After a quieter week in the Finance Magnates newsroom, let's take a look back at the biggest news stories from the Forex , Fintech and Crypto spheres in our best of the week segment.
XRP Supports Cross-Border Payments , Says Former Treasurer of the US
The trading week kicked off with the news that XRP, the world’s 6th most valuable digital asset, recently received support from Rosie Rios, the 43rd Treasurer of the United States.
In a recent Tweet, Rios said that several other cryptocurrency assets are speculative in nature. “XRP’s primary purpose is facilitating cross-border payments while other Cryptos find their value in speculation. China’s latest move brings this point home,” Rios highlighted.
The recent comments from the former Treasurer of the United States came nearly 4 days after Ripple announced a collaboration with Bhutan’s Central Bank. XRP jumped by nearly 10% following the news.
Read more on the Rios XRP comments here.
Why Is XRP Price Holding onto Yearly Gains Despite Ripple’s Legal Issues?
Staying with XRP, in a Finance Magnates analysis, we looked at how and why XRP has managed to overcome the hurdles amid the well-publicised legal issues faced by Ripple Inc. in the United States.
Following the recently launched fund worth $250 million to support the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the XRP Ledger, all eyes are once again on XRP and Ripple.
Read more to find out why XRP is holding onto its yearly gains here.
Playtech Agrees to Sell Finalto to Gopher Investments for $250 Million
One of the biggest acquisition dramas of the summer looks to have reached a conclusion.
London-listed Playtech plc (LON: PTEC) announced on Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of Finalto, its financial trading division, to Gopher Investments. The enterprise value is worth $250 million in cash, according to the note released through the London Stock Exchange’s website.
The completion of the transaction is expected in the first half of 2022, subject to regulatory clearances and regular timetables.
Read more on the Finalto sale here.
CFTC Fines Refinitiv US $650K for Reporting Violations
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on Monday that it has filed and settled charges against Refinitiv US SEF LLC, a registered swap execution facility and a subsidiary of a broader financial market data and infrastructure provider, for failure in reporting certain categories of swap data.
The company has already agreed to pay a civil penalty of $650,000 to the US regulator and comply with certain undertakings to settle the charges.
Read more on the Refinitiv US Fine here.
eToro Expands Sports Presence, Sponsoring 8 Italian Football Clubs
The eToro football cash splash continues.
eToro has expanded its presence in the sports field yet again, and inked sponsorship deals with eight Italian football clubs playing in the country’s top league, Serie A.
The multi-asset broker will sponsor Bologna F.C., Cagliari Calcio, Genoa C.F.C., U.C. Sampdoria, U.S. Sassuolo Calcio, Spezia Calcio, Udinese Calcio and Hellas Verona F.C for the 2021/2022 season.
eToro will have exposure to an extensive range of marketing opportunities offered by the clubs, including matchday LED boards, media backdrops, tickets and digital rights.
Read more on the eToro Italian football sponsorships here.
Bitcoin Millionaire Transfers $206 Million Worth of BTC to Binance
After regaining a price level of $43,000 on Thursday, one single Bitcoin wallet transferred 5,000 BTC from Xapo to Binance.
The total value of the transaction stood at around $206 million after the price of Bitcoin had risen 4% in the previous 24 hours.
Read more on the Bitcoin transfer here.
Long-Term Bitcoin Holders Own 80% of the Circulating BTC
This week, the overall volume of Bitcoin held by long-term holders hit an all-time high of 80.5% of the circulating supply.
During the recent bull market of 2020/21, approximately 12.3% of the circulating Bitcoin supply has been accumulated by the long-term holders.
The recent data from Glassnode indicates that BTC owners are still not willing to sell their crypto assets.
Read more on the long-term bitcoin holders here.
Tickmill UK Sees 6% Uptick in 2020 Revenue, Client Number Skyrockets
Tickmill UK Ltd, the British subsidiary of the broader Tickmill Group, has published its yearly financials for 2020, ending on December 31. The broker reported a 6 percent year-over-year jump in its revenue to £8.4 million only from FCA-regulated UK operations.
The UK entity witnessed a strong upward drag in the number of new clients with the recent boom in retail trading. It opened 6,618 new accounts in the period, which is 41 percent higher than the previous year. With this, Tickmill UK ended the year with 38,797 total accounts.
Read more on the Tickmill UK revenue here.
Book Your Tickets for Finance Magnates London Summit 2021
It's back! With less than two months to go, the highlight of the Finance and Fintech calendar is making its eagerly-awaited return with tickets now available for purchase.
Taking place between November 16-17, at Old Billingsgate, London; Finance Magnates London Summit is one of the hottest events of the year for players in the finance space.
Finance Magnates London Summit will play host to hundreds of exhibitors, dozens of top executive speakers and thousands of attendees. The event hosts a multitude of retail brokers, institutional buy-side, payment service providers, fintech startups, challengers and a growing crypto segment.
Read more on Finance Magnates London Summit here.
