Charles Schwab Expands Crypto Offerings with Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink Amid Market Lull

Charles Schwab has expanded its direct crypto trading service by adding Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink on November 9, offering clients a total of five digital assets just as industry disclosures indicate a slowdown in active user numbers and trade sizes across major platforms.

For instance, Coinbase’s average monthly transacting users fell to 7.4 million in the third quarter, down from 9.3 million during the same period a year prior.

By integrating crypto into existing financial relationships, banks and brokerages can capture the business of current holders without necessarily expanding overall market participation. This easier access can redistribute trading revenue, even when the broader market remains subdued.

Schwab’s latest token additions follow an early access phase in May and a full rollout to eligible retail clients in October. The platform now provides access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, alongside the three newly introduced tokens.

Fidelity’s current trading lineup includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Fidelity Digital Dollar, Litecoin, and Solana via separate Fidelity Crypto accounts. Meanwhile, SoFi initiated a phased consumer rollout on November 11, 2025, integrating crypto directly into the same application housing its other financial services.

These offerings effectively place cryptocurrency within the established financial relationships that customers already trust and utilize.

Uneven Demand and Shifting Trading Metrics

Coinbase disclosed this user decline in its October 29 filing, attributing the year-over-year drop in monthly transacting users primarily to a reduction in active traders under current market conditions.

Chart by CryptoSlate

The MTU metric includes passive activity as well as some non-revenue-generating transfers, with the quarterly figure representing an average of monthly measurements.

Coinbase has also warned that MTUs can overstate the number of unique consumers, clarifying that this decline measures activity on its specific platform rather than overall departures from the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Gemini’s second-quarter results showed exchange trading volume at $4 billion, down from $11 billion a year earlier, even as monthly transacting users increased 11% to 580,000.

While more users were present on the platform, substantially less capital changed hands during the period.

At eToro, preliminary August figures revealed that the average invested amount per crypto trade dropped to $97, down from $325 a year earlier—a 70% decline. Meanwhile, the total number of crypto trades experienced a much smaller decline of 4%, landing at 5.3 million.

The platform’s funded accounts rose by 18% to reach 4.36 million, which includes 110,000 accounts acquired through acquisitions.

Robinhood also reported third-quarter app crypto notional volume of $21 billion, representing a 48% decline year-over-year, alongside crypto transaction revenue of $120 million, which fell by 55%.

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Beyond individual platforms, Gallup’s June ownership survey estimated that 9% of US adults held cryptocurrency, down from 14% in 2025. This weighted, probability-based sample encompassed 2,043 adults.

These disclosures highlight softness across several business metrics and in one national ownership measurement. However, users can hold multiple accounts, and ownership levels differ from actual trading activity, with reporting periods varying across platforms.

CoinGecko’s third-quarter report placed trading volume on the top ten centralized spot exchanges at $1.65 trillion, representing a 14.2% decline from $1.93 trillion in the second quarter.

CoinGecko’s broader average daily trading volume measure recovered from $58 billion in July to $95 billion in September. Additionally, outstanding positions on the top ten perpetual-futures exchanges rose by 40.6%, finishing the quarter above $100 billion.

Coinbase Institutional’s November 2 analysis reported that October spot volume fell by 16%, while options volume rose by 9%.

CoinGecko’s eight-exchange liquidity report, updated September 30, revealed that Bitcoin’s sampled order-book liquidity stood nearly 50% above its 2025 comparison level, whereas Solana’s liquidity fell by more than 28.5%.

Overall trading activity and available market depth are moving in opposite directions.

Targeting the Crypto Customer Base

In a survey released by Schwab on October 7, six in ten current crypto investors indicated expectations of increasing their holdings over the next twelve months.

A poll conducted by the National Cryptocurrency Association and Harris provides further indication of potential demand. In an online survey of 2,017 US adults carried out on September 15 and 16, 42% stated that having crypto access would make them more likely to open a bank account or use it for more of their financial needs.

Even the size of the potential audience remains uncertain, as Schwab reported 21% crypto ownership in its unweighted online sample of Americans aged 21 to 75, compared to Gallup’s 9% estimate from a weighted, probability-based survey of adults aged 18 and older.

Crypto.com’s on-chain-based estimate placed worldwide ownership at 774 million in June, representing a 4.5% increase from 741 million in December 2025.

A provider can identify a substantial commercial opportunity without anticipating an immediate revival in speculative turnover. The size of the addressable holder base and the revenue generated per active customer represent two distinct considerations.

Existing holders shifting their trading to a bank or brokerage would redistribute market share, dormant customers returning would boost activity within the current investor base, and first-time buyers would expand overall participation.

The Catalyst

Know what’s moving crypto.

Coinbase reported that subscriptions and services accounted for 49% of its third-quarter net revenue. Its trading market share increased, and paid Coinbase One subscriptions reached a record high, demonstrating that weaker trading activity metrics can coexist with growth in other areas of the platform.

Evidence of successful expansion would be reflected in funded crypto accounts, unique active traders, transferred assets, and incremental trading volume and revenue. Disclosing whether users are entirely new to crypto or merely switching providers would help distinguish organic adoption from market redistribution.

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