FTX US to Make Fractional Stock Trading Free

The majority of trades on crypto exchange FTX US’s new stocks application have been of the fractional variety — leading the company to waive fees for such trades moving forward, the company told Blockworks. 

The US affiliate of crypto exchange FTX, which revealed plans to launch a commission-free stock trading platform in May, officially unveiled the app Wednesday. 

Several thousand people from a waitlist participated in its private beta stage in recent months, and on Wednesday it became available to residents in all 50 states, FTX US President Brett Harrison said in a tweet. FTX US is the US affiliate of crypto exchange FTX. 

The app launched with 970 tickers available to trade — including stocks, ETFs and American depository receipts — and plans to add thousands more in time. Ultimately, Harrison said, FTX US hopes to allow users to trade stock options.

Harrison declined to share the number of users or trading volume FTX Stocks booked in its first day, but noted that he was surprised to see the high amount of trades that represented less than one share of a stock. 

People are showing interest in trading $100 of Tesla stock, for example, Harrison noted, despite a share of Tesla being worth, as of Friday afternoon, nearly $900.

“That is clearly a very important part of the platform,” he said. “And, in fact … we’re going to make all trades underneath one share be free.”

Excluding the free fractional shares trading, FTX Stocks will charge a fee representing 0.05% of the notional value of the trade, or 1 cent per share — whichever is lower — beginning Oct. 1. 

“The goal there is to have a fully transparent, very clearly well defined fee as opposed to a sort of hidden cost associated with payment for order flow,” Harrison said.

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