Interactive Brokers indicates that this brokerage firm, which manages client assets exceeding $903 billion, has launched an Ethereum staking service through Zerohash, adding a coin-holding earnings feature to its 20 digital asset platforms that support trading.

• Ethereum staking is available to eligible Interactive Brokers LLC customers and can be utilized through the Client Portal of this brokerage firm.
• Zerohash provides staking services, and the rewards obtained will be added as additional staked cryptocurrencies to the account.
• IBKR The existing encryption services include wallet transfers, stablecoin deposits, as well as Coinbase Derivatives futures.
• The brokerage also provides access to the markets predicted by Kalshi, CME Group, and ForecastEx.

Interactive Brokers announced on October 13th that eligible customers can pledge Ethereum while managing their stock, options, and futures positions. According to the arrangement, Zerohash provides the pledging service, and customers submit applications and track the activity through the IBKR platform.

During the initial launch phase, the company stated that customers could apply to pledge or cancel pledges within Staking Dashboard located within their Client Portal, and they could also view pending activities. The announcement mentioned that the rewards obtained would be added to the balance of the pledged cryptocurrencies, and compound interest could continue to accrue as long as the holdings remained in a pledged state.

Ethereum staking adds rewards to existing holdings

In explaining this launch, CEO Milan Galik compared staking with IBKR's Stock Yield Enhancement Program, which allows participants to earn additional income from the stocks they hold.

Galik describes staking as an opportunity to “earn rewards from the cryptocurrencies you hold.”

He said, "We hope that customers can obtain more benefits from the assets they hold."

The announcement states that eligible Interactive Brokers LLC customers are among the first users of this Ethereum service. For American investors using this entity, the company indicates that staking applications and pending activities can be managed through the same Client Portal as their brokerage relationship.

In addition to the newly launched staking service, the announcement from IBKR also lists 20 tradable digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Chainlink, Aave, and Dogecoin. The company also mentions that stablecoins deposited into their platform and transfers to external cryptocurrency wallets are available as services.

According to the website of this brokerage firm, Interactive Brokers holds over $903 billion in client assets and serves more than 5 million clients globally. The company is listed on NASDAQ and is also a component of the S&P 500 index, so U.S. stock investors can access its services through individual stocks and funds that track this index.

Wallet transfers and stablecoin expansion: IBKR encrypted integration

Before launching the staking program, Interactive Brokers added a feature that allows customers to transfer their existing cryptocurrency positions to their platform. crypto.news reported on March 25th that eligible customers could transfer supported assets from external wallets to cryptocurrency accounts associated with IBKR without having to sell their holdings first.

According to this report, this transfer function covers customers of Interactive Brokers LLC, Interactive Brokers U.K., and Limited. The supported positions will be placed into accounts of Paxos or Zerohash. The assets that can be transferred include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

For encrypted transactions, brokers state that the commission is charged at 0.12% to 0.18% of the transaction amount, with a minimum of $1.75 per transaction. The pricing they announce does not include additional spreads or markups.

Earlier on, a report dated January 16th introduced the 24/7 stablecoin account deposit service of IBKR. According to the service announced the previous day, Zerohash processes USDC deposits made through the Ethereum, Solana, and Base networks, converts the tokens into US dollars, and credits the proceeds to the brokerage account.

During that launch, the company arranged for RLUSD and PayPal USD to provide support during the week of January 19th. According to reports, IBKR does not charge a deposit fee, while Zerohash charges a conversion fee of 0.30%, with a minimum of 1 US dollar.

In a announcement on July 14th, this brokerage firm introduced a withdrawal feature that automatically converts US dollars into USDC, PYUSD, or RLUSD. According to the company, customers can then send these stablecoins to external destinations, including personal wallets.

The announcement in July also added 9 new tokens through Zerohash, and 3 more through Paxos. IBKR indicates that availability depends on the associated entities and the customer's country of residence; two-way stablecoins are not available for customers of its entities in the UK and Ireland.

Zerohash Seeking a license from the National Trust Bank of the United States

Zerohash, which provides infrastructure for IBKR, is also separately seeking authorization from the federal bank. A report on August 26th provided detailed information about Zerohash's second trust bank application, which was recorded by the Monetary Supervision Agency (OCC) on August 19th.

According to the report, the proposed Zerohash National Trust Bank will be located in Asheville, North Carolina, and will operate under a holding company structure once approved. The application requests regulatory authorities to grant trust powers.

OCC Records show that the regulatory authorities received the first application on March 2 and returned it on July 17, according to reports. For the second application, the regulatory authorities opened a public comment period, which ended on September 17.

At the time of the report's release in August, public records indicated that the application status was "received." Company documents cited in the report stated that Zerohash's current regulatory arrangements included a non-deposit trust company licensed in North Carolina, a remittance license, as well as a license from BitLicense in New York.

Encrypted futures and predictive markets increase trading options

On February 10th, Interactive Brokers launched the nano, Bitcoin, nano, and Ether futures of Coinbase Derivatives. Eligible customers can trade these monthly-expiring and quasi-permanent contracts.

Brokers stated that these small contracts represent 0.01 Bitcoin and 0.10 Ethereum respectively, allowing customers to open positions in smaller increments. The announcement mentioned that these so-called perpetual futures are designed to track the spot prices of cryptocurrencies over the long term, while also reducing the frequency at which traders need to switch to different expiration contracts.

According to IBKR, these contracts are traded around the clock, except during the regular maintenance period of the exchanges from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Fridays. Qualification requirements vary depending on the jurisdiction.

In addition, on May 14th, the company launched a unified predictive market interface that connects Kalshi, CME Group, and ForecastEx. This means that customers can search for similar contracts, compare prices and fees among these three platforms, and conduct transactions without the need to open or fund accounts separately.

On the ordering interface, the company claims that its system will select the platform with the best available net price. This platform can also provide a consolidated report and real-time tracking of predicted market positions along with the customer's other assets.

At the time of its launch, IBKR indicated that the product would focus on covering election results, climate events, and economic indicators, and it would be added to the Kalshi and CME contracts in a scrolling manner. The company's disclosure restrictions apply only to US residents who meet certain criteria for accessing contracts related to US election result predictions.