It’s been another busy week on the foreign exchange (forex) and cryptocurrency markets. Exness closed down its retail business in Europe, and Bitmain filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. All this and more in our best of the week segment.
Analysis of China’s BTC rally
Chinese President Xi Jinping came out in support of Blockchain technology last Friday. The following weekend, Bitcoin began to rally briefly, peaking over $10,000.
This caused a number of analysts to connect the dots: after all, the Chinese president’s support of blockchain is certainly a good sign for Bitcoin, right? It’s not quite that simple. Take a look at our latest analysis to see how supportive China really might be for Cryptocurrencies .
Citibank scales back FX platform participation
This week, Citigroup delivered a surprise for the forex market, with the company suddenly reducing its global ambitions as a major FX trading powerhouse.
As Finance Magnates reported, the bank cut the number of third-party platforms to which it gives currency quotes 15 from 45 by the first quarter of 2020.
Société Générale selects flatex AG is its exclusive CFD partner
Société Générale has formed a partnership with flatex AG, a German-headquartered company which offers online brokerage services, to be its contracts for difference (CFD) product provider for its brokerage business.
The agreement, which is valid until 2025, has been made as part of Société Générale’s ongoing integration of Commerzbank’s EMC business. Find out more about the deal here.
Bitmain files for US IPO
Despite management troubles, Crypto mining hardware maker Bitmain Technologies has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week.
Citing anonymous “informed sources,” Tencent News detailed that the German multinational banking giant Deutsche Bank is sponsoring the prospect of the Chinese hardware manufacturer.
Exness closes retail business in Europe & UK
Exness made a big announcement this week, with the FX broker revealing that it has decided to close its business in the European Union and European Economic Area – including the United Kingdom.
As Finance Magnates reported, according to the statement released on the broker’s website today, the company is leaving its retail business to focus on its B2B offering.
Interview with crypto’s ‘Flash Boys’
There’s no doubt that the cryptocurrency industry still has a number of obstacles to overcome. This week, Finance Magnates’ Rachel McIntosh spoke with Thomas Beute, Ryan Rupp French, and Giuliano Benoni of Goldbaum & Partners (aka the “Flashboys” of crypto).
During the interview, which you can listen to here, they spoke about the challenges of operating as a regulated firm in a regulated space, as well as how corporate governance structures can be effectively used to create a regulated product.
ASIC sought justification for CFD intervention
Before the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) was granted its powers earlier this year, the regulator attempted to find justification for using its powers for contracts for differences (CFDs).
However, according to an email seen by news outlets, the regulator concluded that it should implement product intervention measures in the retail derivatives industry.
In order to support its conclusion, ASIC then attempted to find evidence. However, according to the email, the authority’s review didn’t give the Aussie watchdog the support it was looking for. Read more here.
Refintiv to provide data for TP ICAP
Refinitiv announced this week that it has teamed up with TP ICAP, by signing a multi-year strategic agreement, in order to support the interdealer broker’s data needs for both its broker and technology platforms.
According to the statement, the agreement will power TP ICAP’s brokers and enterprise technology with data, news, and analytics from Refinitiv. The financial markets data provider will provide data assistance through the Refinitiv Data Platform, and on the desktop via Eikon.
