This is specifically about spot - the client buys the asset itself, not a futures contract and not an exchange-traded fund (a fund through which the asset is bought like a regular stock). Previously, access to crypto at a broker boiled down to such funds and shares of crypto companies; now BTC and ETH are traded in the same account where stocks and bonds are held.
The second part of the news is transfers. The client is no longer locked inside a brokerage account: cryptocurrency can be moved, not just bought and sold within a single platform.
The motive was named by the head of the company himself. Rick Wurster, CEO of Charles Schwab, speaks of crypto as a source of transaction revenue - that is, the broker expects to earn on the volume of client trades, and not just tick a trendy box in the product.
The next step is announced before the end of the year: SOL, AVAX and LINK. For altcoins this is fundamental - until now, the retail American bought them almost exclusively on crypto exchanges.
What this changes for a trader: traditional brokers are ceasing to be spectators and are starting to compete with crypto exchanges for the same client. The more retail flows into BTC and ETH through a familiar brokerage account, the thicker the layer of constant spot demand beneath the market.
Do you trade crypto from an exchange?
While brokers are opening access to BTC and ETH for the retail client, your question is more down to earth: on what amount are you working off these moves. The percentage is taken the same, but the money comes out different - 3% on two thousand and 3% on a hundred thousand. In prop trading, a large trading account is provided by the company, the trader gets access to it through a challenge and works for a share of the result. It's worth understanding the mechanics before the next big crypto impulse.