Millions of New Investors Might Get Closer to Cryptocurrencies

Should reports about two major online trading platforms – TD Ameritrade and E*Trade – turn out to be true, millions of new investors would get a new exposure to cryptocurrencies, which might boost the whole nascent sector.

E*Trade is getting ready to let customers trade bitcoin and ethereum on its platform and will consider adding other coins in the unspecified future, Bloomberg reported citing a person familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment.

At the end of the third quarter of 2018, the company had almost 6 million customer accounts, according to their financial report.

Meanwhile, last week, the cryptoverse speculated that TD Ameritrade might also offer cryptocurrency trading soon, as they have reportedly started to test a paper trade, which is a simulated form of trading for bitcoin and litecoin, without actually buying or selling the coins for real money.

While TD Ameritrade hasn’t commented much on this news, their support staff have allegedly told to the Twitter user Cryptopolis that “The only bitcoin related products that we trade […] are Bitcoin Futures under/XBT.”

Litecoin creator Charlie Lee apparently verified this information with a Tweet, saying: “Just saw that TD Ameritrade is testing both BTC and LTC trading on its brokerage platform”, then replying to skeptical commenters with: “It’s through my own TD Ameritrade ThinkOrSwim account. It’s paper trading, so they are just testing right now, but it’s there for sure.”

TD Ameritrade provides investing and trading services for 11 million client accounts that total more than USD 1 trillion in assets, and custodial services for more than 6,000 independent registered investment advisors, according to the website of the company.

Also, the company states that, in the light of always seeking new opportunities “TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation has invested in ErisX—an innovative company that plans to offer traders access to cryptocurrency spot contracts, as well as futures contracts, on a single exchange. […] when ErisX completes its product development and obtains regulatory approval.”

If these reports turn out to be true, the two trading platforms would join startups like Coinbase and Robinhood, becoming two of the largest securities brokerages to allow cryptocurrency trading and possibly drawing more millennial customers, as well as providing an incentive for other trading platforms to include cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, it is estimated that this move could help legitimize cryptocurrency trading and bring it closer to the mainstream, thus changing the field and bringing in more investors.