The offering comprises small contract sizes to lower the capital required to trade.
Interactive Brokers has introduced small-sized “nano” contracts and perpetual-style futures, aiming to give eligible clients a more flexible access to crypto in a regulated setting.
IB added nano Bitcoin and nano Ether futures from Coinbase Derivatives to its trading platform. The contracts come in two types: ones with monthly expirations and perpetual-style contracts that behave like long-running futures tied closely to spot prices.
Besides that, trading runs 24/7, so clients can respond to crypto price moves at any time, not just during traditional market hours.
The broker already connects clients to more than 170 markets worldwide from a single platform. Now, users can trade these new crypto futures alongside stocks, options, bonds, and other products in one place.
The new offering uses nano contracts, which are much smaller than standard futures. Each nano Bitcoin contract represents 0.01 BTC, while each nano Ether contract represents 0.10 ETH. This smaller size aims to reduce the cash needed to open and manage positions and helps traders fine-tune their exposure.
Interactive Brokers is also offering perpetual-style crypto futures as part of the launch. These contracts are designed to track the spot prices of Bitcoin and Ether more closely over time. They run as long-dated futures, which means traders do not need to roll into a new contract every month as often happens with traditional futures.
