Cryptocurrency exchange FTX launches stock trading on its platform. The Bahamas based crypto company will allow users to trade stocks and ETFs(Exchange-Traded Funds) along with an array of its existing cryptocurrency trading services.
According to WSJ, the company will start offering these new exclusive services to a limited number of United States users. The company is planning to expand this functionality to the rest of its American customers in the next few months. FTX is one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges with over 1 million users and more than $21 billion in daily trading volume.
The crypto company is working to make it’s FTX app a one-stop platform for all financial services. Currently, it offers spot, margin and futures trading of several popular crypto pairs. Furthermore, FTX has a marketplace for NFT trading as well as many other crypto-related services such as lending and staking. With the inclusion of stocks and ETFs, users will have all their financial and investment requirements in one place.
As per FTX.US president Brett Harrison, it initially plans to offer commission-free stock trading similar to a major online brokerage platform. However, the company will not send customers’ orders to high-speed traders, a practice known as payment for order flow.
While there are many big players like Block Inc, Public.com and Robinhood already dominating this space, FTX would be the first company that comes from the native crypto space to move into traditional financing.
In the latest funding round, FTX’s valuation has shot up to a staggering $32 billion in January 2022 from $25 billion in October 2021. Founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, the company has registered a steep growth trajectory and has become a rival of Coinbase.