Interactive Brokers Now Accepts Stablecoins in a Bid to Remain Competitive

The firm has begun offering stablecoin account funding for U.S. retail clients, joining a growing list of brokerages racing to keep pace with crypto-native rivals.

Interactive Brokers will now allow retail investors to fund individual brokerage accounts with stablecoins, a step aimed at keeping pace with the increasingly competitive retail trading market, Bloomberg reported Friday.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based brokerage firm competes with rivals including Robinhood Markets Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp. and earlier this year expanded its cryptocurrency trading capabilities alongside its offerings of stocks, options and futures

The development highlights how traditional brokerages are increasingly incorporating crypto-linked features to hold on to retail clients as digital assets gain a firmer foothold in mainstream finance. Allowing stablecoins to be used for account funding places Interactive Brokers among a growing group of firms testing blockchain-based payment rails to reduce friction and speed up transfers, while keeping pace with rivals such as Robinhood that have more aggressively expanded into crypto.