In a busy week for news, let's take a look back at the stories that dominated the worlds for Forex, Fintech, and Crypto, in our best of the week segment.
NAGA Sets Record with $15 Million in Q2 2021 Revenue
Hamburg-based NAGA (XETRA: N4G), a social Trading Platform , announced this week that it has generated a preliminary revenue of $15 million in the second quarter of 2021, which is a jump of 135 percent from the $6.3 million reported in Q2 of 2020.
The unaudited figures have marked another record-breaking quarter for the Germany-listed company as it has continued to report a surge in its business for several quarters now. The latest figures even surpass the record the company set in Q1 with $13.7 million in revenue.
Read more on the NAGA record results here.
Large XRP Transactions Are Surging
XRP, one of the world’s most valuable digital currencies, saw a massive uptick in its whale transactions during the week.
One leading XRP address moved 84.3 million coins to an unknown wallet. The total value of the mentioned transaction stands at around $50 million. The transaction was recorded on Bithomp.com.
In a separate transfer, around 40 million XRP coins worth over $23 million were moved from a crypto wallet to the digital exchange Binance.
Read more on XRP Whales here.
Binance US Is Looking to Go Public, Changpeng Zhao Says
Binance US, the United States-based affiliate of the global crypto exchange giant Binance, is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the country, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed on Friday.
While speaking at REDeFiNE Tomorrow 2021, a virtual summit organized by SCB 10X, the venture arm of Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank, Zhao revealed the plans of his company.
“Binance US is looking at the IPO route, Zhao said, adding that the plans are “not 100% fixed yet.”
Read more on the Binance US IPO here.
eToro Becomes Sponsor of Czech Football Club SK Slavia Prague
eToro has signed yet another sports sponsorship deal, as the broker announced on Wednesday about its latest partnership with the oldest football club in the Czech Republic, SK Slavia Prague.
The two have agreed to a multi-year partnership, but neither disclosed the terms. The official announcement detailed that the logo of the Israeli broker will be featured on all official club teamwear, including the jersey of the club’s men, women, and youth teams.
Read more on the eToro SK Slavia Prague sponsorship here.
Binance Coin Regains $50 Billion Market Cap
As Finance Magnates reported, Binance Coin (BNB), the cryptocurrency backed by digital exchange Binance, has regained the $50 billion market cap after its price jumped above $300 on Monday.
Binance Coin started 2021 at a price level of $37 and a market cap of less than $8 billion. The cryptocurrency crossed the market cap of $50 billion for the first time in April 2021.
Read more on the Binance Coin $50 Billion Market Cap here.
Plus500 Announces Completion of Cunningham’s Acquisition
Plus500 announced that it has completed the acquisition of the entire membership interests of Cunningham Commodities and Cunningham Trading Systems this week.In April 2021, Plus500 announced the acquisition of Cunningham.
Plus500 termed the latest US acquisition as an important ‘growth opportunity’ for the company to expand its presence globally
Read more on the Plus500 Cunningham acquisition here.
24 Exchange Gains Crypto Trading License in Bermuda
24 Exchange, Dmitri Galinov’s over-the-counter (OTC) platform, has secured a ‘Class T’ Digital Asset Business license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) and is now planning to open cryptocurrency trading services for institutions.
Announced on Tuesday, the license was given under the Bermuda Digital Asset Business Act 2018 and is the first such permission given to any company.
Read more on the 24 Exchange Bermuda Crypto License here.
Singapore Exchange Announces Acquisition of MaxxTrader
Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange and FX derivatives marketplace, announced this week that it has acquired the single source and direct-to-market FX trading platform, MaxxTrader.
The $125 million acquisition from a multi-asset execution and order management firm, FlexTrade Systems is expected to be completed by December 2021.
Read more on the MaxxTrader acquisition here.
European Commission Approves Joint Venture of IHS Market, CME Group
The European Commission has granted unconditional European Union antitrust approval to the proposals of IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO) and CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) to form a joint venture combining their post-trade services.
In its public confirmation on Thursday, the European regulator specified that it does not have any competition concerns with the formation of the joint venture.
Read more on the IHS Market and CME joint venture here.
Spreadex Becomes Principal Shirt Partner of Burnley FC
Spreadex announced this week that it has signed an agreement with the English Premier League Club, Burnley FC, to become the principal shirt partner of the football club.
Read more on the Spreadex Burnley FC sponsorship here.
ASX Calls for Regulations of Crypto Custodians
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) wrote a letter to the country’s Senate last week pointing out several risks in holding digital assets and calls for better regulations around the industry.
“On major Blockchain platforms such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, digital assets are associated with a user through an address. Whoever can access the address is effectively the custodian of the digital assets in that address,” the stock exchange explained.
Read more on what the ASX says on Crypto here.
Interactive Brokers Group’s Q2 Net Revenues Reach $754 Million
Interactive Brokers Group posted strong financial results for Q2 of 2021. The company reported net revenues of $754 million in the second quarter of 2021, compared to $539 million during the same period in 2020.
The broker’s income before taxes reached $541 million in Q2 of 2021. The company reported income before taxes of $222 million in Q2 of 2020. Adjusted net revenues also increased substantially in the latest quarter compared to the same period last year.
Read more on Interactive Brokers Group's Q2 Revenues here.
Blockchain Technology Company Kirobo Introduces Atomic Safe Swap
Kirobo, an Israel-based blockchain startup, announced today that the company has launched Atomic Safe Swap, which is the world’s first secure peer-to-peer token swap service.
The newly introduced service enables crypto holders to execute token swaps directly with other users without the need for an exchange or custodial third party.
Read more on Kirobo here.
