https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...launching-cryptocurrency-trading?srnd=premium E*Trade Financial Corp. is getting ready to let customers trade cryptocurrencies on its platform, according to a person familiar with the matter. The firm will start by adding Bitcoin and Ethereum, and will consider adding other currencies in the future, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous because the matter is private. A spokesman for E*Trade declined to comment. E*Trade would be one of the largest securities brokerages to allow crypto trading. It will enter into a competitive market with startups like Coinbase Inc., which have made names for themselves as go-to places for such transactions. Closely held Coinbase reached a valuation of $8 billion in 2018 and projected sales of $1.3 billion. Fintech startup Robinhood, most recently valued at $5.6 billion, has also added cryptocurrency trading as a way to woo millennial customers. The arrival of E*Trade could help to legitimize cryptocurrency trading for wary investors. On Thursday, New York’s attorney general accused the operator of one prominent crypto exchange of hiding the loss of about $850 million, sending Bitcoin’s price tumbling. Bitcoin has failed to rise back to levels it hit at the end of 2017, when it surged to nearly $20,000, but it’s still worth about 35 percent more than it was at the start of 2019.
CBOE puts brakes on BTC listing. BTC volume traded at CME has been rather pathetic. And someone still want to launch Cryptocurrency trading?!?!
There's no need to be confused. CBOE and CME are bitcoin futures only which cater to certain market participants. There is overwhelming interest in actually trading the cryptocurrencies investment assets: Fidelity, NYSE/ICE (Bakkt), TD Ameritrade, ETrade, Coinbase, Gemini and some of the biggest exchanges worldwide are all getting or already in the game, but do your own research or keep your blinders on, whichever makes you happy.
I wonder how that is going to work. Because when you trade on a crypto platform you actually own the tokens you are trading. They would have to reprogram their exchange to have crypto wallets or make it like contracts. If they make it like contracts then that would suck.
From my understanding (some stuff I read here and there, but nothing definitive), these exchanges will sell the actual assets (i.e. bitcoin, ethereum or litecoin) but they will hold them for the customers and not allow withdrawals. Since they are licensed and regulated, there's not much concern they will sell the assets and not hold them.
This is it. Open the gates for the muppets. OMG, I'm so looking forward to this. Random flow for days
Should be interesting to see whether there's adoption there. My two cents, Coinbase could use a competitor - they've held a monopoly over crypto/usd trading for quite some time in the US.
Also, it will depend a lot on fees and market structure. When they give retailers the opportunity to post bids/offers for a reasonable fee (less than 0.075% for the taker) it could be a massive step up. If it's just E*Trade or TDAmeritrade bucketing trades instead of giving free market access, you can forget about it. There are a couple of bucketshops already who offer this kind of "market access" with 50$ spreads....nobody needs that.
I think we'll see better price discovery and price stability. More liquidity should help with that. Or...not?