April 26, 2019
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.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-26/e-trade-is-said-to-be-close-to-launching-cryptocurrency-trading....
We could see a spike in bitcoin price if these rumors pan out!
Etrade adopting crypto trading could represent a natural progression. Coinbase held a state resembling a consolidated US market for a long time which was interrupted mainly by robinhood adopting crypto trading in an attempt to expand its userbase in appealing to millennials and younger demographics.
Having witnessed the success of robinhood and other crypto exchanges, it makes sense for etrade to expand its offerings into crypto in an effort to stay competitive and retain the marketshare it has worked hard to accumulate in the acquisition of scottrade and other trading houses it has bought up over time.
Coinbase isn't known for treating its customers particularly well. I hope these rumors are true. It would be nice to see etrade give coinbase competition which could force coinbase to make a better effort at presenting an improved, fairer and more reliable user experience for its end users.