CharlesSchwab has switched on the first round-the-clock product in its history,letting clients trade select cryptocurrency futures nearly 24 hours a day,seven days a week, on its thinkorswim platforms. The futurescover bitcoin, ether, solana and ripple contracts, and they give clients priceexposure without holding the underlying tokens. The moreconsequential signal, however, came from a separate corner of the firm: Schwabis preparing to bring spot crypto trading and custody to the financial advisorswho steer trillions of dollars through its platform.Schwab Flips On Its First24/7 Product Into a Crypto SlumpThe 24/7futures access runs through Charles Schwab Futures and Forex, a registeredfutures commission merchant, and extends a crypto push that is only a fewmonths old. Schwab opened direct crypto trading to retail clients this spring,a phased rollout of spot bitcoin andether priced at 75basis points and routed through Paxos.Timing isthe part worth pausing on. Schwab, which reported $12.61 trillion in totalclient assets and 10.3 million daily average trades in April, is wideningalways-on access just as retail enthusiasm cools.[#highlighted-links#] Bitcoinfell about 6% the day the news broke and hasbeen grinding lower for months.JamesKostulias, head of trading services, said the firm is "committed to addingfeatures and resources that expand our offering."The Real Prize Is the $5Trillion Advisor ChannelBehind theconsumer-facing launch sits a bigger target. At a Schwab Advisor Services media roundtable in late May,the firm said it aims to add spot crypto trading, transfers and custody forregistered investment advisors by the middle of 2027.JalinaKerr, managing director and head of advisor experience, said the firm is"on track for next year, probably more like the middle of the year,"while cautioning that the date could move.Thatchannel is where the money is. Schwab custodies more than $5 trillion for over16,000 advisors, and those advisors currently send client crypto allocationsoff-platform to specialist custodians. Foldingdigital assets into the same account view as stocks and bonds would pull alarge pool of advised money toward a single provider, assuming Schwab hits itstimeline. Kerr saidadvisors have leaned on exchange-traded products for crypto exposure, withdemand for direct ownership rising among clients who already hold coinselsewhere.Wall Street's Old GuardRaces the Crypto-Native CustodiansSchwab isnot moving in a vacuum. Traditional brokers spent years keeping crypto at arm'slength, and they are now competing for the same accounts that pure-play firmsbuilt their businesses on.MorganStanley is the closest comparison. The bank has been bringing crypto to its E*Tradeplatform, with apilot covering bitcoin, ether and solana reported at 50 basis points, belowSchwab's 75-point retail fee. SoFiresumed retail crypto trading last year, and Interactive Brokers has offeredcrypto since 2021, when it launched trading through Paxos, the same execution partner Schwabuses on the retail side.The advisorplan is where Schwab's approach diverges. Rather than chase self-directedretail traders, it is aiming at the custody layer underneath registeredinvestment advisors, territory held today by Coinbase Prime, BitGo andAnchorage. If Schwabdelivers integrated custody, transfers and reporting, advisors couldconsolidate fragmented crypto holdings without leaving the platform theyalready use for everything else. That is adirect challenge to the crypto-native custodians, and it is the reason the 2027plan matters more than the futures headline.Sources:company disclosures, Schwab Advisor Services roundtable.Fractional Shares andPlatform Tweaks Round Out the WeekThe rest ofthe update is incremental. Schwab expanded fractional trading to most US stocksand ETFs with a $1 minimum, letting clients buy by dollar amount inside thestandard trade ticket rather than through a separate flow. It alsoadded expected price range data for marginable securities on Schwab.com andmobile dividend reinvestment controls, among other changes.None ofthat reshapes the competitive map on its own. The crypto futures switch and theadvisor custody timeline are the developments that put Schwab on the same fieldas both Wall Street rivals and the digital-asset specialists.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.