Bitcoin as a form of payment can’t be ignored anymore. Many online and offline stores have already started including Bitcoin as an alternative form of payment alongside conventional ones. Now, a futures trading company Straits Financial LLC has decided to include Bitcoin as one of the payment options. Straits Finanical LLC is a subsidiary of Singapore-based Straits Financial Group.
By including Bitcoin payments, Straits Financial LLC has become the first US-based Futures Commission Merchant to start accepting digital currency payments. According to reports, the company has partnered with BitPay and WB21 digital bank to offer Bitcoin option to its customers.
The new offering will allow Straits Financial’s customers to use Bitcoin to fund their trading account by converting it to fiat on-the-fly. The president of Straits Financial Joseph Mazurek was quoted earlier today by a financial magazine saying,
“This is a great next step for Straits and the industry. BitPay 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.”
The platform’s customers can continue to trade all the derivatives and OTC products with their Bitcoin-funded accounts. The commodities are spread across various markets including agricultural commodities, energy, precious and base metals and stock indices.
There are various online trade and forex platforms that already allows members to trade forex, CFDs and stocks using their Bitcoin-funded accounts. However, none of them are as big and mainstream as Straits Financial Group which has a presence in 4 countries. The company’s US arm is a full Clearing Member of numerous exchanges including Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Clearport, Dubai Mercantile Exchange, New York Mercantile Exchange and New Zealand Exchange.
Straits Financial is one of the many mainstream financial institutions to get swayed towards Bitcoin. There are already few Bitcoin-based Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) available for trade over mainstream stock exchanges. As the digital currency gains broader acceptance, Bitcoin will eventually make an entry into all the prominent exchanges and trade platforms across the world.
Ref: Finance Magnates | Image: Straits Financial