IG Group to Offer Crypto Trading to Retail Clients

IG Group (LON: IGG) is expanding its services around digital assets as it prepares to launch spot cryptocurrency trading for retail investors. The new services will extend the platform’s current offering of crypto contracts for differences (CFDs).

Spot Crypto Trading on IG

The London-listed platform will offer spot trading in more than 30 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and popular meme tokens. The company has partnered with United States-based Uphold, which is regulated in both the US and the UK, to facilitate crypto trading.

Uphold will provide pricing data and handle all crypto transactions made on the retail trading platform. It will also act as custodian for the digital assets held by IG Group’s customers.

“This is a huge moment for IG and a major milestone in the UK’s crypto journey, with retail investors now able to buy, sell, and hold crypto assets with a grown-up business,” said Michael Healy, IG’s UK Managing Director.

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Leveraged to Spot

IG is known for offering leveraged CFDs trading, spread betting, and traditional stockbroking services. It will integrate the new spot crypto trading within its existing platforms, allowing traders to switch easily between crypto and other IG accounts.

IG’s move into crypto comes amid rising demand for the asset class in the UK. According to a recent YouGov survey, the number of adult Britons purchasing cryptocurrencies more than doubled—from 6 per cent in 2022 to 14 per cent in 2023.

Meanwhile, the UK has introduced new draft legislation aimed at tightening oversight of crypto firms. The country’s regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), also wants to ban the purchase of cryptocurrencies using credit.

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IG stopped offering crypto CFDs to retail clients in the UK in early 2021 to comply with the FCA’s temporary ban on crypto derivatives. However, the platform continued to serve institutional clients with crypto CFDs.

According to IG’s website, it currently offers CFDs on 11 cryptocurrencies, mostly major tokens. Meanwhile, Crypto.com recently hired multiple former IG employees to set up its CFDs operations.