United States-based TradeStation, a subsidiary of Japanese firm Monex Group, is planning to launch a crypto lending service.
The plan was announced in Monex’s earning report published on July 29. Called “Crypto Earn” the new lending service is “C2B2B” that lends institutions borrowed assets from clients.
Last November, TradeStation launched a cryptocurrency brokerage platform via a newly-launched offshoot called TradeStation Crypto. They initially supported Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP).
TradeStation launched its app this month and currently, crypto trading is available in 40 states in the U.S.
Monex Group, which is also the owner of prominent Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, bought TradeStation in 2011.
Targeting institutional investors
This new offering marks yet another traditional finance company entering the crypto lending sector as competition heightens among lenders.
In an interview with Cointelegraph Japan in December 2018, John Bartleman, president of TradeStation, clearly stated that their target was institutional investors:
“We are planning to target professional investors such as institutional investors unlike Coinbase or Robinhood which mainly target retail investors."
Trade Station invested in Chicago-based crypto exchange ErisX in December 2018. In collaboration with TradeStation, ErisX aims to “bring crypto to the world of traditional investing and trading."