Charles Schwab may soon venture into Bitcoin. That’s what The Block reported a few days ago.
It would not be a huge investment, like that of Tesla or Microstrategy. Instead, Charles Schwab Corporation could launch a brokerage platform, probably an exchange, using the technology of a partner already experienced in the cryptocurrency sector.
About Charles Schwab and why it will offer Bitcoin
Charles Schwab is a US-based multinational financial services company. It currently manages $6.8 trillion for its clients, trades $5.7 million every day with over 30.5 million brokerage accounts, 15 million bank accounts, 13,000 companies with a total of 32,000 employees. It also has $517.8 billion in funds and ETFs.
Among the investment services to be offered to its clients, it is now considering including cryptocurrencies. It would do so with a cryptocurrency buying and selling platform that could be launched by the end of 2021.
In fact, according to Journal Du Coin, Charles Schwab would not be new to cryptocurrencies, as it already offered its clients the possibility to make crypto investments in CME and Grayscale. CME is the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the first exchange to offer derivatives on Bitcoin and recently also on Ethereum. Grayscale, on the other hand, manages cryptocurrency funds, and currently has $37 billion in assets under control divided among several crypto funds.
In short, it seems that another giant is thinking of offering cryptocurrency services to its clients, in particular institutional clients. This confirms that demand for such services is growing in the wake of Bitcoin’s rising price.
Institutional investors, unlike retail investors, are looking for a service that is more similar to traditional services than the risks they would be taking when managing a cryptocurrency wallet. Charles Schwab may be able to help them by offering a crypto custodian that meets this need.
