Crypto Exchange FTX Expands Stock Trading on its Trading App

Crypto exchange FTX allows clients to trade stocks and exchange-traded funds with its most popular trading apps alongside Bitcoin and Dogecoin.

FTX will open access to the new equity trading service to a limited number of US users, the head of the US division of the cryptocurrency exchange said in an interview. We plan to extend our capabilities to all American customers in the coming months.

FTX, like most major US online brokerage firms, will offer fee-free equity trading. But it doesn't send customer orders in cash to high-speed merchants, FTX US President Brett Harrison said. Order flow payments have increased since the desperate deal with GameStop Corp. Other meme stocks have been under increased scrutiny from lawmakers and regulatory agencies over the past year.

This means that FTX has lost the money to trade stocks and has to rely on crypto profits to subsidize new services. "We don't necessarily have to win on the first day," Harrison said.

FTX will announce launch details later. Harrison initially said the crypto exchange was working to add stock trading in January, and FTX opened a waiting list for new services the following month.