Analysts predict Charles Schwab will eventually offer its own Bitcoin ETF

Quick Take

  • Experts in the financial sector have speculated that asset manager Charles Schwab will eventually release its own spot Bitcoin exchange-traded product. 
  • Schwab may capitalize on its second-mover advantage to offer lower fees than its competitors as the company eyes Fidelity’s current success in the ETF race, experts say. 

As Fidelity's spot Bitcoin ETF battles with BlackRock's offering for the top slot and Vanguard shies away from crypto altogether, multi-trillion dollar asset manager Charles Schwab has so far staked out a centrist position. Schwab customers are able to buy shares in all approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, but Schwab has yet to create a propriety offering. 

However, that may soon change in the future, experts predict, as Schwab weighs the advantage of moving second in a field where other entrants rushed to be first. "The customers are so loyal and products are so cheap they don't have to be in any rush. Rain or shine, the flows come in,” Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas told RIABiz.

Balchunas speculated that Schwab's delay may allow the firm to offer lower fees than its competitors. "They may shock the world and offer something that is 10-basis-points in a few months," he said. 

On X, expert Nate Geraci predicted that an offering from Schwab could come sooner rather than later. "I say it’s already [a] foregone conclusion," Geraci wrote

Schwab, unlike Vanguard, has shown some enthusiasm towards the crypto space after initially writing off cryptocurrencies as too speculative for investors. The asset manager has backed the EDX Markets exchange, which went live in June 2023, along with Fidelity and Citadel Securities. 

Schwab also offers an ETF that invests in crypto-related companies, such as Coinbase, Microstrategy, and Riot Platforms, but does not hold any digital assets itself. The fund is currently up 19% from its price at launch in August, 2022. 


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About Author

Zack Abrams is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. Before coming to The Block, he was the Head Writer at Coinage, a Web3 media outlet covering the biggest stories in Web3. The story he co-reported on Do Kwon won a 2022 Best in Business Journalism award from SABEW. Other projects included a deep dive into SBF's defense based on exclusive documents and unveiling the identity of the hacker behind one of 2023's biggest crypto hacks — so far. He can be reached via X @zackdabrams or email, [email protected].