Apex Clearing to Offer Cryptocurrencies
CEO Bill Capuzzi cited client demand and a desire to target millennials.
Joining the cryptocurrency fray is Apex Clearing, which will launch Apex Crypto in the fourth quarter this year to provide broker-dealers and other online investing platforms access to cryptocurrencies. Apex Clearing is a custody and clearing engine that is owned by PEAK6 Investments LP, a leader in the fintech investment arena.
Crypto assets will be held separately, according to Bill Capuzzi, Apex CEO, and follow the legal and regulatory guidelines. The key, he said, is clients will be able to open one account to not only trade traditional assets, but cryptocurrencies as well.
End user demand is the main push for this move, Capuzzi told ThinkAdvisor.
“First, there is demand from our existing client base, and second our prospective clients who are coming to Apex and looking for a digital solution, and asking where we stand from a crypto perspective,” Capuzzi said. “More broadly, we do custody for 10 million end-user clients, and we are squarely focused on the millennial community. We have seen indirect demand by end clients through [platforms] like Coinbase.”
Among the coins to be offered include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin. According to the company, clients will be able to access quotes and market data and receive statements and confirmations for their digital currency holdings in addition to traditional assets, such as stocks, bonds, options and futures.
“We’ll have product available for our BD and advisor clients between now and the end of the year,” Capuzzi said, adding that this move is “not a flash in the pan; [we’re] not riding the wave. This is a longer term view: We think crypto is here to stay.”
— Related on ThinkAdvisor: