Interactive Brokers announces crypto for investment advisors
“Allocating a small percentage of assets to cryptocurrency as part of a well-diversified portfolio has steadily become more commonplace, and advisors may wish to recommend cryptocurrency to their clients”.
Interactive Brokers has launched cryptocurrency trading for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) in the United States via Paxos Trust Company on behalf of clients.
Investment advisors will be able to trade and custody Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with commissions as low as 0.12% – 0.18% of trade value, depending on monthly volume with a USD 1.75 minimum per order.
The Interactive Brokers RIA platform has no added spreads, markups, or custodial fees and will soon be rolled out for financial advisors in other parts of the world.
Available in the United States at the moment, investment advisors can use their IBKR account to manage their client’s positions in cryptocurrency in addition to stocks, options, futures, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs.
Steve Sanders, EVP of Marketing and Product Development at Interactive Brokers, said: “Allocating a small percentage of assets to cryptocurrency as part of a well-diversified portfolio has steadily become more commonplace, and advisors may wish to recommend cryptocurrency to their clients. Adding cryptocurrency trading underscores our ongoing dedication to providing advisors with the investment products and tools they need to successfully manage client portfolios and grow their businesses.”
The broker’s crypto trading offering was launched in partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a regulated blockchain infrastructure platform.
Paxos is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, having become the first chartered trust company for digital assets in 2015.
Being a chartered trust company regulated by the NYDFS means that consumers have their assets held in bankruptcy remote, segregated accounts.
The IBKR RIA platform include several other features:
– No ticket charges, no custodial fees, no minimums and no technology, software, platform or reporting fees.
– No in-house advisory team or proprietary trading group to compete with advisors for clients.
– Ability to trade stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds and funds on over 135 markets from a single integrated master account, and trade cryptocurrencies from the same platform.
– Free CRM, portfolio management and trading platform, plus PortfolioAnalyst®, which gives advisors the ability to consolidate and analyze a client’s entire portfolio, including assets held at other institutions.
– Automated and flexible client billing.
– Free compliance and website building services.
– Debit Card and Bill Pay functions available for U.S. advisor clients.
The partnership with Paxos was announced last month as the cryptocurrency specialist continues to sign big enterprise clients, including Revolut, Crédit Suisse, Société Générale and StoneX.
Paxos has also partnered with Binance to secure the NY regulator’s approval to launch a USD-backed stablecoin.
