Online Trading Platform CMC Markets Adds Crypto Spread Betting for Retail Clients

CMC Markets, a leading global online trading platform, announced that it has extended its cryptocurrency spread betting and contract for difference (CFD) trading option to its retail clients. They can now open positions on BTC/USD and ETH/USD pairs. Previously the crypto spread betting option was only available for its institutional clients in the UK.

“Since successfully launching our cryptocurrency offering in March to our professional clients, we have received increasing interest and demand from our retail client base to trade this unique digital asset class,” David Fineberg, group commercial director said. “Our clients have expressed an interest in trading on the two more established cryptocurrencies - bitcoin and ethereum - so we are pleased to offer them the opportunity to trade these cryptocurrencies.“

Spread bets and CFDs are ways to trade on cryptocurrency price movements without having to buy the assets themselves.

“Adding cryptocurrencies to our portfolio of financial instruments allows clients to take a position with an established provider where funds can be deposited or withdrawn with ease, and the risks of purchasing cryptocurrencies directly through an exchange can be avoided,” Fineberg added.

CMC Markets is the latest “traditional” online broker to add cryptocurrency instruments to its portfolio.

Unlike cryptocurrency exchanges, where the trader has to buy or sell the cryptocurrency itself, the online brokerages like CMC Markets and eToro, for example, provide the option to speculate on cryptos without having to own the assets. This makes the process much faster, despite the client having to undergo rigorous KYC and AML procedures.

Trading with a well-established platform has another advantage as well. Unlike the vast majority of crypto exchanges, which are not properly licensed, the major online brokers usually are regulated by financial oversight authorities and abide by strict capital and operational requirements. In the case of CMC Markets, the overseeing authority is the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company subsidiaries also have licenses from the regulators in Australia and New Zealand.

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