On January 3, Maverick FX, the foreign currency trading division of the major proprietary trading company, Maverick Trading, announced that it had changed its name. The company stated that as from January 1st 2022, it is now operating under a new corporate name of ‘Maverick Currencies’. The firm made such a strategic move as it currently allows its customers to trade cryptocurrencies , and, therefore, it has expanded beyond its original forex trading business. In the recent past, Maverick Trading allowed its customers to trade Bitcoin futures and futures options in its stock/options division.
The CEO of Maverick Trading, Darren Fischer talked about the development: "There were two driving forces behind this decision. The first were inquiries and requests to trade cryptos from our existing traders. The second force was that this is simply where the market is going and as a top prop firm, we're going to be along for the ride if not leading the pack."
The Founder and Head Trader of Maverick Trading, Robb Reinhold stated that the rising crypto interest among the general public was the reason why the firm decided to include such products as part of its offerings. "Cryptos are finally coming out what we called their 'Wild West' period. This is all being reined in now and manageable from a risk management perspective,” he explained.
He talked about that types of crypto assets that their customers would be allowed to trade: "At the outset, our traders will be permitted to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin. As more brands of crypto become accepted and adopted, our traders will be able to trade them as well," Reinhold elaborated.
Meanwhile, Fischer emphasized that the adoption of crypto trading would not impact the company’s traditional FX trading. Customers will still be able to trade currency pairs, focusing on the major eight currencies alongside the ability to trade crypto assets. "In the end, these are still currency crosses. Instead of Euro to Yen, it's just Bitcoin compared to the US Dollar," he stated.
Why Firms Change Their Name?
The announcement by Maverick Currencies comes at a time when quite a number of firms have decided to changes their trading names. For instance, Facebook recently changed its name to Meta Platform Inc. Therefore, it is important to mention some of the reasons why companies might decide to change their names.
First, social perceptions can change fast, and firms do their best to anticipate such changes in advance. If they do not change it in time, then it is likely the decision to change the name might be forced upon them. In the era of ESG investing, several companies have come under social pressure to change their names in order to meet greater responsibility. For example, the French petroleum company, Total, rebranded its name to TotalEnergies, which was meant to signal the company’s shift beyond oil and gas to include renewable energy.
Apart from that, a decline in quality, scandals and other related reasons could be other grounds. When that happens, a company may announce a new name as a way of getting customers to shed its old negative connotations.
A very common scenario why companies would consider changing their corporate name is when they find success with new product offerings or go through a rapid expansion. In a period of sustained growth and change, a firm may find that the current name is too limiting or no longer accurately reflects what the firm does at this new time. Square, a US financial services and digital payments company, found itself is a similar situation. Since Square brand became synonymous with its commerce solutions, the company renamed itself ‘Block Inc’ to help the firm signal a shift into other areas of business.
