Let's take a look back at the biggest stories of the week from the forex, fintech, and crypto scenes in our picks of the week.
Coinbase Launches OmiseGo (OMG) for Retail Traders and Mobile Apps
As Finance Magnates reported, Coinbase.com launched support for OmiseGo (OMG) as the major American crypto exchange and wallet provider continues to ramp up the number of altcoins available for trading. The new coin is now available for retail investors through the company’s Android and iOS apps.
Read more on the Coinbase OMG Launch here.
Mixed Week for IG Group as Growth Report Overshadowed by System-Wide Outage
On Wednesday this week, IG Group’s operations in the United States in Q1 posted a 61 percent growth from the previous quarter in active non-discretionary trading accounts, the strongest growth in the foreign exchange (forex) industry in the country. Read more on the IG Q1 Growth here
However, within 24 hours Clients of IG Group Suffered a System-Wide Outage, As Finance Magnates reported, according to some traders, the problem had been resolved with their broker, but still unable to specify what the issue was, only saying that their platforms were experiencing temporary outages on Thursday afternoon. The IG group posted on Twitter that all issues are now resolved and clients should be able to log in and access the platform.
BlockFi Suffers Data Breach, Funds Remain Safe
Staying with data breaches, on Tuesday, Finance Magnates reported, BlockFi, a popular cryptocurrency lending platform, informed its customers that it had a “temporary” data breach, putting some client’s data at risk.
The breach happened on May 14 and, according to the exchange, the breach lasted for over an hour before the root cause of the unauthorized intrusion was found and it was stopped.
The platform also stressed that no critical customer data including funds were compromised.
Read more on the BlockFi Data Breach here.
CFH Launches ASIC-Regulated Brand in Australia
As Finance Magnates covered, this week, CFH announced that it is expanding footprint in the Asia-Pacific region with the launch of its brand in Australia, which will be locally regulated through its parent Tradetech Group.
CFH will be offering its infrastructure, liquidity and clearing facilities via proprietary technology to institutional clients, ranging from retail FX brokers to banks and fund managers
Read more on the CFH Australia launch here.
Alex Mashinsky on Bringing the ‘Next 100 Million People’ into Crypto
In a highly entertaining and candid interview, Alex Mashinsky, the founder and CEO of Celsius, spoke exclusively to Finance Magnates on the quest to bring new people into crypto.
With some frank insights into the world of cryptocurrency, this is a must-read, must-hear interview
Catch the full Alex Mashinsky interview here
Albania the Next Crypto Hub?
On May 21st, the Albanian parliament signed a new bill into law to implement a legal framework for Cryptocurrencies , which CoinTelegraph described as “Europe’s most comprehensive crypto law yet.”
Finance Magnates analyzed the legislation and whether or not Albania could become the next crypto hub.
Read more on the Albania crypto law here.
Bakkt Secures Its Bitcoin Custody with a $500M Insurance Policy
Bakkt, a cryptocurrency platform owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has secured its custody business with an additional $500 million insurance policy as its institutional client list is growing.
In an official post published on Monday, the crypto company has revealed that Bakkt Warehouse, its Bitcoin custody platform, is now serving more than 70 institutional clients.
Read more on the Bakkt $500M Insurance Policy and progress here.
Interest-Bearing Crypto Accounts: A ‘Gateway’ for New Crypto Users?
Interest-bearing accounts may seem like a safe bet to new crypto users whose interest may have been piqued after COVID-19.
With insight from Alex Mashinsky, founder and CEO of Celsius, BlockFi’s Zac Prince and Alex Batlin, ex-Blockchain Lead at BNY Mellon and current chief executive of custodial wallet specialist Trustology. Finance Magnates discussed whether interest-bearing crypto accounts will aid mass adoption.
Read the Interest-Bearing Crypto Accounts: A ‘Gateway’ for New Crypto Users? piece here.
BNP Paribas’ FX Prime Brokerage Unit Halts Turkish Lira Trades
As Finance Magnates covered, BNP Paribas decided to suspend Turkish lira transactions over its FX prime brokerage unit, The decision came barely one week after Turkey’s regulator lifted a ban they imposed earlier this month on BNP Paribas and other two global banks.
Read more on the BNP Paribas Lira Stop here
Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day, Everybody!
Friday saw the 10 year anniversary of when Laszlo Henyacz paid 10,000 BTC (worth $90.7 million today) for two delicious pizzas.
No self-respecting crypto news outlet could let the anniversary pass without a look back at the whatever has forever come to be known as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
Read our tribute to the Bitcoin Pizza Day here.
