Charles Schwab's investment plan adds cryptocurrency trading for Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink

Financial services giant Charles Schwab announced on Thursday that it plans to add Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink to its cryptocurrency trading platform in the coming months, further expanding beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, but did not provide specific launch dates. This addition comes about three months after Charles Schwab introduced direct trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum to some retail clients, who previously could only gain exposure to cryptocurrencies through exchange-traded products and stocks of companies like Coinbase and Strategy, without the ability to directly purchase cryptocurrencies.

Joe Vietri, head of digital assets at Charles Schwab, stated that this expansion will provide clients with more options for digital asset allocation. Solana focuses on fast, low-cost transactions, Avalanche supports businesses and developers in creating custom blockchains, and Chainlink connects blockchains with external information, providing data such as asset prices for smart contracts. Clients can buy and sell these cryptocurrencies on the official website, mobile app, and thinkorswim platform, with a fee of 75 basis points (0.75%) per transaction.