Straits Financial becomes first brokerage to accept bitcoin

December 9, 2016

fintech insurtech wealthtech regtech ai cybertech esg news

Straits Financial will become the first US-based Futures Commission Merchant to accept bitcoin to fund trades and investments.

The brokerage house will enable users to pay with bitcoin, which is then converted into currencies by cryptocurrency payments processor BitPay.

Users will be able to trade assets such as energy, precious metal, agricultural commodities and stock indexes on the multi-trillion dollar commodities market.

Straits Financial will also partner with digital bank WB21 to offer real-time rates for the currency exchanges that BitPay will carry out.

Straits Financial president Joseph Mazurek said, â€œBitPay and WB21 will help customers to easily convert their bitcoin holdings into currencies that can be used to fund their futures trading accounts and will provide the bitcoin community easier access to an alternative suite of investment options.â€