New Delhi, March 11 -- Charles Schwab anticipates making a direct cryptocurrency offering available in the second quarter to a limited group of clients, with a larger expansion to follow, CEO Rick Wurster tells Barron's.

Wurster acknowledges that the "fervor" around digital assets has declined in recent months as prices for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have tumbled. Nonetheless, being able to enable customers to directly hold Bitcoin and Ethereum at Schwab is a necessity, he says: "Clients are still interested in it."

Over the past two years, many of Schwab's customers have chosen to invest in crypto through exchange-traded funds, such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which launched in January 2024. Still, Schwab's direct offerin...