Schwab opens spot BTC and ETH trading to select retail

Charles Schwab opened its “Schwab Crypto” platform to select retail customers, enabling direct spot trading of Bitcoin and Ether with a 75 bps per-trade commission. The launch lands as Bitcoin stabilized around $81K after a CPI-driven dip and rebound, with fund inflows staying strong and a 2013-era wallet moving 500 BTC.

Key Takeaways

Charles Schwab opened “Schwab Crypto” to select retail customers for direct spot BTC and ETH trading, charging 75 bps per trade and excluding New York and Louisiana.
Bitcoin dipped to $79,879 after US CPI was stated as 3.8% YoY, then rebounded to about $81,208 and traded around the $81K area in the latest snapshot.
Global crypto funds took in $858 million over the week, including $706 million into Bitcoin products, while $14 million exited open BTC short positions.
A dormant wallet untouched since 2013 moved 500 BTC (about $40 million) on May 10, and Square enabled Lightning Network BTC payments for roughly 1 million US merchants with instant BTC-to-USD conversion.

Schwab Crypto Goes Live for Select Retail: Spot BTC/ETH, 75 bps, Paxos Execution

Charles Schwab opened spot Bitcoin and Ether trading to select retail customers through “Schwab Crypto,” putting a concrete TradFi distribution rail on the table rather than another “exploring” headline. The product details matter: Schwab Premier Bank is listed as the custodian, while Paxos handles execution and sub-custody.

The commission is set at 75 basis points per trade, or 0.75%. That is a clear, disclosed toll for access to spot trading, meaning the customer is buying or selling the underlying asset for immediate settlement rather than a derivative contract. The service is active across the US except New York and Louisiana, leaving two notable regulatory-heavy states outside the initial footprint.

BTC Holds Near $81K After the CPI Whipsaw

Bitcoin’s tape stayed range-bound even as macro data jolted price. After US CPI was stated as 3.8% year over year, BTC slid to $79,879 before rebounding in the Asia session to about $81,208. In the live snapshot, BTC traded around $81,218 and $80,982, with a roughly $1,400 band described in the source.

The same snapshot included positioning and derivatives context that traders typically use as a temperature check. BTC/USDT volume was shown at about $13.99 billion, the long/short split at 41.3% long versus 58.7% short, and the funding rate at +0.0017% (longs pay). On the indicator side, RSI (14) was cited near 61, while MACD was described as flashing a bearish signal that was not yet confirmed.

Fund Flows Stay Bid: $858M Weekly Inflows and Short Covering

Flows continued to lean supportive. CoinShares data cited $858 million of weekly inflows into global crypto funds, with $706 million directed to Bitcoin products. In parallel, $14 million exited open BTC short positions, described as the largest weekly short-position closure of 2026.

That mix matters for market structure. Persistent inflows into BTC vehicles can provide a steady bid, while short covering reduces the marginal supply of forced sellers and can dampen downside follow-through after macro-driven dips. It does not guarantee upside, but it does suggest bearish positioning was being taken off as price held the range.

Triggers Traders Can Track Next: Rollout Scope, Flows, and On-Chain Follow-Through

Three near-term signals can move this from “headline” to “structural.” First is whether Schwab expands access beyond “select retail customers,” and whether state coverage changes, especially New York and Louisiana.

Second is the next CoinShares weekly flow print. The market will care whether Bitcoin product inflows stay near the cited $706 million level and whether short-position outflows continue after the $14 million exit.

Third is on-chain follow-through from the May 10 transfer. A wallet untouched since 2013 moved 500 BTC around 19:16 UTC to a new address, valued at about $40 million at the time and about $482,000 twelve years earlier. The destination was described as not linked to a centralized exchange address, which reduces the immediacy of a sell-pressure read, but additional transfers or movement toward known exchange clusters would change that calculus.

Macro remains the swing factor. The source did not specify the exact timing of the CPI release referenced, but the CPI impulse clearly produced a fast dip-and-reclaim, setting the stage for the next inflation print to matter again.

Marcus Hale’s Take: TradFi Distribution Expands While Positioning De-risks

I treat Schwab’s rollout as the cleanest signal in this packet because it names custody and execution rails and posts a fee schedule. That is distribution, not narrative. The threshold that matters is whether “select retail” becomes broad retail and whether the state exclusions narrow, because that is when access shifts from a pilot to a real channel.

The flow and positioning backdrop looks more like a sentiment catalyst than a fundamental shift, but it is constructive that BTC inflows and short covering showed up while price held near $81K after the CPI whipsaw. If the next CoinShares print stays firm and the 500 BTC wallet does not start walking toward exchange clusters, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven in practical terms.

Sources

COINOTAG