Can I Buy Bitcoin at Merrill Edge?
Although Merrill Edge doesn’t offer cryptocurrency trading correctly speaking,
there are nevertheless ways to play the Bitcoin market with a Merrill Edge account. We’re going
to show you how and offer a great alternative.
Investing in the Blockchain
The blockchain is the digital record of cryptocurrency transactions. Many technology companies see a bright future in the blockchain due to its ability to reduce financial crimes. Because every transaction is permanently and publicly recorded, it’s easy to track purchases and sales.
While you can’t invest in digital currencies (or traditional currencies) with a Merrill Edge account, you can trade stocks that are investing heavily in blockchain technology.
One such company is IBM. It created a division inside itself aptly called IBM Blockchain. This department has hundreds of blockchain ventures in the pipeline. These range from digital payments to food delivery.
IBM’s share price is currently $130 and pays a quarterly dividend of $1.63. That’s a dividend yield of around 5%, an excellent value in a world of low interest rates.
Because Merrill Edge has a $0 commission on stock trades, making an investment in IBM or another blockchain stock is very low cost (there are small exchange fees on the sell side).
Blockchain ETFs
If volatility is a concern to you, you could instead opt for a blockchain ETF. These are funds that invest in blockchain stocks. Because the funds are composed of multiple securities, they are naturally less volatile than an individual stock.
An example of a blockchain ETF we found at Merrill Edge is the First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process Fund. Trading with ticker symbol LEGR, the fund tracks the Indxx Blockchain Index. The fund’s portfolio includes IBM and several other stocks connected to blockchain technology, including:
- AMD
- Micron Technology
- Baidu
- Oracle
Merrill Edge’s profile for LEGR has a fund report from CFRA. The analyst grades the ETF 4 stars out of 5.
Be aware that some other popular blockchain ETFs, such as KOIN and BLCN, are not tradable at Merrill Edge.
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Where to Trade Cryptocurrencies
If stocks and funds aren’t for you, there are alternatives out there where you can trade actual
cryptocurrencies. Webull is one such broker,
insured by SIPC and FINRA/SEC regulated, just like Merrill Edge.
Currently, Webull offers trading in these digital currencies:
- Aave (AAVE)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Apecoin (APE)
- Avalanche (AVA)
- BAT (BAT)
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Cardano (ADA)
- BNTUSD (BNT)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Chiliz (CHZ)
- COMPUSD (COMP)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Crypto.com Coin (CRO)
- Curve DAO (CRV)
- Dash (DASH)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- ENJUSD (ENJ)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Fantom (FTM)
- FILUSD (FIL)
- Gala (GALA)
- ICPUSD (ICP)
- LINK (LINK)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Loopring (LRC)
- Maker (MKR)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- REN (REN)
- SHIB (SHIB)
- Solana (SOL)
- Stella Lumens (XLM)
- Sushi (SUSH)
- Stella Lumens (XLM)
- Terra (LUNA)
- Tezos(XTZ)
- The Graph (GRT)
- UNI (UNI)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- XLM (XLM)
- yearn.finance (YFI)
- Zcash (ZEC)
The brokerage firm charges zero commissions on crypto trades. But unlike Merrill, Webull offers whole-dollar investing, which means it’s possible to trade fractional shares, or in the case of cryptos, fractional coins.
Another advantage of trading the crypto markets at Webull is the settlement timeframe. Crypto trades settle immediately, whereas stock and ETF trades at Merrill take two business days to settle.
For research, charting, and order entry, Webull has three platforms: mobile, desktop, and browser.
All three of them can be used for crypto management. Although the computer platforms will obviously
provide a larger charting screen, we actually prefer the mobile app because it is the only platform
of the three to offer a community forum where traders can discuss the pros and cons of individual
coins.
Learn more about Webull crypto investing...
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Trading at Webull vs. Trading at Merrill Edge
One of the most important differences between playing the crypto space at Webull versus Merrill is
that the latter broker’s accounts are protected by SIPC. If you trade cryptocurrencies at any broker,
your cryptocurrency positions aren’t insured by SIPC. Holdings of securities (stocks, options, and
funds) are protected, but cryptocurrencies are not.
While Webull is a reliable brokerage firm, if anything ever did happen to your crypto holdings,
there is no agency to back them up. This is not the case with ETFs and stocks.
Can You Buy Crypto on Merrill Lynch?
As of right now, you cannot buy cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Cardano, and Bitcoin on
Merrill Lynch.
How to Buy Crypto on Merrill Lynch?
The easiest way to invest in cryptocurrencies on Merrill Lynch is through one of the crypto ETFs. For a direct
crypto trading, you can use Webull.

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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