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The Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW has been planning to introduce spot cryptocurrency trading once the U.S. regulations related to these assets ease, which is likely to occur once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. This was stated by the incoming CEO Rick Wurster in an interview with Bloomberg.

Rationale Behind Schwab’s Move

Wurster, who will step into the new role on Jan. 1, 2025, mentioned that Schwab’s clients have already shown interest and actively participated in the cryptocurrency space via investment vehicles such as exchange-traded funds , futures and closed-end funds, and have earned decent returns.

Now, SCHW aims to move further by directly offering cryptocurrency trading. He stated, “We’ve been waiting on a change in the regulatory environment … and we’re confident that we think that will come in short order.”

“Crypto has certainly caught many’s attention, and they’ve made a lot of money doing it,” Wurster added.

Further, Wurster shared that artificial intelligence will likely impact wealth-management business significantly. “It used to be that 60,000 times a month, we would have a phone rep spend more than three minutes searching for a piece of information to answer a client question. Now we have built an AI capability that finds that information in seconds,” he stated.

Schwab has been in the crypto space for a long time while facing competition from State Street Corp. STT and Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD. This August, STT entered into a strategic partnership with Taurus SA to enhance its digital solutions including crypto service. HOOD added four cryptocurrencies to its crypto platform earlier this month, bringing the total number of cryptocurrencies to 19.

Thus, by introducing crypto trading, Schwab will enter a profitable market that has seen growing demand from clients.

SCHW’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

In the past six months, SCHW shares have gained 11.7%, underperforming the industry’s 22.7% growth.

Currently, Schwab carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Zacks Investment Research

Charles Schwab Corp.'s incoming CEO, Rick Wurster has announced that the company is gearing up to offer spot cryptocurrency trading once the regulatory environment in the U.S. becomes more favorable.

What Happened: Wurster, currently serving as the firm's president, shared his thoughts in a Bloomberg Radio interview, highlighting the potential shift in regulations under President-elect Donald Trump's administration.

"We will get into spot crypto when the regulatory environment changes," Wurster said Thursday. "We do anticipate that it will change, and we're preparing for that eventuality."

The competition for retail investors' attention has been intensifying since the pandemic, and this trend has only accelerated following the recent U.S. presidential election.

Schwab, which has been active in the investment space for decades, faces stiff competition from newer players like Robinhood Markets Inc. and Webull, as well as long-standing rivals such as Fidelity Investments and Interactive Brokers Group Inc .

All firms are vying to attract clients by rolling out new products, including those tied to cryptocurrency.

While Schwab currently offers crypto-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and crypto futures, Wurster acknowledged the growing role of cryptocurrency in the retail investment landscape.

"Crypto has certainly caught many people's attention, and they've made a lot of money doing it," he said.

However, he added with a touch of humor, "I have not bought crypto, and now I feel silly."

Although Wurster does not plan to invest in cryptocurrency personally, he expressed his support for Schwab clients who choose to do so.

This stance aligns with Schwab's broader strategy of meeting client demands while navigating the evolving financial landscape.

Also Read: Bitcoin Price Hitting $100,000 In November? Polymarket Traders Speculate It Might Go Even Higher

Why It Matters: Wurster's remarks come as Charles Schwab Corp. prepares for a leadership transition.

Current CEO Walt Bettinger, who has led the company since 2008, will step down at the start of next year as he approaches the firm's mandatory retirement age of 65.

Wurster, who joined Schwab in 2016 and has served as president since 2021, is set to take over the top role.

In addition to discussing cryptocurrency, Wurster emphasized the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in wealth management.

He noted that Schwab has implemented AI tools to enhance customer service efficiency significantly.

"Previously, about 60,000 times a month, our representatives would spend more than three minutes searching for information to answer client questions," Wurster said. "Now we have AI capabilities that retrieve that information in seconds."

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