Cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager Digital has listed three stablecoins and will soon allow customers to earn interest on their holdings.
Announced Wednesday, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Voyager said its support of tether (USDT), USD coin (USDC) and true USD (TUSD) would enable traders to better manage risk and fund their accounts without going through a bank.
“Adding these three new stablecoins to our platform gives our customers an alternative funding mechanism and another means to hedge their risk in the crypto market,” said Stephen Ehrlich, Voyager co-founder and CEO.
Voyager allows both retail and institutional investors commission-free trading on multiple exchanges from a single account. The platform uses technology said to ensure traders get the best prices available. The firm earns revenue by taking a spread from orders executed at levels better than quoted at order submission.
Ehrlich, who used to be the CEO of E*Trade, founded Voyager with Oscar Salazar, the former CTO of Uber, in the summer of 2018. The broker began offering interest on 3 percent APR on bitcoin last November, following its acquisition of wallet startup Ethos earlier that year.
“Voyager customers will also be able to earn interest on these stablecoins, giving them another way to grow wealth in the crypto industry,” said Ehrlich. Deposits and withdrawals for all three stablecoins opened earlier Wednesday, with interest-earning beginning Feb. 1.
The brokerage firm took the unusual step of a reverse merger in 2019, purchasing the majority of shares in a publicly traded company – in this case, a defunct mining exploration company – and combining in order to become listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
By becoming a listed company, Voyager now makes quarterly and annual disclosures of its financials and answers to the Canadian securities regulator. That can help build trust with traders, according to Ehrlich, who said there was "an increase in demand for users looking for new, secure platforms to buy and trade crypto assets."