Charles Schwab says all of its clients can now use Schwab Crypto, its service for buying and selling cryptocurrencies, and that it is starting to let them move existing crypto holdings to the firm. At the same time, chief executive Rick Wurster said Schwab is blocking AI agents that try to log in to client accounts, while opening a controlled route for clients’ own AI tools.
Wurster set out the plans on Schwab’s Fall Business Update call on Thursday, 15 October 2026, according to a transcript published by The Motley Fool, alongside the company’s third-quarter earnings release.
Crypto for everyone at Schwab
“All clients can now access Schwab Crypto,” Wurster said. “We are rolling out the ability for clients to transfer their crypto holdings to Schwab, and we are launching access to three new coins by the end of the year.”
He did not name the coins on the call. The Defiant reported that they are Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink, planned by year-end. In August, Schwab announced plans to add those three tokens “in the coming months,” and said Schwab Crypto had begun rolling out to clients in May 2026 with bitcoin and ether. That release put trading costs at 75 basis points, or 0.75%, of the value of each trade, and said accounts are not available in New York or Louisiana.
The earnings release says Schwab “announced… plans to expand digital assets available in Schwab Crypto.” Asked later about making money from its platform, Wurster named crypto and prediction markets as new “transactional-based revenue streams.”
Blocking agents, but letting AI in by the front door
Wurster drew a sharp line on AI agents. “We are blocking unauthorized agents who try to log in on behalf of clients,” he said. “It is not a safe way for our clients to access Schwab, and we are blocking it to protect clients and our firm.” He said he gets a daily report on how often agents are blocked, and that “it’s not many.”
Instead, Schwab is offering two approved routes:
- Charley, its own assistant. The release says Schwab “introduced Charley, a new AI-powered assistant that provides U.S. retail clients with conversational access to Schwab’s tools and insights.” Wurster said it “will be available to all clients in the coming months,” uses several underlying third-party models, and can already handle some administrative tasks such as changing an address.
- Clients’ own AI models, through MCP. Schwab lets large language models connect to its MCP servers. MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard for linking AI apps to outside data and services. Schwab has “started a pilot for traders to safely and securely connect to our MCP layer via the LLM of their choice,” Wurster said. “We have started the pilot with Claude,” and it will expand to more clients and models in the coming months.
There are limits. “We control the authentication experience,” Wurster said. “We do not allow them to move money because we think there is too much risk there to the client and to the firm.”
He said the number of clients trading through AI models and APIs “has doubled in about the last six months.” For advisers, Schwab is “the first RIA custodian included in Claude for Financial Advisors,” Anthropic’s product for registered investment advisers. Internally, Wurster said, developer productivity is up “about 25%.”
The quarter in numbers
Schwab reported record quarterly core net new assets of $190.4 billion, up 38% from a year earlier, and total client assets of $13.33 trillion. Clients opened 1.2 million new brokerage accounts. Net revenues rose 17% to $7.2 billion, and adjusted earnings per share were $1.69 ($1.62 on a GAAP basis), the release says.
What’s still unknown
Schwab has not given a date for the three new coins beyond “by the end of the year,” and has not said when crypto transfers will reach every client. It has not set out exactly which actions AI models can take through its MCP layer beyond the ban on moving money.
What to watch
Watch for the new tokens’ launch, Charley’s wider rollout and the expansion of the MCP pilot beyond Claude.
What this means
- Crypto goes mainstream at Schwab. All clients now have access, and transfers in are rolling out.
- No backdoor agents. Schwab blocks agents logging in as clients, but allows controlled AI connections.
- Money stays put. Connected AI models cannot move client money.
Sources
- Charles Schwab, third-quarter 2026 earnings release, 15 October 2026
- The Motley Fool, “Schwab (SCHW) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript”, 15 October 2026
- The Defiant, “Schwab Completes Retail Bitcoin and Ether Rollout, Begins Crypto Transfers”, 15 October 2026
- Charles Schwab, “Charles Schwab Announces Plans to Expand Digital Assets Available in Schwab Crypto Accounts”, 27 August 2026
Related stories
- Coinbase Gets Conditional US Approval for Trust Charter: The Crypto-to-Banking Pipeline Just Opened
- Visa Direct Moves USDC Prefunding Into Commercial Use With Inyo Global as First Enabler
- Workday and Anthropic Team Up So Sana Agents Work Inside Claude, and Claude’s Reasoning Works Inside Sana
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