FTX Expands Into Stock Markets

Although you may know FTX.US from its extremely clever Superbowl commercial starring Seinfeld creator Larry David, FTX is still a very new-to-the-market cryptocurrency exchange. Founded in 2019 by Brett Harrison, a Harvard alum software developer, FTX.US is on a mission to become a leading U.S. crypto exchange.

What Is FTX Crypto?

FTX Exchange is a leading centralized cryptocurrency exchange specializing in derivatives and leveraged products. Founded in 2018 by MIT graduate and former Jane Street Capital international exchange-traded funds trader Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX offers a range of trading products, including derivatives, options, volatility products, and leveraged tokens. It also provides spot markets in over 100 cryptocurrency trading pairs such as BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, and its native token FTT/USDT.

Bahamas-based FTX and its FTX US affiliate have overlapping management teams but separate capital structures. U.S. residents can only trade through FTX US.

FTX’s wide range of products and easy-to-use desktop and mobile trading apps draw crypto investors of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals or, in crypto jargon, from newbies to whales. The FTX platform offers a comprehensive range of order types, from basic market orders to more complex trailing stop orders.

FTX competitive futures and spot markets trading fees ranged from 0.04% to 0.07% for market takers, based on the maker and taker model, as of January 2022. Meanwhile, leveraged tokens carried a creation and redemption fee of 0.10% and a daily management fee of 0.03%. FTX supports nine fiat currencies that investors can deposit and withdraw via a wire transfer: the U.S. dollar, euro, British pound, Australian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Singapore dollar, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, and Brazilian real.

The Future of FTX – Is It In The Stock Market?

Brett Harrison announced via Twitter today, “Beta for stocks on FTX US opening today.” That’s right, the crypto exchange will now allow users to trade stocks and exchange-traded funds right there on its app where users trade cryptos like Bitcoin and Dogecoin.

They are beginning to roll this out to just a limited number of users in the U.S., but the goal is to expand so that it will be available to all U.S. customers within the next several months. When speaking of where he would like to see it go, Brett Harrison stated, “What we eventually want to offer is an everything app for financial services.” So there is potential for this app to offer even more trading options in the future.

Responding to a rapidly changing market

As cryptocurrencies are seeing huge sell-offs and a dip into a bear market, it’s a strategic time for FTX to make this expansion. It is also a way for them to bring in new investors who may have been hesitant to venture into the crypto world prior to now. Those investors can stick with traditional investing, but do it on FTX.US. And of course, the options for trading in crypto will be available.

But for the many users who already trade in both crypto and stock exchange assets, they now have a place to trade all of these without having to split up their funds. The convenience alone of having so many assets available to trade in one place could be enough to bring in more investors.