Schwab Lists 24/7 Crypto Futures: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP
Charles Schwab now trades Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP futures 24/7 and plans spot crypto for advisors next year. What the RIA channel opening means for traders.
The Boomers' Broker Walks Into Crypto
Charles Schwab — custodian of trillions in client assets and home to tens of thousands of independent advisors — is now letting clients trade futures on Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP around the clock. For a book of business that skews toward the most traditional corner of the US investor base, the weekend and overnight gap just disappeared: crypto risk can be hedged or built at any hour, not only during regular cash-session windows.
Why 24/7 Is More Than a Convenience Feature
The real point is gap risk. Spot crypto already trades non-stop — if Bitcoin breaks at 3am on a Saturday, a Schwab client previously had to wait until Monday to react. The CME closed exactly that gap days ago with its own 24/7 crypto futures. The news here is that a retail-and-advisor broker is following, dragging always-on access down from the institutional tier onto Main Street. That distribution shift is the headline, not the product itself.
The Actual Catalyst: Spot Crypto in 2027
Schwab is signaling spot crypto for advisors next year. The RIA channel matters because advisor allocations are sticky: they get wired into model portfolios, rebalanced quarterly, and rarely panic-sold. Unlike the episodic retail demand that has whipsawed ETF flows lately, that would be a structural, recurring bid.
What It Means for the Tape
Near term, price action stays soft — Bitcoin is grinding under pressure and last week's ETF outflows are still in the system. Schwab doesn't change that today. But the medium-term demand pipe is widening in a way that's hard to reverse. Worth flagging: Schwab is listing SOL and XRP right alongside BTC and ETH. That points to breadth rather than a pure Bitcoin trade — and makes the two altcoins the real relative winners of this adoption leg.