Commission-free broker Firstrade Securities adds crypto offering

Rick Steves

“It’s time to extend our offering to include digital currencies. Our customers throughout the U.S. have asked for crypto trading and now the wait is over.”

Firstrade Securities Inc. has added crypto trading to its platform in a milestone move for the New York-based traditional online brokerage that offers a wide range of investment products and now cryptocurrencies in one place.

The crypto offering is currently available by invitation to selected Firstrade customers, but it will soon be open to investors nationwide.

The commission-free online brokerage has been in the game for 37 years and currently offers zero commission on stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds and fixed income through its mobile apps and web platform.

The wait is over

John Liu, CEO of Firstrade Securities, said: “In line with the exponential increase in cryptocurrency adoption by both consumers and institutions, Firstrade believes that cryptocurrency is here to stay. It’s time to extend our offering to include digital currencies. Our customers throughout the U.S. have asked for crypto trading and now the wait is over.”

Firstrade is a US broker with one of the fastest trade execution capabilities. For most of 2018, the firm recorded an average trade execution speed of 0.068 seconds, beating everyone else, according to a blind comparison report of most online brokerages from S3 Matching Technologies through Apex Clearing Corporation.

When placing an online order to trade a stock, many investors may not be fully aware of what happens next. How their broker is actually executing the trade— at what speed and cost— can have a significant impact in determining whether trades yield good results or not.

Claiming to be the most cost-effective financial technology brokerage and one of the first to offer zero-commission trading, Firstrade has recently gave beginner and advanced options traders free access to hourly covered call, short put and credit spread reports to help them make smarter, actionable trading decisions.

Powered by OptionsPlay, Firstrade’s Options Trade Ideas Reports does the work for investors, eliminating the chore of searching through thousands of optionable symbols.

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