This week was an interesting week for the forex and cryptocurrency industries. So let’s take a moment to see what the most interesting stories of the past week were, in our latest best of the week analysis.
What can January’s flash-crash teach us about Brokers’ risk management
During these post-ESMA times, a large number of brokers introduced a “prime of prime” offering, as part of an effort to look for new clients.
Despite the historical fact that retail clients are usually on the wrong end of a trade, the risks of running a book are lurking around the corner. This was seen in a very evident way during January’s JPY flash-crash – the latest ‘mini-SNB crisis’ moment.
Sophisticated risk-management is sometimes that main differentiator between true prime of primes and unreliable counterparts.
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ESMA and the ‘Degamification’ of Retail Trading
The retail forex and the gaming industries are brothers from another mother, with quite a few similarities between them. These analogies derive from the fact that both industries shared a mutual habitat, similar target audience, and in some cases were operated by the same figures.
“Online gaming people brought unique technological and marketing expertise to the trading industry,” said Tal Itzhak Ron, Chairman and CEO at legal firm Tal Ron, Drihem & Co., who works with both gaming firms and financial companies. “For gaming veterans, it was fairly easy to make the transition. Customer acquisition, for example, is similar in both industries.”
Recent moves by ESMA have been impacting the industry in a significant manner. Those restrictions are peeling the gamification features from the retail FX industry piece by piece.
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Regulators keep an open eye on brokers’ data
This week, we reported on the growing vigilance of ESMA and the national regulators, following brokers’ client classification practices.
The pan-European regulator and other watchdogs, such as the FCA, are collecting and examining brokers’ data. This effort aims to track the classification of clients as professional traders – a practice that some refer to as a loophole in the restrictions on CFD trading.
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Is Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX a Scam, a Tragedy—or Neither?
QuadrigaCX, the tree that keeps on giving, continues to provide news items on a daily basis. The Vancouver-based crypto exchange has grabbed headlines across the world for what has become a rather messy and wild tale. The story has it all–death, money, possible deception, and lots of conspiracy theories.
We examined the saga, in all its components, and tried to assess where all this is going.
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NetDania Launches Crypto Feed, Prepares New Mobile App
As Finance Magnates reported exclusively this week, NetDania has deployed to the market an extended cryptocurrency data feed.
The company is streaming live prices from 65 exchanges with over 12,000 instruments available. The firm is also delivering a steady stream of real-time news from the cryptocurrency and blockchain scene. The price and news feeds are delivered via the most common API’s.
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American Dream Makes a Comeback: Local FX Market Recovers in 2018
When it comes to retail forex, the US market is considered to be quite unwelcoming and even tough. The suffocating regulatory regime, has pushed out most brokers out of this market. But recently, there are more and more positive parameters, that indicate a recovery.
According to the figures gathered and processed by Finance Magnates’ Intelligence department, the number of active retail forex accounts in the US grew dramatically, with the fourth quarter showing the strongest results in years.
“I think it’s quite healthy. Volumes are good. There’s been a lot of activity, especially in the fourth quarter of 2018”, said Vincent Cignarella, Macro Strategist and the voice of America’s Global Squawk at Bloomberg, in an interview with Finance Magnates.
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FIXI PLC Clients Get Withdrawals as FCA Unfreezes Funds
Finance Magnates reported exclusively on Friday that FIXI PLC is sending out withdrawals back to its customers. A month and a half after the first official publication by FIXI PLC on its website that it is closing its doors, the company is well on its way to refund its clients.
To date, there are no details as to what was the reason for the FCA to freeze client funds, but a positive resolution for the customers of FIXI is already good news. The broker ceased operations in the second half of December after the UK regulator imposed restrictions on the company and its business activities at the broker’s own request.
Some clients of FIXI PLC confirmed to Finance Magnates that they already safely received their funds.
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