround, smart though
schwab adding sol avax and link while my bank still blocks crypto card purchases. the gap between tradfi brokers and banks keeps widening
same energy as when they launched with only btc and eth in may. took them long enough, robinhood had all three for years
robinhood listing first means schwab clients get the slower, safer version. honestly that is the whole brand difference in one move
robinhood also lists fartcoins and meme of the week. schwab picking exactly three L1s and an oracle reads like a committee deck, which is exactly who this is for
Chainlink on a major brokerage is the interesting one. An infrastructure oracle token next to consumer chains says something about how they evaluate these assets.
LINK is the tell. institutions dont pick chains, they pick infrastructure they can explain to a compliance officer
explains the avax pick too, subnets pitch the exact same compliance story to lawyers
the real story is thinkorswim. active traders get charting and crypto in one login, that pulls accounts straight off coinbase
coming months is doing heavy lifting in that announcement. robinhood had all three listed while schwab was still running client surveys
slow is the product though. schwab clients pay up for handholding, robinhood speed is a feature aimed at a different customer entirely
schwab picking LINK over a dozen other L1s says the compliance team won. oracles are boring to retail and thats exactly why it clears legal
compliance won and the reward is LINK. one listing that clears legal does more for oracles than two years of devcon talks
the coming months fine print is the catch. still, 39.9m accounts getting one tap access to SOL and AVAX beats the headline
39.9m accounts sure, but how many of them care about an oracle token. SOL does the volume, LINK gets held by people who read research pdfs
kind of the point tho. schwab is not selling a token flip, its selling chainlink data feeds to people who buy bond ladders. different product entirely
LINK held by people who read pdfs is sending me. spot on tho, schwab isnt listing this for degen flow, its an infrastructure story for the thinkorswim crowd
my advisor still calls all of it crypto dot com stuff. the day he asks me about chainlink i sell him my bags, simple plan
0.75 percent per trade and no NY or Louisiana. the compliance map is the real product roadmap here, whatever clears next gets listed
schwab listing LINK actually makes sense for their user base. not everyone wants to ride the meme train
based on schwabs track record, this probably means chainlink is actually legit for once
0.75% fees are kinda steep but at least they”’re not listing random meme coins like robinhood