Interactive Brokers announced that eligible clients of Interactive Brokers LLC (IB LLC) can now fund their brokerage accounts using stablecoin. This new capability provides near-instant processing and 24/7 availability, including weekends and holidays, enabling clients to deposit funds and begin trading across 170 global markets within minutes of initiating a transfer. Stablecoin funding addresses a critical pain point in accessing global capital markets.
Traditional cross-border funding has remained a significant challenge for international investors, particularly in regions where USD wires are expensive, slow, or require multiple correspondent banking relationships. Stablecoin funding settle near-instant processing and24/7 with significantly lower costs than traditional wire transfers. Global clients of IB LLC can now fund their accounts outside of their local business hours and trade immediately -- a capability traditional wire transfers cannot accommodate.
Clients can fund their accounts by sending USD Coin (USDC), a digital asset backed 1:1 by the US dollar, from their crypto wallet to a secure wallet provided through a collaboration with zerohash. Interactive Brokers plans to add support for Ripple Coin (RLUSD) and PayPal's coin (PYUSD) next week. Once received, the stablecoin is automatically converted into US dollars and credited to the client's brokerage account.
Interactive Brokers does not charge fees for stablecoin deposits. Clients are responsible for any fees associated with the blockchain network. zerohash applies a low conversion fee of 0.30% per deposit, with a minimum fee of $1. Stablecoin funding is now available to eligible Interactive Brokers LLC clients.
