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Interactive Brokers Group Introduces Cryptocurrency Trading for Financial Advisors in the U.S.

By: Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. via Business Wire

October 18, 2021 at 10:00 AM EDT

Clients Managing Well-Diversified Portfolios Now Able to Trade Cryptocurrency

Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR), a global brokerage firm, today announces its launch of cryptocurrency trading for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) in the U.S., enabling these RIAs to trade and custody Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via Paxos Trust Company on behalf of clients. RIAs will benefit from the ability to manage their client’s positions in cryptocurrency in addition to stocks, options, futures, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs from all over the world from a single screen, and all shown on one platform with customizable reports.

“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,” said Steve Sanders, EVP of Marketing and Product Development at Interactive Brokers. “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.”

While other crypto exchanges and brokers charge fees that can be as high as 2.00% of trade value or more and add spreads or markups to the price, cryptocurrency trading with Paxos on Interactive Brokers’ RIA platform has low commissions of just 0.12% - 0.18% of trade value, depending on monthly volume with a USD 1.75 minimum per order. In addition, there are no added spreads, markups, or custodial fees. While initially available to RIAs in the U.S., Interactive Brokers plans to launch the service for financial advisors in other parts of the world, in the future.

Additional features available on the IBKR RIA platform include:

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.

Interactive Brokers’ crypto trading is offered through Paxos Trust Company, a regulated blockchain infrastructure platform. It became the first chartered trust company for digital assets in 2015 and is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. This oversight helps protect consumers and provides for assets to be held in bankruptcy remote, segregated accounts.

For more information about IBKR’s cryptocurrency offering for RIAs visit: ibkr.com/ria

About Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.:

Interactive Brokers Group affiliates provide automated trade execution and custody of securities, commodities and foreign exchange around the clock on over 135 markets in numerous countries and currencies, from a single IBKR Integrated Investment Account to clients worldwide. We service individual investors, hedge funds, proprietary trading groups, financial advisors and introducing brokers. Our four decades of focus on technology and automation has enabled us to equip our clients with a uniquely sophisticated platform to manage their investment portfolios. We strive to provide our clients with advantageous execution prices and trading, risk and portfolio management tools, research facilities and investment products, all at low or no cost, positioning them to achieve superior returns on investments. Barron’s ranked Interactive Brokers #1 with 5 out of 5 stars in its February 26, 2021, Best Online Broker Review.