Interactive Brokers, one of the largest American brokers with a market capitalization of $124.9 billion, has taken an important step toward integrating cryptocurrencies into traditional financial services: the company has allowed its clients to fund their brokerage accounts with stablecoins. This means that investors can now use digital assets pegged to the US dollar to make deposits on the platform while maintaining their regular dollar balance in their accounts.
At the initial stage, clients will be able to deposit USDC stablecoins on three blockchains — Ethereum, Solana, and Base.
According to the company, this will provide fast and convenient transfers, which will be automatically converted into US dollars and credited to brokerage accounts. Next week, Interactive Brokers plans to expand stablecoin support by adding RLUSD from Ripple and PYUSD from the PayPal payment service, allowing clients to choose from a wider range of digital currencies.
The implementation of this feature became possible through the broker’s partnership with ZeroHash, a stablecoin infrastructure provider that ensures a technical foundation for secure and fast transactions. Clients will be able to fund their accounts without any broker fees, although any costs associated with blockchain transactions (so-called gas fees) will be borne by the user. In addition, ZeroHash will charge a conversion fee of 0.30%, with a minimum fee of $1 per transaction.
It is worth noting that ZeroHash recently announced raising $104 million in funding, with Interactive Brokers among its investors, highlighting the strategic partnership between the broker and the infrastructure provider.
Interactive Brokers CEO, Milan Galik, emphasized that the new option will allow international investors to accelerate capital movement: “The ability to fund accounts with stablecoins will provide clients with the speed and flexibility so necessary in today’s markets. They can transfer funds and start trading within minutes, significantly reducing costs associated with traditional international bank transfers.” According to him, traditional bank transfers remain slow and expensive, especially when dealing with foreign accounts and currencies.
This is not Interactive Brokers’ first experience with cryptocurrencies. The company opened access to digital asset trading back in 2021, adding support for BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH. Last year, the platform expanded its list of available coins to include SOL, ADA, XRP, and DOGE, allowing clients to diversify their crypto portfolios.
Thus, the integration of stablecoins into brokerage accounts is another step for the company toward creating a unified ecosystem where cryptocurrencies and traditional financial instruments work together, providing investors with convenience, speed, and lower transaction costs.
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