E*Trade Financial Group is gearing up to list cryptocurrencies on its trading platform. E*Trade is planning to begin by listing Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) initially and add other cryptocurrencies in the future.
Being one of the biggest online trading platforms, E*Trade could portray a major leap forward for cryptocurrency promotion.
According to the company’s annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Dec. 31, 2018, E*Trade had total margin receivables of $9.6 billion spread over 4.90 million brokerage accounts. The company’s total assets exceed $65bn.
If E*Trade offered cryptocurrency trading, it would get a place in the list of online equities trading platforms like Robinhood, which also entered into cryptocurrency domain. Back in May 2018, Robinhood momentarily surpassed E*Trade in number of trading accounts. When that happened, Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood co-founder, said
“Crypto has certainly added to our growth. In the next couple of years, I think you’ll see Robinhood looking like a full-service consumer finance company.”
Some analysts have recently said that cryptocurrency represents a solid longtime asset for institutional investors. Cambridge Associates, which focuses on pension and endowment consultancy, wrote:
“Despite the challenges, we believe that it is worthwhile for investors to begin exploring this area today with an eye toward the long term. Though these investments entail a high degree of risk, some may very well upend the digital world.’’
