$1.2 Trillion Brokerage Giant Testing Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) Trading, Says Litecoin Creator Charlie Lee

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TD Ameritrade appears to be testing Bitcoin and Litecoin products. According to Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, the US brokerage giant is testing LTC/USD and BTC/USD trading via an unknown symbol, CXERX. Affirming that the test is “not a joke”, Lee tweets,

“It’s only available for paper trading on ThinkOrSwim right now. Search for CXERX to find both BTC and LTC.”

“It’s through my own TD Ameritrade ThinkOrSwim account. It’s paper trading, so they are just testing right now, but it’s there for sure.”

According to Cryptopolis, a quantitative analyst at StrongMarket who spotted the product prior to Lee, testing may have begun as early as April 10, based on the trading chart.

UPDATE: According to TDAmeritrade support – it's not a real trade in my account – it appears they are testing only using their Paper Trading platform. Support said "I'm not able to speak on it" -They did not know what CXERX is. Strange… But something is going on for sure! pic.twitter.com/gUxtHX0TNg

— Cryptopolis (@cryptopolis_x) April 22, 2019

If the new crypto pairs are fully implemented, TD Ameritrade could introduce the world’s leading digital assets to a massive mainstream audience. With 11 million client accounts totaling $1.2 trillion in assets, the firm also offers custodial services for more than 6,000 independent registered investment advisors. The firm says its clients place, on average, 500,000 trades each day.

The crypto-friendly brokerage is aiming to maintain its edge as a leader in fintech. In 1988, it became the first to offer touch-tone phone trading, and in 1995 it acquired K. Aufhauser & Co., credited with executing the first online trade in 1994.

Just saw that TD Ameritrade is testing both BTC and LTC trading on its brokerage platform. 😲 🚀 pic.twitter.com/TVo39oECeH

— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) April 23, 2019

Along with Fidelity Investments, Nasdaq Ventures, Bitmain, ConsenSys, Digital Currency Group and Pantera, TD Ameritrade is an investor in Chicago-based cryptocurrency exchange ErisX, which is expected to launch later this year and is targeting institutional investors. ErisX will support trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.