Brokerage firms all want to get into cryptocurrency nowadays! Wall Street loves crypto, crypto is creating a large number of new jobs, and institutional traders can’t wait to sink its teeth into the crypto markets. Cryptocurrency seems like it can’t be stopped! What’s more, we’ve just received word that TD Ameritrade is backing a new crypto exchange, ErisX, according to a press release published on the company website.
TD Ameritrade, which currently provides investment services to up to 11 million clients, did not reveal the details of the deal. However, according to Bloomberg, DRW Holdings, an investment company, and Virtu Financial, a high speed trading firm, also plan on participating with TD Ameritrade. Both agreed to be market makers for ErisX, which might help ensure a deep order book, allowing the exchange to do well.
ErisX, a reboot of traditional futures market Eris Exchange launched in 2010, is going to announce its business plans later today, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has learned. Read more about their plans here. The exchange plans to offer cryptocurrencies along with futures contracts in early 2019. It will allow investors to trade in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).
J.B. Mackenzie, head of futures and foreign exchange trading at TD Ameritrade, told WSJ that the brokerage firm wanted to transform cryptocurrency into “something they [investors] feel comfortable with in regulated space”.
Steve Quirk, who is the executive VP of trading and education at TD Ameritrade, stated that there is interest in cryptocurrencies, especially from brokerage clients with TD Ameritrade.
“Our retail clients are seeking to access and trade digital currency products in the same way they do with traditional capital markets — through a legitimate, regulated and transparent exchange.”
This slow move towards brokerages offering cryptocurrency investment products is not new. The appetite isn’t waning either, given this bear, in fact, given the news we’ve had the last few weeks, and we think interest is picking back up.
Do you think this is good news? What do you think about TD Ameritrade pairing up with a crypto exchange? Do you think the bull is slowly making a return? If not, when do you think it will?
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