Charles Schwab is expanding its direct cryptocurrency offering beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. On Aug. 27, the brokerage announced that Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink will become available through Schwab Crypto in the coming months, with additional cryptocurrencies and digital assets set to follow as the platform expands.

The announcement comes as traditional financial firms continue to deepen their exposure to digital assets. SOL also rallied sharply on the same day, extending a broader crypto market recovery that began last week.

Schwab Frames Expansion Around Client Choice

According to the announcement, the additions are part of Schwab's plan to broaden its digital asset offering in response to client demand. The firm said the expansion will give clients more choices for building a digital asset portfolio within Schwab.

The three new tokens also cover different corners of the crypto market. SOL is the native token of the Solana blockchain, a high-throughput network popular for payments and consumer applications. AVAX powers Avalanche, a platform used for decentralized applications and the tokenization of real-world assets. LINK is used to pay for Chainlink's oracle services, which feed real-world data such as market prices to smart contracts. Once live, the additions will bring Schwab Crypto's lineup to five assets alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Joe Vietri, Schwab's Head of Digital Assets, said the move is consistent with the firm's approach of giving clients access to familiar crypto assets alongside the tools and resources they need to make informed decisions.

With the step, the brokerage — which has more than $12 trillion in assets under management and 39 million users — is deepening its crypto operations. The expansion also comes at a time when traditional crypto exchanges are venturing deeper into traditional financial products.

The move also narrows a gap with competitors. Fidelity and Robinhood already let retail clients trade spot crypto directly, and the arrival of US spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, followed by Ethereum funds later that year, pushed digital assets further into mainstream brokerage accounts. Spot funds tracking a wider set of tokens have since reached the market.

Three of the biggest crypto exchanges — Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase — already offer tokenized stocks on their platforms. Coinbase introduced tokenized equities last week, restricting access to users outside the US.

Schwab, for its part, plans to introduce additional crypto assets over time. However, its five crypto offerings indicate a more measured approach to the rollout, and the firm has not named which assets would come next or set exact launch dates for the new listings.

Spot assets are not the only area where Schwab may soon be competing with crypto firms. The brokerage platform reportedly plans to offer prediction-market-like options contracts on the S&P 500. While the firm did not confirm the plan, a Wall Street Journal report in June stated that Schwab is partnering with Cboe Global Markets on the product. CEO Rick Wurster had previously hinted at the possibility of entering prediction markets but ruled out entertainment or sports.

SOL Tops $109 as Crypto Recovery Extends

Schwab's plan to include SOL coincided with a sharp surge of roughly 10% in the token's value. According to CoinMarketCap, SOL rose by more than 12% to a peak of around $109 on Aug. 27, its highest level in roughly eight months, before retracing to $107.

The token is now up 45% over the past 30 days, continuing a recovery trend that is wiping out most of SOL's losses this year. SOL is down only 13% year to date.

The rest of the crypto market has also maintained the positive momentum that began with last week's recovery. Bitcoin came close to $81,000 before pulling back, while Ethereum traded near $2,500. LINK and AVAX, the other tokens Schwab plans to add to its offering, rose by 5% and 3.35%, respectively. Overall, the crypto market capitalization is up 2% in the past 24 hours.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets can experience sharp price movements.