The fifth iFX expo international kicked off with a blast today in Limassol, Cyprus. Brokers, technology developers and services providers, as well as many other professionals, from all over the online trading world are showing off their capabilities and mixing business with pleasure.
Yesterday there were over 1,200 attendees at the welcome party with way over 2,500 people attending on day one. The organizers of the event expect to achieve an overall goal of over 3,500 attendees within the 2 day event.
Beyond all the impressive exhibitions and great networking at the iFX expo, the event also offers indispensable learning opportunities, with workshops from the leading experts in various fields as well as panel discussions on critical subjects for success in the industry.
Finance Magnates, top industry executives discussing the future of technology for foreign exchange and CFDs brokers
One panel for example reviewed where trading technology is going to be in an ever more competitive market. Andrew Ralich, CEO of OneZero, Maor Lahav, founder and COO of PandaTS, Kobi Gur, CEO of Leverate, Stanislav Efremov, COO at ICM Capital, Harpal Sandhu, CEO of Integral Development Corp. and Global Sales Manager at Forexware Fred Scala discussed some of the hottest issues for the industry right now.
Offering new services such as automated regulation compatability, Liquidity aggregation and big data analysis are the current requirements coming online for developers. The panel explained how these are incorporated into the industry.
A lively debate between the panelists developed around whether technology provides should follow demands from their clients or try to lead the market. Maor for example said that new brokers might not know what they need, such as risk management, and it is a developer's responsibility to educate them.
Looking at the future of the industry, Stanislav remarked that we might see a complete disruption of how FX trading is done by Blockchain technology on all levels in a few years. He said that in three years blockchain might replace trade settlement and make Triana obsolete and warned that in ten years clients could trade with each other directly on a blockchain, and brokers that won't adapt might disappear.
Last night everyone met at an exclusive bar at the beach and broke the ice before getting into business today. Tonight we will be at the best club in the city for some more serious R&R but back to business in the morning - see you there!
An overview of the iFX expo's new venue this year - Palais des Sports Spyros Kyprianou, Limassol, Cyprus
