Schwab Asset Management renamed its crypto-equity ETF to explicitly highlight the natural language processing technique embedded in its stock-selection algorithm, four years after the fund began using the method at launch.
The fund, which trades under ticker STCE, is now called the Schwab Crypto Thematic Natural Language Processing ETF, effective July 28, 2026. Net assets stood at $232.1 million as of July 27, according to fund disclosures.
The rebranding does not alter the fund’s annual operating expense ratio of 0.30%, underlying index, objective, or selection methodology. STCE remains an equity ETF holding shares in crypto-ecosystem companies, not a spot cryptocurrency fund.
How the Algorithm Works
The fund’s prospectus, first filed in 2022 when STCE began trading on August 4, described a proprietary natural language processing algorithm that searches public data for crypto-related keywords, scores documents for relevance, and uses results to calculate each company’s “Thematic Beta.”
Liquidity screens and manual review then narrow the candidate list. The 2026 prospectus retains the stated objective and Schwab Crypto Thematic Index from the original launch filing but offers closer detail on how the selection process operates.
Current Holdings
The fund holds 42 stocks. Bitdeer Technologies, a Bitcoin miner, represents the largest position at 6.38% of assets. CleanSpark, another Bitcoin miner, accounts for 5.46%, while Trump Media & Technology Group comprises 5.43% of the portfolio.
Schwab did not disclose the reason for adding “natural language processing” to the fund name four years after implementing the technique, nor did the firm specify whether any refinements to the index’s underlying rules have occurred since the 2022 launch.
