Electronic trading major Interactive Brokers has expanded the lineup of features of its Student Trading Lab.

The Student Trading Lab is a free online resource for college and high school educators looking to blend finance, blockchain or computer science classwork with real-world trading experiences.

The list of new features includes:

• PortfolioAnalyst, which helps students understand risk, measure performance against benchmarks using GIPS® verified returns, and monitor and analyze portfolios.
• A streamlined account creation process makes it easier to get started with the Student Trading Lab.
• Interactive Brokers has added support for cryptocurrency futures on the CME.

The IBKR Student Trading Lab is free to use and each student receives a paper trading account with a full complement of trading tools. Students can trade stocks, options, futures, and bonds on US markets as well as currencies.

Students start with USD 1,000,000 in paper trading equity and account equity fluctuates as if trades were executed in the real market.

The trading platform can be used to enhance classroom content, whereas sample assignments and resources can help develop student trading skills.

More than 600 educational institutions in over 60 countries, including some of the top financial engineering schools, already participate in the program, making it one of the most popular programs of its kind.

Educators participating in the Student Trading Lab can enhance their curriculum with content from the Interactive Brokers Traders’ Academy, Traders’ Insight blog or the IBKR Quant Blog.