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.
Massive Cyber Attack Targets Brokers’ Leads and Data
Brokers’ client databases have always been a lucrative target for hackers and thieves. Now, a trojan horse virus has been spreading across firms working in the retail trading industry, with hackers stealing swathes of data and selling it on the dark web.
That’s according to the cybersecurity team at Panda Trading Systems(PandaTS).
Finance Magnates reached out to a number of retail brokers to see how widely the malware has spread. Though some were unaffected, several brokers did confirm that hackers had attempted, with varying degrees of success, to steal data from them.
Hey, Crypto Retail Investors: The IRS Is Eyeing Your Wallet
Tax liability and collection is one of the most unclear and confusing facets of the cryptocurrency space. In an interview with Finance Magnates, Sean Ryan, co-founder of digital currency tax agency Node40, who told us about how his company was formed, why retail investors haven’t been paying their taxes, and how that’s about to change.
“I do see an active enforcement effort coming,” Ryan explained. “Actually, I think it’s happening now–a lot of this stuff is not known to us, but we see it trickle out from time to time in the form of subpoenas or issuance, like the Coinbase [example.]”
Rising Client Acquisition Costs Squeezing Small Brokers
Over six months after the introduction of the new regulatory framework in Europe, we are finally at a point where some inevitable trends appear to be shaping up. While industry consolidation has been a theme, there is a precursor which is causing it: ever-rising client acquisition costs.
The talk of the day now are ever-rising client acquisition costs that keep swelling. Companies who can afford it, continue investing into ever-more creative ways to maintain a steady flow of customers to their platforms. Marketing is playing a bigger role when compared to years ago.
Op-ed: Will 2019 Bring Mass Cryptocurrency Adoption?
VOIP veteran and Celsius founder and CEO Alex Mashinsky has been one of the most vocal voices of the cryptocurrency industry. Mashinsky is also a long-time advocate for cryptocurrency adoption, and remains optimistic about this issue.
In a special op-ed for Finance Magnates, Mashinsky has voiced his prediction for the current year.
“The big question for 2019 is: Will enough of these institutions cross the chasm and join us? Or will they continue to sit on the sidelines or even short the market?”
CMC Markets Shares Fall 22% as Revenue Guidance Slashed
ESMA regulations continue to take their toll on FX and CFDs brokers.
Shares of London-based trading provider CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX) fell 22 percent on Friday after the company slashed its guidance on revenues as trading activity was subdued over the first two months of 2019 and client activity decreased following regulatory changes.
The spread-betting specialist has warned that revenues for Q1 2019 will even miss its previous weak expectations, with tighter restrictions on the sale of leveraged products to retail investors having a more severe impact than initially anticipated.
Does the JPM Coin Signifies JP Morgan Warming up to Crypto?
JP Morgan has been a symbol of crypto-scepticism, after its CEO Jamie Dimon has done all he can to voice his despise towards Bitcoin. While Dimon noted that the Blockchain is real, he also called Bitcoin “a fraud”.
But even though JP Morgan has made the decision to call its new coin a “cryptocurrency,” the bank doesn’t seem to have warmed up to the idea of cryptocurrencies as most people know and understand them.
We tried to examine whether this step is a mere technicality, or an actual change of hearts.
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