Weekly highlights:

Revolut Taps GTN to Bring Bond Trading to EEA Customers

GTN, a fintech firm offering trading solutions, partnered with Revolut to debut bond trading for EEA customers on the Revolut app. This offering allows users to trade bonds directly on the invest section of the app.

Revolut is leveraging GTN's instant click-to-trade functionality via its FIX and REST APIs to bring bond trading to its customers. Last month, Thailand's Finansia Syrus Securities partnered with GTN to enhance its trading platform and offer fractional trading capabilities to all Thais, enabling them to participate in a diverse range of assets across 29 global markets.

CMC Connect Inks Deal with Revolut to Expand Trading Capabilities

CMC Markets entered into a partnership with Revolut to integrate multiple APIs, enabling Revolut customers to access CMC's trading ecosystem directly through the neo-banking app. This agreement will allow CMC Markets Connect to provide the back-end infrastructure, including trading, pricing, account systems, execution, and clearing.

Specifically, Revolut's users will gain access to FX, index, commodities, treasuries, and equity CFDs, potentially expanding into other asset classes as the deal evolves. The partnership is expected to launch imminently, allowing Revolut customers to benefit from CMC's trading capabilities within the Revolut app.

Saxo Bank Initiates Asia Strategy Review, Seeks Partnerships

Saxo Bank announced plans to review its strategic opportunities for operations in Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong. The bank aims to accelerate its growth in the Asia-Pacific region through potential partnerships. The company said that it is engaging with prospective partners and aims to establish new alliances in which its existing offices in the three Asian markets will play an important role.

Notably, by using Saxo's multi-asset infrastructure, partners could offer the bank's trading platforms under their own brands while retaining full control over their customer relationships. For Saxo Bank, the partnership approach would allow it to maintain a strong commercial presence in Asia and access significant growth opportunities.

CMC Markets Posts Record Post-Pandemic Revenue, Profit Surges 52%

Online trading platform CMC Markets reported its highest net operating income since the COVID-19 pandemic for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. The London-based company's adjusted profit before tax jumped 52% to £80.0 million thanks to heightened client trading activity and ongoing diversification efforts.

Net operating income jumped 15% to £332.8 million, boosted by an 11% increase in trading net revenue to £259.1 million. The firm's positive performance was experienced across its retail and institutional segments, with the latter accounting for a growing share of overall net revenue. The firm's statutory profit before tax rose 21% to £63.3 million.

Noor Capital UK (previously House of Borse) Turns Profit amid Revenue Jump

Noor Capital UK, formerly House of Borse Limited, posted a turnover of over £1.1 million and a net profit of £257,320 for the period between August 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024. Although not completely comparable, the revenue for the eight months was 88% higher than the figure reported for the previous 12 months, which was the fiscal year 2023. The profits followed an annual loss of £128,449.

Notably, the cost of sales jumped in the eight-month period to £434,501 from the previous fiscal year's £322,359. However, the company managed to cut down its administrative expenses to £341,760 from £447,832. It also received £6,954 from interest income, pushing the pre-tax profits to £340,145.

Dukascopy Opens Doors for FlowBank Clients with 50% CashBack Offer

Meanwhile, FlowBank traders are looking for a new trading partner following FlowBank's recent bankruptcy. In response to this development, Dukascopy has proposed a special offer to former FlowBank's customers. The Swiss online bank proposed a 50% CashBack on volume commissions for the lifetime of the account.

Dukascopy seeks to enhance its clients' trading experience through this CashBack offer. The offer seeks to provide value and support traders in achieving their financial goals. Dukascopy offers a variety of trading platforms, including JForex, MT4, and MT5. On these platforms, clients can trade a range of assets such as forex , metals, commodities, stocks, indexes, ETFs, bonds, and cryptocurrencies.

Trading 212 Gains Crypto License in Cyprus

CFD platform Trading 212 secured a crypto asset service provider (CASP) license from the Cyprus' regulator. According to CySEC's registry this CASP license was awarded to the firm's local entity, Trading 212 Crypto Ltd on May 20 2024. The newly formed entity is separate from Trading 212 Markets Ltd, which holds a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license.

Under the license, the Trading 212 brand can offer exchanges between crypto assets and fiat currencies, along with custodial services for cryptocurrencies. Trading 212, established in Bulgaria in 2004 as Avus Capital and incorporated in the UK in 2013, mainly to focus on the UK and the European Union. It generates revenue from three entities: one in the UK and two in Cyprus and Bulgaria, respectively.

Forex Deposits in the US Hold Steady at Multi-Month Highs

After four months of sustained growth, retail investor forex deposits in the US experienced a modest correction but still remained at multi-month highs. According to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for April 2024, the total value of client deposits was over $547 million, declining by $1.6 million compared to the previous month.

The exact value of Forex deposits in the US for April 2024 amounted to $547,759,474, a slight dip of 0.3% from $549,389,183 in March. However, the values remain at the highest levels in over a year, and the marginal correction follows four months of continuous growth, maintaining a good momentum.

Purple Trading's Prop Trading Brand Expands beyond Japan and Central Europe

Fintokei, a proprietary trading firm backed by the Seychelles-registered entity of Purple Trading, is expanding its services globally by focusing on new markets like Australia, Europe, and Southeast Asia. The prop firm also plans to enter the Latin American markets in the future. The company is headquartered in the Czech Republic and has a presence in Japan.

However, it debuted in selected central European markets like the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia six months ago. Now, it is going to expand further. The company will steer away from the United States and India due to regulatory reasons. It has also temporarily restricted traders from Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Spot Volumes Surge over 170% in a Year

In the crypto world, Bitcoin (BTC) has maintained its multi-month highs for another consecutive month, trading nearly its historical highs. This sentiment is driving investor activity and, consequently, the trading volumes of the largest crypto exchanges. In May, the spot volume for the top ten platforms exceeded $1 trillion, growing by 173% compared to the same month a year earlier.

In terms of volume, May brought the second month of declines after a record-breaking March. In April, the token plunged 60% post-halving, and the month-over-month depreciation was at 22% on average in May. All exchanges included in the Finance Magnates analysis recorded visible declines between April and May. The leading platform, Binance, gave up 22%, and its volume reduced under $550 billion.

Bitflyer Takes the Reins: Acquiring FTX Japan amid Bankruptcy Fallout

Bitflyer, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, acquired the operations of FTX in Japan, Sam-Bankman Fried's embattled crypto exchange, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. FTX Japan was among over 100 affiliated entities included in the bankruptcy proceedings.

According to the media publication NHK, Bitflyer seeks to acquire all the shares of FTX Japan, valuing the subsidiary in the range of several billion yen. According to the latest update, Bitflyer has reported a 24-hour trade volume of approximately $73.11 million, mainly driven by BTC/JPY transactions.

SEC Is Closing Investigation into Ethereum as a Security

Still, in the digital asset space, the SEC is closing its investigation into Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, as security. This happens even as the status of cryptocurrencies remains unclear, and no regulations have been proposed for them in the US.

Although Bitcoin is considered a commodity, the status of Ether remained uncertain with the SEC's interest in several Ether offerings. The lawsuit came in response to a Wells Notice received by Consensys indicating that the regulator was preparing to bring enforcement actions against the company over the services of its MetaMask wallet.

Trading Apps' Game-Like Elements Linked to Risky Investing, FCA Finds

The FCA is monitoring trading apps due to concerns that certain digital engagement practices (DEPs) may be encouraging excessive risk-taking among investors, according to the results of a recent online study. The UK regulator has constructed an experimental trading app platform to test the impact of various DEPs on trading behavior.

The study, which involved over 9,000 consumers, found that features such as push notifications and prize draws can lead to more frequent trading and riskier investment decisions by 11% and 12%, respectively. Additionally, these gamification strategies increased the proportion of trades in risky investments by 8% and 6%.

iFX Expo International – Where the Great and Good of FX Came Together

Finally, the financial sector converged in Limassol, Cyprus, this week, bringing together experts for the largest industry event of the year. Walking the floor of the iFX Expo in Limassol, Cyprus, the big story was how payments and payment service providers are adapting to changing demands and emerging markets, specifically the forex and crypto spaces.

The talks where headline events and the expo delivered a slew of keynote speeches from industry bigwigs on major trends. The event opened with CySEC Chairman, Dr. George Theocharides and moved on to topics including Cash Me If You Can: Evolving Payments, What's Next for Liquidity Providers?, Fintech Frontiers: Sculpting the Future of Finance and much, much more.