Trading Bitcoin at Merrill Edge
Key takeaways:
• Merrill Edge does not support direct trading of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are available for trading at Merrill Edge.
• Merrill clients who want to trade coins directly may want to look at Robinhood instead.
Interested in investing in cryptocurrencies? Choosing the right brokerage matters. Merrill Edge does some things well and falls short in others. Here’s what you should know:
Cryptocurrencies at Merrill Edge
Merrill Edge does not allow trading in cryptocurrencies themselves. That’s the first major limitation you’ll notice with Merrill. What it does provide is access to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and some of these funds hold digital assets. This gives investors an indirect way to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies.
Finding Crypto ETFs at Merrill Edge
Locating ETFs that invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum at Merrill Edge is straightforward. Click the Research tab in the main menu and choose ETFs under Investments & Screeners.
On the ETFs page, look at the second row of tabs below the main navigation and select ETF Screener.
In the screener, choose Digital Assets as the Morningstar category. When we applied this filter, 74 results appeared. Some funds track Bitcoin and Ethereum futures, while others hold the coins directly. A few of the ETFs are leveraged, so it’s important to review each fund’s prospectus before investing.
Researching Crypto ETFs at Merrill Edge
To view details for a specific ETF, click the drop-down arrow next to the ticker symbol in the results list. A small menu appears with five options:
- Add to watchlist
- Compare tool
- Set alert
- View prospectus
- Trade
Clicking the linked ticker symbol opens a short profile with key data such as the 52-week range, expense ratio, and daily volume. There is also a link to see more research. On the full profile page, you’ll find added details, including options chains and technical analysis from Technical Insight©.
One ETF that showed up in our search was BITB, the Bitwise Bitcoin Trust. It holds a single asset—Bitcoin—and manages about $4.27 billion in assets. Because it owns only one holding, the fund is not diversified.
Merrill’s page for BITB lists a beta of 1.73, which points to high volatility. With average daily volume above 2 million shares, the fund is actively traded. It does not pay dividends, which is expected for this type of product.
How to Buy Bitcoin ETF of Merrill Edge
Placing a trade for a Bitcoin ETF works the same way as trading any other stock or ETF. Orders can be submitted on Merrill’s website, the MarketPro browser platform, or the mobile app.
On the website, you can use the Trade option from the drop-down menu in the results list, or click the blue Trade button on the ETF’s profile page. In MarketPro, a trade link can be opened from a watchlist by right-clicking on the fund.
Merrill Edge uses the same order ticket across all three platforms. Market, limit, stop, and trailing orders are supported, and short selling is allowed.
Fees and Minimums
Merrill Edge does not charge commissions on trades of crypto ETFs or any other ETFs. There is no minimum balance required for a brokerage account. However, IRAs— which can also be used to trade Bitcoin ETFs— have a $49.95 account closure fee.
Robinhood as an Alternative
The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF mentioned earlier carries an annual expense ratio of 0.20%. This fee is deducted from the fund each year. If that ongoing cost feels too high, you could avoid ETFs altogether and trade cryptocurrencies directly. While this isn’t possible at Merrill Edge, it is an option at Robinhood.
Robinhood supports direct crypto trading in 58 different currencies. In addition to major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are also some lesser-known options:
- Aave (AAVE)
- Aerodrome Finance (AERO)
- Arbitrum (ARB)
- Aster (ASTER)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Avantis (AVNT)
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- BONK (BONK)
- BNB (BNB)
- Cat in a Dogs World (MEW)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Compound (COMP)
- Curve DAO (CRV)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Dogwifhat (WIF)
- Ethena (ENA)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Floki (FLOKI)
- Hedera (HBAR)
- Hyperliquid (HYPE)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Lido DAO (LDO)
- Lighter (LIT)
- Mantle (MNT)
- Maple Finance (SYRUP)
- Moo Deng (MOODENG)
- OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP)
- Ondo (ONDO)
- Onyxcoin (XCN)
- Optimism (OP)
- Pax Gold (PAXG)
- Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT)
- Pepecoin (PEPE)
- Plasma (XPL)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Popcat (POPCAT)
- Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)
- Pyth Network (PYTH)
- Render (RENDER)
- Sei (SEI)
- Shiba Inu (SHIB)
- Sky (SKY)
- Solana (SOL)
- Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- SUI (SUI)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- Toncoin (TON)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- World Liberty Financial (WLFI)
- XRP (XRP)
- Zora (ZORA)
To see the full list of tradable coins at Robinhood, type “Tradable Crypto” into the search bar on the website or mobile app. Select a coin from the list to open its profile. To place a trade, tap the Trade button in the app, or use the built-in order ticket on the website. Supported order types for crypto include market, limit, and recurring buys.
Robinhood does not charge commissions on crypto trades, but there is a spread of about 0.65%. Around 0.60% goes to Robinhood, with the remainder paid to the trading venue. A round-trip trade therefore costs roughly 1.30%. Keep in mind that ETFs also have bid-ask spreads that add to trading costs.
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Merrill Lynch Crypto Summary
Merrill Edge provides indirect access to cryptocurrencies through ETFs, while Robinhood offers both indirect exposure and direct coin trading.
Updated on 2/10/2026.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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