This week has been yet another rough round for binary options trading, as more countries ban marketing of the product. There were, however, certain high points in the financial industry too.
Israeli binary options ban
On Thursday, the Israeli media announced the expected approval of a new anti-binary options law by the national government. Though there will still be a need for a first and second reading in the Israeli parliament, this is a major milestone. A year ago, Israel banned offering online trading, specifically binary options, to local investors. Today, Moshe Kachlon, the Minister of Finance, will present to the government a new addendum that will prohibit marketing binary options to clients abroad.
The London Summit 2017 is coming, get involved!
anyoption - the end
On Tuesday we reported a new upcoming merger between anyoption, a binary options brokerage, and invest.com, a portfolio management provider. The latter will lead the new joint company, which will benefit from new regulatory and operational synergies. The value of the agreement has yet to be disclosed. The two firms will continue to offer their existing services under the new company's banner.
FxPro re-enters sport sponsorships
On Tuesday, FxPro, a Forex online trading firm, signed a sponsorship contract with Watford FC, a UK Premier League football team based in Hertfordshire. The partnership is to last three seasons, and players' shirts will feature the logo of the broker. FxPro has a history of sport sponsorships, having signed deals with rugby teams, French football team Monaco FC, the World Rally Championship, and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Ethereum robbery
On Tuesday, the FreeWallet website was apparently hacked, and 21,000 ETH ($8 million) were reportedly stolen and sent to a specific address. Due to the company’s lack of response to public queries on the matter, it has been accused of carrying out an exit scam. This would mean that the firm was behind the fraud, rather than an outside hacker or hackers. The company has since responded that it is incorporating heavy security into its services to protect clients and their accounts.
Bancor rush
On Monday, the Bancor Protocol held a fundraiser event at which the Israeli cryptocurrency firm received 396,619 ETH ($142 million), with Ethereum worth $360 that day. The event was successful despite cyber attacks on the Bancor network, app, and website, but the staff did have to give a two hour extension to the minimum funding time. The ETH sent by investors was converted into the Bancor coin (BNT), the first Blockchain currency utilizing the company’s protocol.
