Interactive Brokers Shatters Trading Hours: 24/7 Markets Now Live with USDC Stablecoin Funding
Wall Street's clock just got unplugged. Interactive Brokers, a titan of traditional finance, has launched round-the-clock trading, fueled entirely by the USDC stablecoin. This move doesn't just extend hours—it rewrites the rulebook for market access.
The 24/7 Engine
Forget waiting for the opening bell. The platform now operates continuously, allowing positions to be managed and capital deployed at any hour. This leap is powered by direct USDC integration, letting users fund accounts and settle trades with the digital dollar—bypassing the sluggish, weekday-only ACH and wire transfer systems.
Why This Cuts Deep
This isn't a minor upgrade; it's a direct challenge to the legacy financial plumbing. By using a stablecoin, IB slashes settlement times from days to moments and demolishes the artificial barrier of 'market hours.' It effectively acknowledges what crypto natives have known for years: global markets don't sleep, and neither should your capital. It's a stark contrast to the old guard's 9-to-5 mentality—a system that often seems designed more for bankers' convenience than investors' needs.
The New Liquidity Playbook
The integration creates a seamless on-ramp. Traders can move from the crypto ecosystem into equities, options, and bonds without converting back to fiat, preserving a digital asset's position across portfolios. It turns USDC from a crypto-centric tool into a universal margin and collateral asset.
A provocation for the traditionalists, an obvious evolution for the rest. One of finance's most entrenched gatekeepers just handed the keys to the after-hours kingdom to a stablecoin, proving that even giants must adapt or get bypassed. Perhaps the most cynical take is that it took a digital currency to finally deliver what banks have promised for decades: instant, always-on money movement.
Interactive Brokers embraces a major move aimed at increasing USDC adoption globally
Following these assertions from the company, Milan Galik, CEO of Interactive Brokers, argued that, “Using stablecoin funding gives international investors the speed and flexibility they need in today’s markets. Clients can MOVE funds and start trading within minutes while lowering transaction costs.”
Immediately after his remarks, sources close to the matter, who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the situation, clarified that Zerohash, a B2B crypto infrastructure provider, is the primary factor behind this incorporation’s success. Before initiating this upgrade, Interactive Brokers encouraged its retail investors in December to deposit several USDC in their individual brokerage accounts.
Notably, for the stablecoin to be effectively included in the client’s brokerage account, users were advised to transfer the cryptocurrency from their personal crypto wallets to a Zerohash wallet on a major network such as Ethereum, Solana, or Base that has current backing, thereby positioning this wallet as the most secure. Upon receipt of USDC, the digital asset is automatically converted to US dollars and added to the brokerage account.
Considering the increased adoption of stablecoins worldwide and their reshaping of global finance, Edward Woodford, the Founder and CEO of Zerohash, mentioned that the crypto infrastructure platform will charge a conversion fee as low as 0.30% per deposit, bringing the minimum charge to $1.
Apart from this fee, reports highlighted that users will also be required to pay the usual blockchain transaction charges. At this moment, sources highlighted that Mastercard proposed purchasing Zerohash for up to $2 billion. Acquisition talks proceeded; however, the current status of this discussion remains unclear.
Interactive Brokers positions itself as a leader in the crypto industry
Interactive Brokers’ move to integrate 24/7 trading with USDC stablecoin funding comes as the firm seeks to launch more trading alternatives linked to stablecoins, potentially as early as next week. These options include RLUSD, a fiat-backed stablecoin issued by Ripple, and PYUSD, a stablecoin from PayPal, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar.
Following this funding, reports from reliable sources indicated that the brokerage company publicly announced its intention to introduce its own stablecoin last year.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Interactive Brokers, founded in 1977, is widely known for its low fees in the crypto industry.
It began operations in late 2021, offering crypto trading and custody services for four major assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and bitcoin Cash. This operation took place in partnership with Paxos, a regulated blockchain infrastructure company.
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