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$1 Trillion Brokerage Giant TD Ameritrade is Quietly Testing Bitcoin

$1 trillion brokerage giant td ameritrade is quietly testing bitcoin

$1 Trillion Brokerage Giant TD Ameritrade is Quietly Testing Bitcoin

TD Ameritrade and Nasdaq appear to be testing a BTC and LTC spot trading feature that could open the floodgates for institutional adoption of bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

bitcoin Trading on TD Ameritrade and Nasdaq?

On Monday (April 22, 2019), a Twitter user called “Cryptopolis” announced that BTC trading on the Nasdaq via the TD Ameritrade brokerage platform. Understandably, the new caused a stir within the “cryptocurrency Twitterverse.”

However, it turns out that the trade was only a test with TD Ameritrade apparently trying out BTC trading via their Paper Trading desk.

Cryptopolis, who identifies as a quantitative analyst at trading analytics service firm StrongMarket, says Nasdaq may also be collaborating with TD Ameritrade.

According to Cryptopolis, customer support at the brokerage firm wasn’t forthcoming with information about the matter beyond saying it wasn’t a real trade.

Litecoin creator, Charlie Lee also pointed out that trading is not only being tested for bitcoin but for Litecoin (LTC) as well. The test shows both cryptocurrencies are being traded against the USD.

11 Million Clients May Soon Get Access to BTC Trading

TD Ameritrade has more than 11 million client accounts with more than $1 trillion in assets. The U.S. broker already offers Bitcoin futures trading.

One puzzling aspect of the story that even lends credence to Nasdaq’s involvement is CXERX, the unknown symbol under which BTC was trading on the platform.

Cryptopolis reported that TD Ameritrade customer service seemed unaware of the symbol. Is it a forex symbol or perhaps an index?

The CXERX chart shows the BTC/USD trading pair coming online on Wednesday (April 10, 2019) with the trades based on data from Nasdaq.

Growing Institutional Interest in bitcoin

Live spot trading of bitcoin on the Nasdaq could potentially increase BTC’s institutional appeal. It would also open another vista of institutional adoption for BTC and cryptocurrencies.

Already, firms like Fidelity Investments and Intercontinental Exchange are set to launch custody and futures trading platforms respectively. Nasdaq has also expressed plans to establish a bitcoin futures trading platform sometime in 2019.

Wall street bitcoin etf

The addition of BTC spot trading would effectively constitute a trifecta of institutional-grade crypto adoption. Experts believe that the influx of big-money players will also act as a tailwind to push the BTC price even higher.

Currently, bitcoin price 00 is up about 50 percent since the start of 2019. Analysts and commentators alike say the top-ranked cryptocurrency has bottomed out and will experience parabolic gains in the next bull cycle.

If this is indeed the case, then brokerage giants like TD Ameritrade will likely benefit from the increasing interest in bitcoin and price gains.

Do you think BTC spot trading is coming to the Nasdaq? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Images via Twitter @cryptopolis_x and @SatoshiLite, Shutterstock

The Rundown

Published at Wed, 24 Apr 2019 13:00:56 +0000

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Adam Back: Blockstream ‘Has No Patents Related To SegWit’

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has refuted claims by Swedish Pirate Party founder Rick Falkvinge that the company “has patents in SegWit.”

 Pirate Party’s Falkvinge: Blockstream SegWit Support Driven By Patents

In a Twitter response Monday, Back stated Blockstream “does not have any patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications, or anything similar, related to segwit.”

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Falkvinge, who is a staunch supporter of bigger blocks proposed by rival scaling solution campaigners bitcoin Unlimited, had earlier Monday released a dedicated post on his website arguing Blockstream’s SegWit support was for its own interests.

“Based on Blockstream’s behavior in the bitcoin community, I have become absolutely certain that Segwit contains patents that Blockstream and/or their owners have planned to use offensively,” he wrote.

Falkvinge Accuses Blockstream Of ‘Goalpost Moving’

The post accuses Blockstream of “classic goalpost moving” and employing behavior that “only makes sense” under a patent battle.

Falkvinge continues:

…Based on Blockstream’s behavior, I can say with dead certainty that I’ve seen this exact behavior many times in the past, and it’s always when somebody has a dual set of reasons – one for presentation and palate and another that drives the actual course of action.

Back’s Twitter retort appears to be lifted from previous comments on Reddit left by core developer Greg Maxwell.Maxwell

“As is the case for other major protocol features, the bitcoin developers worked carefully to not create patent complications. Segwit was a large-scale collaboration across the community, which included people who work for Blockstream among its many contributors,” he continued.

Moreover, because the public disclosure of segwit was more than a year ago, we could not apply for patents now.

Maxwell reiterated that Falkvinge had previously made similar allegations, which he had addressed separately.

“In short, Rick Falkvinge’s allegations are entirely without merit and are supported by nothing more than pure speculation which had already been debunked,” he concluded.

A Clash Of Ideals?

Falkvinge meanwhile has remained bullish on bitcoin publicly, telling RT in February he expected bitcoin could take over up to 10% of the foreign exchange market.

In his post, however, a clear distinction is drawn between the classic bitcoin ethos and that of Blockstream.

“The owners of Blockstream are the classic financial institutions […] that have everything to lose from cryptocurrency gaining ground,” he wrote.

The conclusion is unescapable (sic) here: Blockstream’s constant goalpost shifting has had the underlying goal to have Blockstream’s owners effectively own bitcoin through patent encumbrance.

What do you think about Rick Falkvinge’s claims about Blockstream? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter

The post Adam Back: Blockstream ‘Has No Patents Related To SegWit’ appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.

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