Global AI investment intelligence firm BridgeWise has announced a partnership with social media giant X to provide social sentiment analysis for financial markets, adding a new layer of data to its AI-driven investment platform.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).The integration allows institutional investors to track real-time market sentiment across thousands of securities using data drawn from global online conversations.API Integration and Sentiment AnalysisThis collaboration shows how social media data is becoming part of mainstream investing. Until recently, most institutions relied mainly on prices, company reports, and research. According to the information shared with Finance Magnates, the deal aims to enable users see what investors talk about in real time. By turning posts on X into sentiment scores inside an AI platform, BridgeWise will also enable funds track market mood in a structured way, rather than scraping feeds on their own.The firms have reportedly connected their systems through an API that feeds X’s data stream into BridgeWise’s analytics engine. The platform processes unstructured content and converts it into sentiment scores using the firm’s S-Factor framework. BridgeWise also uses technology from Context Analytics, which it recently acquired, to improve data filtering and reduce noise.Keep reading: eToro and X Partner as the Social Media Platform Handled 1.4 Billion Posts on TradingThe resulting product, called “SentimentWise,” delivers structured insights designed to support trading and risk analysis. The system combines sentiment data with existing fundamental and technical indicators available on the platform.Gaby Diamant, Co-founder and CEO of BridgeWise, said the integration reflects the growing role of real-time sentiment in financial markets. He stated that the system helps investors identify relevant signals from large volumes of online discussions.Institutional Use and Market ImpactBridgeWise said the new capability is available to its institutional clients, including hedge funds and quantitative firms. The platform provides a broader view of market activity by combining traditional financial data with sentiment indicators derived from social media.Christopher Park, Director and Global Lead of Developer Platform at X, said the partnership enables financial institutions to incorporate real-time conversation data into their workflows.While several firms in online investing already work with X, their collaborations mostly centre on content and retail access rather than analytics. Social trading platform eToro, for example, uses its partnership with X to distribute financial education content and livestreams to users on the social network, positioning X primarily as a distribution and engagement channel rather than as a direct input to institutional trading models.X deepens financial push with CashtagsMore recently, Canadian fintech Wealthsimple launched an X integration that lets users move from Cashtags into its app to view and trade stocks, tying X into the order‑execution journey for retail clients.? has always been the best source of financial news for traders and investors. Billions of dollars are allocated every day based on what people read on Timeline. Today we're launching our new Cashtags feature in the US and Canada on iPhone, bringing real-time financial data to… pic.twitter.com/c8s7X9gHTO— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) April 14, 2026In contrast, BridgeWise is targeting professional investors by feeding X’s data stream directly into its AI engine to create institutional‑grade sentiment signals for hedge funds, quant funds and other financial institutions, positioning social media as a core analytical input rather than just a front‑end touchpoint.X has been moving deeper into finance with features that turn its feed into a trading and information layer, not just a place to talk about markets. This month, it rolled out Cashtags for users in the US and Canada on iPhone, letting them tap ticker symbols or crypto contract addresses to see live charts and related posts without leaving the app. This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.

eToro is opening its Platinum+ membership tier to subscribers for $14.99 a month or $149.99 a year, removing a $50,000 account-balance requirement that previously gated the broker's higher-end perks. The Nasdaq-listed firm announced the upgraded plan today (Tuesday), building on a cheaper Platinum subscription it introduced last year.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The plan will roll out first in the United Kingdom and the European Union, with other regions to follow, and includes a seven-day free trial. It extends a Platinum-tier subscription eToro introduced in November at $4.99 a month, which first opened the broker's loyalty benefits to users sitting below its balance thresholds.From Balance-Gated VIP to Pay-to-Access PerksTop benefits of Platinum+ include a Black Visa debit card paying 4% back in stocks on everyday purchases, a dedicated account manager, a 40% discount on currency conversion fees, 3.55% interest on cash balances, and an 85% revenue share on eligible crypto staking, according to the firm. Subscribers also get unlimited access to Tori, eToro's AI investing companion, which incorporates real-time market sentiment from X via Grok 4.2, plus a complimentary digital subscription to The Wall Street Journal.Existing Platinum subscribers can upgrade immediately, with the remaining balance prorated, eToro said."The upgraded plan allows even more investors to access enhanced rewards, professional tools and premium experiences regardless of the balance in their trading account," Etay Cohen, eToro's Chief Customer Officer, said in a statement.Robinhood's Subscription Playbook Goes MainstreameToro is leaning on a model that Robinhood has spent years building out. Robinhood Gold, priced at $5 a month, ended the third quarter with 3.9 million subscribers and roughly $88 million in subscription-related revenue for the period, double the year-earlier figure, according to the US broker's November earnings release.Robinhood has steadily widened its premium-tier ecosystem with a Gold credit card paying up to 3% cashback, a 4% APY savings product launched in 2025, and a discounted mortgage benefit through a partnership with Sage Home Loans introduced later that year. Trading 212 and Revolut have moved in similar directions in Europe, layering interest-bearing accounts and tiered card products onto their core trading apps.A Public Company in Search of Steadier Cash FlowThe push has particular urgency at eToro, which completed its Nasdaq IPO in May 2025 at a valuation of about $4.8 billion. Since listing, the firm has rolled out new products at a fast clip, including AI-built Alpha portfolios, a stock-lending program for European clients, and a 1% crypto-to-stock cashback program aimed at addressing its heavy revenue concentration in digital assets, which accounted for 91% of second-quarter revenue.Subscription income is, in principle, less correlated with the next crypto cycle. eToro has not disclosed how many users signed up for the November Platinum plan, the figure that will determine whether Platinum+ moves the needle on earnings or simply repackages the existing rewards program for a paying audience. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

While others focus on product and pricing, the brands that win and keep clients, focus on something just as important: trust.Awards are one of the strongest ways to show that trust in the fintech industry.Industry awards are one of the most powerful credibility signals in the fintech ecosystem. And right now, the Finance Magnates Awards nominations are open.Why Awards Matter More Than Ever in FintechThe fintech industry has grown a lot. In the past, being new and different was enough. Today, clients and partners want proof.They want to see that a company is reliable, strong, and trusted in the market. Awards help show that.For fintech companies going after large deals, an award can help you stand out and get shortlisted instead of being ignored.The Finance Magnates Awards are well known across trading, payments, and fintech services.Even being nominated puts your brand in front of the industry. Winning gives you strong proof you can use in your website, sales decks, and client talks.What Nomination Gives You (Even Before the Winners Are Announced)Many fintech leaders underestimate the nomination itself as a marketing asset. Here is what being shortlisted delivers:Instant credibility boost: Use 'Nominated for Finance Magnates Award' across your digital touchpoints immediatelyPress and PR opportunities: A nomination is a legitimate news hook for press releases, media outreach, and social contentSales enablement: Equip your business development teams with a powerful, independent third-party endorsementInvestor confidence: Institutional credibility matters to VCs, LPs, and strategic partners evaluating your brandTeam morale and talent attraction: Recognition signals that your organisation is a place where excellence is noticedWhich Categories Are Available?The Finance Magnates Awards cover three main fintech groups: Institutional Trading, Services for Brokers, and Tech for Brokers.Each group includes a set of categories where companies are evaluated based on their role in the industry.Whether you are a growing company entering the market or an established brand, there is a category where your business should be competing.How to Build a Winning NominationThe strongest nominations tell a story. They do not just list features, they demonstrate impact. Here is the framework used by past winners:1. Lead with the problem you solveJudges go through a large number of nominations. Open with the specific pain point in the market you are addressing and why it matters now.2. Quantify your impactAwards are won with evidence, not adjectives. Include growth metrics, client numbers, transaction volumes, uptime statistics, or any data that demonstrates scale and reliability.3. Highlight genuine innovationWhat did you build, launch, or transform this year that did not exist before? Judges want to recognise companies that are moving the industry forward, not just operating within it.4. Include client validationA brief quote, case study reference, or headline result from a real client adds authenticity that no internal claim can match.5. Keep it humanBehind every great fintech company is a team with a mission. Let that purpose come through in how you write your nomination , judges respond to companies that clearly know who they are and why they exist.The Cost of Not NominatingHere is the uncomfortable truth: if your company does not self-nominate, there is no guarantee a competitor will not. In many categories, the brands consistently shortlisted are those that make nominations a deliberate part of their annual marketing strategy, not an afterthought.Your competitors are submitting. Your potential clients will see the shortlist. The question is whether your brand is on it.Submit Your Nomination Today This article was written by Dora Christofi at www.financemagnates.com.

Because the news never actually fits"It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper." — Jerry SeinfeldSeinfeld was joking. Anyone covering this industry knows the joke doesn't quite land.On a normal Tuesday, a prop firm quietly rewrites its payout rules, a broker gets fined in Cyprus, three executives reshuffle between competitors, crypto does whatever crypto is doing that afternoon, and a regulator publishes a 200-page consultation paper that will reshape the next decade. Wednesday looks much the same. So does Thursday.The news doesn't fit. It never has. And nobody — not the C-suite, not the sales desk, not the compliance team pretending to read every FCA update — has time to keep up with all of it.That's the problem we built the Finance Magnates Daily News Recap to solve.A daily brief, not another podcastThe Daily Recap is a tight audio brief, published every weekday afternoon, covering the stories our newsroom judged worth your attention — and skipping the ones that weren't. As Finance Magnates Editor-in-Chief Yam Yehoshua puts it, readers don't need another podcast to add to the queue; they need a few minutes that tell them whether today actually mattered, and what they'll get asked about in tomorrow's meeting.It's built around one premise: listen to it on your commute home or between your last two calls, and you'll close out the day knowing what moved, who moved it, and why it matters.What's in an episodeEach episode pulls from the day's reporting across forex, CFDs, prop trading, crypto, payments, and fintech. That might mean a surprise C-suite exit at a top-five broker, a quarterly filing that reveals more than the press release admitted, an enforcement action worth watching, or the deal nobody else is reporting yet.No panel discussions. No fifteen-minute tangents. Just the stories, the context, and the reason they matter — delivered by the people who spent the day reporting them.The practical bitEpisodes run short. New episode every weekday afternoon. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you listen.Subscribe once. Stop worrying about what you missed.Start listeningThe Finance Magnates Daily News Recap is easy to access across the Finance Magnates website, on the homepage and in article sidebars. You can also subscribe and listen on YouTube and Spotify.? Listen on YouTube? Listen on SpotifyPress play, and stay in the loop, without needing to find extra time in your day. This article was written by Finance Magnates Staff at www.financemagnates.com.

Three congressional candidates placed bets on their own races. A senator sent a letter demanding that the CFTC explain how bets get resolved. And both Kalshi and Polymarket signaled a move into perpetual futures.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).A couple of new problems were added to a stack of issues the prediction markets industry has been struggling with. Let’s see what mattered this week. What Moved the Prediction Markets This Week Candidates Bet on Themselves On April 22, Kalshi announced it had suspended and fined three congressional candidates for trading on their own electoral outcomes. Each was banned from the platform for five years, while fines ranged from $539.85 to $6,229.30. The cases were identified through new engineering safeguards that the platform introduced in March. Kalshi described the conduct as “political insider trading” that violates its CFTC-approved exchange rules. Blumenthal Presses the CFTC on Bet Resolution On April 21, Senator Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to CFTC Chair Michael Selig questioning how the agency oversees the resolution of disputed bets on prediction markets. The letter pointed to recent disputes over military action contracts — including wagers on Kalshi and Polymarket that depended on contested definitions of terms such as “invasion” or “control.” Blumenthal framed the issue more bluntly on X: Polymarket & Kalshi, as Trump said, have turned the whole world into a casino—including war & national secrets. Trump’s CFTC allowed this to happen. There’s a fix—set real rules on these prediction markets like my Prediction Market Security & Integrity Act. https://t.co/Rqr0XsZlhW— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) April 24, 2026 He also raised Polymarket’s know-your-customer practices, asking what steps the CFTC has taken to investigate the platform’s ability to block U.S. users. Platforms Move Into Crypto Perpetual Futures Reports this week indicated that Kalshi is preparing to launch cryptocurrency perpetual futures with a rollout expected around April 27. The company has not confirmed details, and the announcement so far has been limited to a teaser video. Within hours of those reports, Polymarket signaled its own move into perpetuals, pointing to a broader shift beyond event contracts. The move would place both platforms in direct competition with established venues such as Coinbase and Cboe, which have already introduced similar products. The two platforms are likely to take different approaches. Kalshi is expected to move within its U.S. regulatory framework, while Polymarket, operating primarily offshore, may expand faster across a wider set of assets. The key question is whether either model can attract meaningful volume from markets that have historically operated without those constraints. Quote of the Week New York Attorney General Letitia James filed suit this week against Coinbase and Gemini, arguing that their prediction market offerings constitute illegal gambling under state law. That’s how she framed her position on X: .@Gemini and @coinbase's so-called prediction markets are just illegal gambling operations that expose young people to addictive platforms.Gambling by another name is still gambling. I'm suing to stop these platforms from breaking the law.https://t.co/DosDKe2un1— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) April 21, 2026Number of the Week $409,881 – The profit a U.S. Army soldier is accused of making on prediction market trades using classified information. Federal prosecutors say the case is the first to bring insider trading charges tied directly to a prediction market, marking a shift from platform-level enforcement to criminal prosecution. The Friction of the Week The week’s central tension is between self-regulation and regulatory legitimacy. Kalshi suspended three congressional candidates and described the action as proof that its enforcement mechanisms work. Blumenthal’s letter points to the other side of the problem: there are still no clear federal rules for how disputed contracts should be structured, disclosed, or resolved. Kalshi’s enforcement action is real. It named candidates, disclosed fines, and published disciplinary notices.But those cases involved small amounts and platform-level sanctions. The soldier charged in New York shows where the stakes move next. Federal prosecutors allege he used classified information to trade on Polymarket contracts tied to Venezuela, earning about $409,881. That case turns insider trading in prediction markets from a compliance issue into a criminal one. The gap is now clearer: platforms can police their own venues, but the most serious cases may depend on federal prosecutors, not exchange rulebooks. The April 30 deadline for CFTC comment responses arrives next week. Whether the agency moves toward binding rules will determine how far the self-regulation argument can go. Bottom Line This week produced three distinct stories, each from a different layer of the industry. Kalshi’s enforcement actions against congressional candidates showed that the platform’s internal compliance system can identify and penalize low-level violations. Blumenthal’s letter to the CFTC showed that a significant portion of Congress does not believe internal compliance is sufficient. And platforms' planned move into crypto perpetual futures suggests the companies are already expanding beyond event contracts. Taken together, they point to a single issue: the rules exist, but they are not yet agreed on or consistently enforced. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

BitDelta has launched its operations in India, joining a growing number of firms targeting the country’s expanding digital asset market as investor participation continues to rise.The company confirmed that BitDelta India has begun operations, while Group CEO Dr. Demetrios Zamboglou is currently in the country holding meetings with industry participants and stakeholders. BitDelta India officially launched its FIU-registered virtual digital asset trading platform on Wednesday, entering the market as a Virtual Digital Asset Service Provider (VDASP) with the Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND).CEO Engages Local MarketDuring his visit, Zamboglou met with various stakeholders and took part in industry discussions focused on market development and infrastructure. His trip signals a direct approach to entering the Indian market, where firms often face evolving regulatory expectations and a diverse investor base.Read more: A Deterrent for CFD Brokers? Google Puts “Verified” Badge on India-Regulated Trading Apps"India represents an important market in the global financial landscape,” Zamboglou said. “Our focus remains on building responsibly, with strong governance, secure digital infrastructure, and a commitment to transparency and user-centricity, enabling users to engage with modern financial markets with greater confidence.”BitDelta enters a market that already features several established digital asset platforms serving Indian users, including local exchanges such as CoinDCX, CoinSwitch, ZebPay and Mudrex, as well as global players like Binance and Coinbase that offer access to crypto trading for residents. These firms compete for the same pool of retail and professional investors, with differences mainly in product range, fees, liquidity, rupee funding options. Growing Demand for Digital AssetsIndia has become attractive to BitDelta and other crypto firms because adoption is large and regulation is now more structured, even if still strict. India classified virtual digital asset service providers as “reporting entities” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2023, bringing exchanges into a formal anti‑money laundering framework and requiring registration with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU‑IND). India has kept its crypto framework largely unchanged, maintaining a 30% tax on gains and a 1% TDS on certain transactions, while bringing exchanges under anti‑money laundering rules as reporting entities. This combination has formalised the market and pushed both domestic and offshore platforms to decide whether to comply locally or accept more restricted access to Indian users.Meanwhile, India’s securities regulator has partnered with Google to introduce a “verified” badge for locally regulated trading apps on the Indian Play Store, aiming to help investors distinguish genuine platforms from fraudulent ones. The label will extend to apps of other regulated intermediaries, but it is still unclear whether offshore‑regulated CFD brokers, which operate in a legal grey area, will qualify for the badge. This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.

Kalshi has fined and suspended three U.S. political candidates for betting on their own races. The action targeted Minnesota State Senator Matt Klein and two congressional candidates, Ezekiel Enriquez and Mark Moran. All three placed wagers on contests in which they were personally involved.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Testing the Rules in Practice The timing matters. Kalshi is currently running a multi-million-dollar ad campaign in Washington centered on a single message: that it is not like Polymarket. The billboard-and-digital push has been explicitly framed around regulatory legitimacy, and the enforcement action gives that campaign something it previously lacked — a concrete example. "Just like in traditional financial markets, bad actors will try to cheat," the company said in a statement. "Regulated exchanges must constantly evolve and adapt their systems to address insider threats." The candidates' responses were telling. Klein, fined just over $500 on a $50 bet, called the whole thing a "mistake" and said the rules need to be clearer. Moran went further: he claimed on X that he placed the bets deliberately, to see whether Kalshi would actually come after him. It did.Kalshi accused me today of insider trading on a market that, after my request, their head of politics added me to…after it was public info that I was going to run…*all screenshots in the video for reporters*For $100 I got the NYT, WSJ, Washington Post, AP, Bloomberg,… https://t.co/9o6wgwSOFA pic.twitter.com/GTIsCmBX0u— Mark Moran for U.S. Senate (@itsmarkmoran) April 23, 2026A Compliance Signal for Regulators and Institutions For the broader industry, the more interesting question is whether the enforcement architecture can scale. Kalshi's main rival, Polymarket, has introduced its own market integrity rules in recent months — but has not taken comparable public action against named individuals, let alone politically exposed ones. Kalshi is building a paper trail for institutional players who have been watching prediction markets with interest but will not participate without evidence of real enforcement. Fining a sitting state senator is a more persuasive argument than any compliance whitepaper. Whether it's enough to satisfy the lawmakers currently scrutinizing the space is another question. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Kalshi and Polymarket are simultaneously entering the perpetual futures market — a move that takes both platforms well beyond event contracts and into direct competition with the offshore crypto exchanges that currently dominate this space. Bloomberg reported that Kalshi plans to launch crypto perpetual futures in the coming weeks, citing a person familiar with the matter. Within hours, Polymarket announced its own offering.The near-simultaneous timing turned what might have been a quiet product launch into a visible race for market share in the most traded crypto derivative.We price the future.Now you can lever it.Perps are coming to Polymarket.Sign up for early access ? pic.twitter.com/j3PRHhxv8N— Polymarket (@Polymarket) April 21, 2026 Both platforms are pivoting from pure prediction markets toward hybrid derivatives exchanges, betting they can pull trading volume away from unregulated international venues. Two Platforms, Two Different Strategies The approaches reflect each platform's regulatory position. Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market, is planning a phased U.S. launch under the codename "Timeless." The initial focus is crypto perpetuals — Bitcoin and others — with commodities to follow. The platform will use its recently acquired FCM license to offer margin trading, which matters for institutional participants. Collateral starts in U.S. dollars, with stablecoin support planned for a later phase.The margin component is also starting to take shape. Kalshi recently received regulatory approval for its affiliated entity, Kinetic Markets, to operate as a Futures Commission Merchant, allowing it to offer partially collateralized trading at the brokerage level. Separate approval from the CFTC is still required for the exchange itself.Polymarket, which operates primarily outside the U.S. jurisdiction, appears to be going faster and broader. A teaser video showed perpetuals on crypto, stocks, including Nvidia, and commodities.The international platform allows Polymarket to move quickly with a wider product range, though the regulatory status of these products for U.S. users remains unclear. The Competitive Logic The perpetual market is large enough to justify the strategic shift. CFTC Chairman Brian Quintenz's successor, Michael Selig, has stated publicly that bringing perpetual futures under the agency's oversight is a priority — specifically to recapture volume from offshore venues. Both platforms are also reacting to competition from crypto-native derivatives DEXs like Hyperliquid, which process hundreds of billions in monthly volume without the compliance infrastructure of a regulated exchange. For Kalshi and Polymarket, this is a bet that brand recognition and existing user bases can translate into meaningful market share in a much larger arena. Whether regulated or semi-regulated perpetuals can realistically compete with offshore venues on execution, fees, and asset breadth is a separate question — and one neither platform has fully answered yet. For brokers, clearinghouses, and financial infrastructure providers, the outcome of this race will directly affect how perpetual futures are structured and distributed in the U.S. market over the next few years. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Kalshi has partnered with Anthony Pompliano's ProCap Financial to launch a research product built on its market data, the companies announced.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!Under the deal, ProCap gets a direct data feed from the prediction market operator and will use its AI agents to generate investment ideas and data points for subscribers. "We are getting a direct data pipeline from them, and then we are able to go and use our AI agents to look at the prediction market to come up with all kinds of interesting data points," Pompliano told Reuters.Building a Distribution Layer Around Market Data The partnership is the third major distribution move Kalshi has made in rapid succession. The company has already signed agreements with FOX, CNN, and CNBC to embed prediction odds into their news coverage, and struck a deal with ARK Invest, under which the asset manager co-creates markets to generate research signals for its own portfolio process.ProCap adds independent third-party research to that mix. For Kalshi, the logic is straightforward: stock exchanges have entire ecosystems of vendors, analysts, and index providers built on top of their data.One of the use cases highlighted by Pompliano is the ability to isolate individual data points — such as interest rate outcomes, earnings metrics, or macro events — rather than taking broad exposure through traditional assets.From Trading Data to Research SignalsKalshi is attempting the same thing — turning its real-time market intelligence into a resource that other financial players can package and monetize."Prediction markets turn uncertainty about real-world events into actionable signals," said Tarek Mansour, Kalshi's co-founder and CEO. "We're partnering with ProCap Financial to bring wisdom-of-the-crowds intelligence directly to financial research, so both retail and institutional investors can benefit from this data and analysis." Whether ProCap's subscriber base is large enough to validate the model as a genuine third pillar — rather than a high-profile co-branding exercise — is a question the numbers will eventually answer. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

PayPal has signed a multi-year agreement with the NFL to become the league’s official peer-to-peer payments partner. The deal places the PayPal app at the center of how fans send, receive, split and pool money with each other around NFL events. It targets everyday payments linked to fandom, such as sharing costs for tickets, travel, food and merchandise.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Under the partnership, PayPal will integrate across the NFL ecosystem, including flag football initiatives and promotion of the NFL Flag College Showcase at the Draft. Fans who use PayPal’s peer-to-peer services will gain access to benefits such as entry into exclusive sweepstakes for tickets, upgraded seating and special experiences.The Scope of the PartnershipThe fintech firm joins, American Express, which recently signed a multi-year deal to become the NFL’s official payments partner from the 2026 season, adding another major player from the financial technology and payments space to the league’s growing roster of money-movement sponsors..@PayPal is officially the @NFL's first peer-to-peer payments sponsor.The deal activates at this week's draft with five rookie endorsers: Jeremiyah Love, Caleb Downs, Carnell Tate, and more.More on this: https://t.co/qkDTrXRCzq pic.twitter.com/U01sZEd6rY— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) April 21, 2026U.S. Bank has also agreed a new multi-year partnership as the NFL’s official bank and wealth management partner, underscoring how the league is deepening its ties with financial services across cards, banking and digital payments.According to Tuesday's announcement, PayPal plans to run multiple sweepstakes during the season around moments like the schedule release, international games and the Super Bowl, with prizes of up to 1 million dollars.Read more: Robinhood Pushes into Sportsbook Territory with NFL-Linked ContractsThe agreement supports PayPal’s broader peer-to-peer strategy. The company’s app now connects users in more than 110 countries and links its global customer base to over 100 million Venmo users in the United States through direct transfers between PayPal and Venmo. The app also allows users to search contacts by phone number and share payment links through text, email or messaging apps. PayPal emphasizes encryption and protection for every transaction and immediate access to received funds.PayPal’s P2P strategy Executives from both sides frame the deal as a response to growing payment activity between fans. PayPal notes that total peer-to-peer volume across PayPal and Venmo grew by 7 percent in 2025. The company also cites more than 430 million active accounts in about 200 markets. The NFL, meanwhile, continues to expand its international schedule, with nine games set across four continents in 2026. The partnership is expected to support cross-border fan payments and local spending tied to game-day events worldwide.Meanwhile, Robinhood recently moved into direct competition with traditional sportsbooks by expanding its prediction markets with new parlay-style contracts tied to NFL games, signaling a deeper push into event-based trading and turning sports-linked contracts from an add-on feature into a meaningful revenue stream while further blurring the line between trading platforms and betting operators. This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.

The prediction market industry spent $1.84 million on federal lobbying in the first quarter of 2026, a record high and more than 60% above Q1 2025 levels. It is the first hard data point quantifying the scale of the industry's political operations as it faces mounting legislative and regulatory pressure. "The policy landscape has rapidly evolved just in the last two or three months," said Ronak D. Desai, a partner at Paul Hastings, according to Bloomberg. "Prediction markets have moved from the periphery to the center of congressional scrutiny."Prediction markets are pouring money into Washington to defend against escalating criticism that their fast-growing platforms are contributing to a gambling explosion and enabling insider trading https://t.co/1uvY5Lrk6r— Bloomberg (@business) April 20, 2026 Who is Spending The surge is coming from two directions: native prediction market platforms and incumbent sports betting operators who have recently entered the space. Kalshi, which opened a dedicated D.C. office and hired prominent Democratic strategists, is among the industry’s biggest spenders.A new trade group, the Coalition for Prediction Markets, now coordinates industry positions. A former U.S. congressman leads the group, which includes regulated U.S. players such as Kalshi, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Robinhood.Polymarket, which has historically taken a lower-profile approach in Washington, is also building a physical presence. The company has been experimenting with a pop-up venue in downtown D.C. as an informal way to engage policymakers.DraftKings and FanDuel, both of which launched prediction market products in the past year, have also ramped up significantly. DraftKings' lobbying expenditure rose 29% year-over-year, with the company hiring lobbyists focused specifically on the CFTC. FanDuel's spend jumped 58%. The increase reflects growing pressure on the sector from multiple directions. More than a dozen bills have been introduced in Congress this year seeking to constrain or reclassify prediction markets, while state regulators and the casino industry argue that the platforms are operating as unlicensed gambling venues. The Jurisdictional Question The central fight is over which federal body gets to regulate a market that has grown into the billions. The industry is pushing to stay under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which operates with a relatively light touch compared to state-by-state gambling frameworks. "Right now, prediction markets are the advocacy topic du jour," said Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, a crypto lobbying group.For brokers and fintech infrastructure providers, the issue is clear: whether prediction markets remain a viable product category under existing derivatives rules. Record Q1 spending only underscores how high the stakes have become. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Polymarket is in talks to raise an additional $400 million, which would bring its current round to $1 billion and value the company at roughly $15 billion, according to The Information.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).The new capital would be added on top of a $600 million investment already made by Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. ICE had previously announced plans to build a strategic stake of up to $2 billion in the platform.Where the Money Would Go The fundraising comes as Polymarket prepares for two simultaneous fights. On the regulatory front, the company is working its way back into the U.S. market through a recently acquired CFTC-regulated entity, while state authorities push to classify its products as illegal gambling. On the competitive front, it is racing against Kalshi, which is also heavily funded and currently leads in U.S. market share, while Polymarket holds the stronger position in international and crypto-native markets. The capital is meant to cover the costs of prolonged legal proceedings, user acquisition, and the infrastructure buildout required to attract institutional participants in the U.S. ICE's willingness to anchor the round despite unresolved regulatory questions is a meaningful signal.Investors See the Risks ContainedTraditional finance institutions rarely move ahead of regulatory clarity on products this contested. The bet appears to be that the legal risks are manageable and that prediction markets represent a durable, large-scale asset class rather than a regulatory experiment. For the brokerage and fintech sector, the more relevant takeaway is structural: the leading platforms are not waiting for the regulatory environment to settle. They are raising capital now, pricing in the legal risk, and positioning for a market that may look very different in three to five years. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Propinder, a new prop trading comparison platform developed by FXStreet, is officially open to traders worldwide. The platform combines a short profiling survey with aggregated trader data to recommend prop firm challenges that match each trader's actual style, risk approach, and circumstances, rather than surfacing results based on who pays for placement.The problem Propinder was built to solveMost prop trading challenges look similar at a glance. Similar profit targets, similar drawdown limits, similar fee structures. The differences are in the details, and those details matter a great deal. Traders who pick a challenge without understanding those nuances often fail not because they trade poorly, but because the challenge rules were never suited to how they trade in the first place.That mismatch is what Propinder is designed to prevent. The platform helps traders identify the right challenge before they commit any capital, reducing the risk of failure that stems from a poor fit rather than poor trading.How the platform worksTraders begin with a short survey, typically completed in under two minutes. It covers trading experience, preferred platforms, risk tolerance, and country of residence. Propinder then cross-references those inputs against anonymized, aggregated data from traders with comparable profiles to surface the three prop challenges most commonly explored under equivalent conditions.Each result is displayed with its full rule set: drawdown type, profit targets, time limits, platform compatibility, and any relevant trading restrictions. There are no hidden conditions. Traders can explore, compare, or disregard any suggestion freely.The platform covers a broad range of prop firms, including those offering instant funding and futures-based challenges.Built on editorial independencePropinder is independent of any prop firm. Listings are based on publicly available challenge data, and commercial agreements with prop firms do not influence how results are ranked or displayed. In a market where many comparison tools operate on paid placement models, this distinction is central to how Propinder was designed.The platform is free to use. There is no subscription, no registration wall, and no cost at any stage of the process."We kept seeing the same pattern: traders failing challenges for the wrong reasons. Not because they trade badly, but because they chose a challenge that was never designed for how they actually trade. Every trader deserves a clear, unbiased starting point."Javier Hertfelder, CEO of PropinderPowered by FXStreet, built with SwisetPropinder is a product of FXStreet, a global financial media company with over 25 years of experience serving retail traders. FXStreet's institutional background, particularly its long-standing commitment to editorial integrity in markets coverage, directly shapes how Propinder approaches transparency and data presentation.The platform's profiling engine is built in partnership with Swiset, a trading technology platform used by brokers, prop firms, and trading communities to manage performance, track trader data, and automate risk. Swiset's infrastructure, including trading journals, funding simulations, and real-time analytics, provides the technical foundation that makes Propinder's matching system possible.About PropinderPropinder is a free prop firm comparison tool. It uses trader profiling to match users with relevant prop trading challenges based on experience, preferences, and behaviour. Powered by FXStreet. Built with Swiset.About FXStreetFXStreet is a leading global financial media company with over 25 years serving retail traders with market information.About Swiset Swiset is an all-in-one trading technology platform for brokers, prop firms, and trading communities.Media Contact: admin@propinder.com This article was written by Finance Magnates Staff at www.financemagnates.com.

Two courts, one regulator, one week — the jurisdictional battle over who controls these markets moved to the center. On Wednesday, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig sat before the House Agriculture Committee and explained that the agency has a “zero tolerance policy” toward fraud, manipulation, and insider trading across all prediction markets.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!) The same day, the Ninth Circuit heard consolidated oral arguments from Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com challenging state enforcement actions. The legal fight is intensifying as the market itself continues to grow. Open interest crossed $1 billion for the first time since the November 2024 election, while weekly trading volume reached $6.5 billion.Here’s what mattered this week. What Moved the Prediction Markets The Jurisdiction Fight Goes Federal On April 16, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig testified before the House Agriculture Committee, stating that prediction market contracts fall under the agency’s exclusive jurisdiction as derivatives.As Chairman of the @CFTC, I am committed to policing and prohibiting manipulation in our markets. Whether the underlying is sports, politics, or grains, we take our role as the federal regulator seriously. Under my leadership, there is no tolerance for bad actors in our markets.… pic.twitter.com/RRMgAErkip— Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) April 13, 2026 He reiterated that insider trading, fraud, and manipulation are enforcement priorities and defended the CFTC’s ongoing rulemaking process, which remains open for public comment until April 30. The discussion focused in particular on contracts tied to war, death, and commodities such as oil — categories that lawmakers have flagged as raising consumer protection and market integrity concerns. The same day, the Ninth Circuit heard consolidated arguments from Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com challenging state-level enforcement. This follows an April 6 Third Circuit ruling that Kalshi’s sports contracts are federally regulated swaps, not gambling, blocking New Jersey’s enforcement action. The CFTC has separately filed lawsuits to assert federal preemption, while more than 30 states have filed amicus briefs arguing for state authority. $1 Billion in Open Interest, $6.5 Billion in Weekly Volume On April 15, open interest on prediction markets crossed $1 billion for the first time since the November 2024 presidential election. Weekly notional volume reached $6.5 billion, up roughly 25% week-over-week. Activity was spread across multiple categories — sports, geopolitical events, and midterm election positions — rather than driven by a single market.Prediction market open interest just hit $1B for the first time since Nov 2024.Four events are driving it simultaneously:• Masters Golf Tournament• NBA Playoffs (sports notional volume is ~$4B on all PMs)• U.S.-Iran geopolitical events• 2026 Midterms (open positions… pic.twitter.com/YqaIwNQuTW— Stacy Muur (@stacy_muur) April 15, 2026 Kalshi accounted for $3.54 billion of that volume, while Polymarket handled $2.48 billion. Smaller platforms grew faster in percentage terms, but from a much smaller base. The figures point to sustained activity across the market, even as legal and regulatory pressure continues to build. Robinhood Limits Its Exposure, Infrastructure Expands Robinhood confirmed it is deliberately restricting which prediction market contracts it offers. The company is avoiding high-risk categories — war, death, and political outcomes — citing concerns around insider trading and manipulation. At the same time, platforms are expanding into new product areas. Kalshi announced a new commodities hub, adding event contracts tied to energy, agriculture, and metals markets and positioning prediction markets as a tool for hedging and price discovery in volatile conditions.Trade on more commodities.24/7.Now on Kalshi. pic.twitter.com/0IugqAk9eD— Kalshi (@Kalshi) April 15, 2026Infrastructure providers are moving in from the other side of the market. Leverate introduced a hybrid market-making engine for its white-label prediction markets platform, combining an automated pricing model (LMSR) with a central limit order book.The system is designed to support trading even when liquidity is thin, while allowing traditional order matching once activity picks up. The shift points to a second layer of competition: not just between platforms, but between the systems that power them. Quote of the Week Outside the courtroom, the focus is already shifting to how prediction markets could fit into traditional investment products. The next step under discussion is packaging them into ETFs, which would make event contracts accessible within standard portfolio allocations."I think prediction markets are one of the most important new financial ideas maybe since crypto and if we can package them in an ETF you will see extensive use of them in various portfolio settings" - @Matt_Hougan on Trillions re prediction market ETFs, which are likely coming… pic.twitter.com/PECCdbNBzE— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 9, 2026 Number of the Week $1 trillion.That's the estimated prediction market volume for 2030, according to Bernstein. The projection comes as federal regulators assert control in court, suggesting that both expected growth and legal scrutiny are accelerating. The Friction of the Week The week exposed a structural conflict between federal enforcement and state authority. The CFTC is asserting that prediction markets fall under federal derivatives law and is actively suing states to enforce that position. At the same time, state regulators continue to treat the same contracts as gambling and pursue their own enforcement actions. Kalshi sits at the center of that dispute, defending its ability to offer sports contracts across multiple jurisdictions. The outcome now depends on how courts interpret federal preemption — and whether that interpretation holds across circuits. The platforms argue they already enforce rules against insider trading and market manipulation. Regulators are signalling that enforcement does not stop at the platform level. The rules are in place. The question is who enforces them. Bottom Line This week centered on one question: Who controls prediction markets? The CFTC stated its position in Congress and moved to defend it in court. At the same time, states continued to assert their own authority, and the outcome now depends on how federal preemption is interpreted across circuits. The market itself is not slowing down. Open interest crossed $1 billion, and trading activity remained spread across sports, geopolitics, and elections. Platforms are already adjusting to that uncertainty. Robinhood is narrowing its offerings, while infrastructure providers are building systems to support trading across different liquidity conditions. The rules are being contested. The market is still operating. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

eToro is buying Zengo, an Israeli self-custodial crypto wallet provider, in a move that takes the Nasdaq-listed broker further into on-chain infrastructure and puts it in step with rivals such as Robinhood and Crypto.com that have spent the past two years buying their way into the digital asset stack.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)eToro Agrees to Buy Crypto Wallet Maker ZengoFinancial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, the company said in a statement today (Wednesday). Zengo, founded in 2018 and backed by Insight Partners and Tether, says it has more than 2 million users across 180 countries, and is built on multi-party computation, or MPC, cryptography that does away with the seed phrase that has historically been the weakest link in self-custodial wallets.eToro framed the deal as a way to support emerging digital asset use cases, including tokenized assets and decentralized trading models such as prediction markets and perpetuals. The company said the wallet would continue to operate as a separate product from its regulated exchange services, with Zengo users interacting directly with third-party protocols when accessing decentralized applications, swaps, and staking.Ouriel Ohayon, Zengo's co-founder and CEO, said in the statement that joining eToro would allow the company to "accelerate that mission at a global scale" and connect self-custody "to a broader investing ecosystem that bridges traditional and on-chain finance."[#highlighted-links#] A Second Acquisition Since the Nasdaq DebutThe Zengo deal is eToro's second announced acquisition since its Nasdaq IPO last May, which valued the company at $4.2 billion and raised $620 million. Co-founder Ronen Assia told Bloomberg in September that eToro was sitting on roughly $988 million in cash without debt and had a "robust M&A pipeline," signaling more deals to come. The company subsequently agreed to buy Australian investing app Spaceship for up to $55 million, targeting the long-term savings segment.CEO Yoni Assia used Wednesday’s announcement to flag what he called diversified trading momentum in early 2026. He said commodity trading accounted for 60% of trading commissions by asset class in the first quarter, with commodities volume running nearly four times higher year over year, a shift the company linked to macroeconomic conditions and its expansion of 24/7 trading on instruments including gold and oil. Assia said in the statement that "we believe the future of finance will be increasingly digital, decentralized and user-controlled, with self-custody playing an important role in that evolution," adding that "crypto downtimes are the time to build."Brokers Are Buying Their Way Into Crypto InfrastructureThe acquisition lands at a moment when retail trading platforms are increasingly looking to control the underlying crypto plumbing rather than simply offer exposure. Robinhood closed its $200 million purchase of crypto exchange Bitstamp in June 2025, giving the US trading app more than 50 active licenses, an institutional crypto business, and an order book it has since used to underpin tokenized stock trading in the European Union. That deal pushed Robinhood for the first time into institutional crypto, a segment historically dominated by specialists such as Coinbase Custody and BitGo.Crypto-native firms have been moving in the opposite direction. Crypto.com partnered with self-custody provider Exodus to act as the wallet maker's digital asset custodian, while Ripple completed its $1.25 billion acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road in 2025 and rebranded the unit as Ripple Prime, layering custody, payments, and its RLUSD stablecoin onto an existing multi-asset brokerage business. Ripple has also filed trademarks suggesting it may launch its own wallet product.Neither side disclosed retention terms, integration timelines, or whether Zengo would remain a standalone brand under eToro ownership. The companies did not indicate when they expect the deal to close. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

eToro is opening up its platform to outside developers, rolling out an eToro App Store and a companion builders portal that let third parties and users create, publish and install trading and analytics tools that plug directly into the retail investing platform.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The Nasdaq-listed broker, ticker ETOR, which counts around 40 million registered users across 75 countries, said the App Store will bring together developers, quantitative strategists, Pro Investors and retail clients around a shared library of applications that tap into eToro's core trading functions. At launch, users will be able to browse apps by category, install them with one click and use them inside the eToro platform, the company said in a statement Tuesday.The builders portal sits alongside the store and gives developers what eToro describes as structured access to its APIs, agent skills, Model Context Protocol server, command-line tooling and technical documentation. Users without a coding background will also be able to publish their own tools through what the firm calls AI-powered, no-code capabilities.A Longer-Running AI Play for the Retail BrokerThe App Store has been telegraphed for months. eToro first unveiled its public API and an AI assistant called Tori in August 2025, pitching the combination as a way to give retail traders features once reserved for quant hedge funds, as Finance Magnates reported at the time. By late October, the company extended its public APIs and patented CopyTrader tool to US investors and previewed a wave of user-built applications created through so-called "vibe coding," a natural-language interface that lets people design trading tools without formal programming skills.In a March interview with Finance Magnates at eToro's Limassol office, CEO Yoni Assia said the company already had more than 800 of its Pro Investors who had built upwards of 1,000 apps, some of which would eventually be housed in the App Store.[#highlighted-links#] Last month, eToro also began rolling out Agent Portfolios, a feature that lets users connect their own AI agents to live sub-accounts with defined budgets and risk limits, placing the company ahead of incumbents like Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab and Fidelity in packaging agentic AI as a client-facing trading product.Commenting on Tuesday's launch, Assia said investing had always evolved with technology but that AI was accelerating the process. "The eToro App Store opens up financial innovation to anyone with an idea," he said in the statement. "Developers and quants finally have a direct line to millions of retail investors, and those investors finally get the more flexible and user-designed tools they've always wanted."Broker Marketplaces Are Not New TerritoryeToro is entering a space where several technology providers have been running developer marketplaces for years. Spotware's cTrader Store, launched in late 2022 and expanded since, already functions as a global marketplace for trading robots, indicators, copy strategies and Open API apps, with built-in licensing and dedicated sections for prop firm evaluations. Finance Magnates reported last week that Spotware's platform now serves more than 11 million traders through over 300 broker and prop firm clients, with the store drawing an estimated 10,000 visitors a day, according to the company.MetaQuotes, the dominant player in CFD broker technology, runs its own MQL5 code base and in early April launched metatrader.com, a consumer-facing portal that bundles charting, news and a developer marketplace with an Algo Forge layer described as a GitHub-like collaboration space for developers. Earlier iterations of broker-run developer programs go back more than a decade, with IG Group opening its IG Labs API portal back in 2014, though without an app marketplace component.The difference eToro is pitching is less about the infrastructure itself and more about distribution. The company is also marrying the store to its existing social layer, where users have historically followed and copied Pro Investors rather than downloading tools. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Robinhood is deliberately limiting which prediction market contracts it offers. This strategic decision is shaped by insider trading and manipulation concerns that have put the sector under increasing regulatory pressure. The company's prediction markets business has become, in CEO Vlad Tenev's words, its "fastest-growing business ever." But Robinhood has been explicit that growth doesn't mean offering everything.Filtering the Product"We don't necessarily offer all prediction markets or all event contracts," Jordan Sinclair, president of Robinhood UK, told the Financial Times. He emphasised that the company is "very focused on market abuse and insider trading." One concrete example: Robinhood has ruled out "mention markets" — contracts where users bet on whether a specific word or phrase will appear during a public event, such as an earnings call or a White House press briefing. Sinclair said the company passed on these contracts "for exactly some of those concerns" around insider information.Where Robinhood Draws the LineThe risk is real. In February, a former editor for the YouTube creator MrBeast was fined by Kalshi after using advance knowledge of video content to profit from trades on what MrBeast would say during a video. By drawing a line around these contracts, Robinhood is putting distance between itself and the less-regulated corners of the industry. The platform has opted to work exclusively with regulated venues — Kalshi and ForecastEx — and has avoided offshore providers.Regulation Shapes the StrategyThe regulatory environment shapes every part of this strategy. In the U.S., Robinhood is fighting Massachusetts in court after the state attempted to block its prediction market offering; Robinhood argues the products are federally regulated derivatives under CFTC jurisdiction, not securities subject to state oversight. In Europe, the environment is more restrictive: France and Germany have blocked major platforms like Polymarket as illegal gambling, though smaller jurisdictions — Gibraltar, Malta — are exploring dedicated regulatory frameworks. For now, Robinhood offers prediction markets only in the U.S., where it can rely on its CFTC-regulated exchange partnerships to justify a carefully selected contract menu. The approach lets it capture retail demand for the asset class while keeping regulatory and reputational exposure low. Whether a narrower product catalog will hold as the market matures — and as competitors take on more risk — is a question the company hasn't answered yet. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

eToro said it has added all stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to its platform, expanding its global equities offering. The first batch of listings, including all companies in the Nikkei 225, is now available for trading. The company also introduced real-time market data for these assets.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).The expansion follows a series of product and market additions over the past year. eToro added access to 25 stock exchanges and increased its crypto asset range to more than 150 last year. It also introduced stock margin trading, broadened its derivatives offering, and expanded region-specific products, including UK ISAs and Australian savings accounts, as part of efforts to diversify revenue streams.eToro Adds Tokyo StocksThe move increases the number of exchanges available on eToro to 26, with access to more than 11,000 common stocks. Yossi Brandes, the firm’s Vice President of Execution Services, said the launch is “another major step in making eToro a truly global investing platform.” He added that the company now offers “access to more than 11,000 common stocks across 26 exchanges worldwide.”Brandes said that with access to the Nikkei 225, users can trade “some of Japan’s most iconic and liquid companies.” He noted that Japan is “the world’s third-largest equity market” and said the expansion provides more opportunities to diversify across regions and sectors.The company also launched a new investment portfolio, JapanEconomy, built around 30 stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The portfolio is structured based on market capitalisation, liquidity, and analyst consensus. About half of the allocation is focused on industrial and technology companies, while the remainder covers consumer, communications, and financial sectors.Japan Return Expectations Rise in SurveySurvey data published by eToro indicates growing retail investor interest in Japan. According to its Retail Investor Beat, the share of respondents who expect Japan’s stock market to generate the strongest returns over the next five years or more rose from 5% to 14% over a two-year period.Lale Akoner, Global Market Strategist at eToro, said Japan is “re-emerging as a structural equity story.” She said reforms and policy changes are “reset[ting] the market’s long-term return profile” and added that companies are showing “better earnings visibility.” She also said governance reforms are “enhanc[ing] shareholder returns.”Akoner said Japan is attracting global investors seeking diversification, particularly away from the US. She described the market as combining “depth, liquidity, and structural reform momentum” and said access to the Nikkei 225 allows retail investors to participate in ongoing changes in the market. This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.

Wise said today (Monday) its cross-border payment volumes climbed 26% in the final quarter of fiscal 2026 to £49.4 billion, as the London-listed fintech prepares to shift its primary listing to Nasdaq on May 11 and reshape how it reports its numbers to investors.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Active customers reached 11.3 million in the three months to March, up 22%, while underlying income rose 24% to £435.3 million. For the full year, Wise processed £181.7 billion in cross-border transfers, a 25% increase, and served 18.9 million active customers.The cross-border take rate slipped another basis point to 51, down from 53 a year earlier, which the company described as a balanced approach to pricing and reinvestment. Wise has run this playbook consistently, including when it reported 20% volume growth in Q2 of fiscal 2025 alongside an eight-basis-point drop in take rate."We are making good progress on building the network for the world's money," Chief Executive Kristo Käärmann said in the trading update. In January, Wise became one of the first payment institutions granted membership to Payments Canada, and last month it launched a UK current account with a physical branch concept on Oxford Street.Dual Listing Set for May 11 on NasdaqWise confirmed it remains on track to complete its listing transfer this quarter, with an expected debut date of May 11 on Nasdaq. The London Stock Exchange will retain a secondary listing. A registration statement has been filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, though the company noted it has not yet been declared effective. Shareholders approved the move last July, after Käärmann first outlined the Wall Street plan in June 2025, arguing the switch would give Wise better access to its largest market.As part of the transition, Wise said its full-year fiscal 2026 results will be presented in US dollars under US GAAP, abandoning the "underlying" profit framework in favor of reported income before tax. The company translated its medium-term guidance into the new framework, keeping a 15%-20% constant-currency net revenue CAGR target and setting an income-before-tax margin target of 15%-20%. It said reported margins would likely run at 20%-25% in the near term until it can pay more interest to customers.Cross-Border Rivals Step UpWise operates in a market where rivals are moving on similar ground. Revolut, whose valuation recently overtook Barclays, expanded its international transfers with 14 new payment corridors across nine African countries, plugging into Airtel Money, Orange Money and MTN. Nubank's global account runs on Wise Platform, the firm's infrastructure arm that also powers Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered and Google Pay, taking its partner tally above 85.Wise leans on a fee-compression model funded by scale and interest income on safeguarded balances. Customer holdings grew 37% to £29.4 billion, card and other revenue rose 29%, and Wise Business volumes jumped 35%. Instant transfers, defined as arriving in under 20 seconds, climbed to 75% of flows from 65%, a capability the company has long pushed in its broker partnerships with Interactive Brokers, Tiger Brokers Singapore and Gotrade.Wise estimated that a 25 basis point change in central bank rates would move net interest income by around $40 million a year, based on customer balances of $26.4 billion at the end of the first half of fiscal 2026. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Prediction markets have become a jurisdictional fight. Federal regulators and U.S. states are now openly contesting who has the authority to oversee these markets — and, by extension, who controls a fast-growing new segment of trading activity.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!) A federal appeals court ruled this week that Kalshi’s sports contracts are federally regulated derivatives, not gambling. The CFTC, in parallel, sued three states to block their enforcement actions. Polymarket began rolling out its largest infrastructure upgrade to date. Binance Wallet added direct access to prediction markets for retail users. Product and distribution moved forward. The legal fight moved into the courts. What Moved the Markets This Week Courts and Regulators Take the Lead The legal fight over prediction markets advanced on several fronts this week. The Third Circuit ruled that Kalshi's sports contracts fall under derivatives law, not state gambling statutes limiting states' ability to block them. The ruling is preliminary, not a final determination on the merits, but it buys Kalshi time. The CFTC and the Department of Justice separately filed suit against Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois, arguing that state enforcement actions are preempted by federal law. More cases are in motion. The Ninth Circuit is set to hear consolidated arguments involving Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com on April 16. The dispute now centers on which authority regulates them. Polymarket Rebuilds its Core Polymarket is rolling out what it calls its largest infrastructure upgrade since launch. The platform is replacing its core collateral asset with a proprietary token — Polymarket USD — backed 1:1 by USDC held in reserve. The move cuts reliance on bridged assets and the risks tied to third-party infrastructure. Polymarket is also rebuilding its trading engine to reduce costs and improve execution speed. The upgrade adds support for multi-signature wallets, a requirement for institutional users. The timing is deliberate. A fully controlled collateral layer and an upgraded trading system are preconditions for a regulated U.S. relaunch and broader institutional access. Retail Gets in — And Gets Credited Access to prediction markets is expanding beyond dedicated platforms. Binance Wallet introduced a feature this week allowing users to take positions on real-world events directly from the app, lowering the barrier for retail participants. The rollout is part of a broader push to reach users who don't want specialized setup. Kalshi's founders, meanwhile, continue to argue that retail users are not just participants — they are a key source of predictive accuracy. CEO Tarek Mansour said the platform's performance comes from a broad base of users "trading out of their garage," not from traditional finance professionals. More users now have direct access, and platforms are actively positioning retail traders as central to price formation. Quote of the Week Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour appeared on The Axios Show on April 7, addressing insider trading enforcement on prediction markets: "It's our responsibility as an exchange and the responsibility of regulators to identify these bad actors, as well as to detect and deter their actions. You punish them when you find someone who did something bad. It's a good thing." Mansour added that if there were a yes/no contract on Kalshi about whether the CFTC would open an insider trading investigation within the next year, he would expect it to trade at "yes."Number of the Week $30 million. That's how much has been traded on Kalshi's market tracking whether tech layoffs in 2026 will exceed last year's total. The contract is growing fast and has already surpassed some of the platform's major entertainment markets — a sign of rising demand for contracts tied to economic data. The Friction of the Week The central tension this week is between federal regulatory expansion and state authority over consumer protection. The CFTC is not just defending its jurisdiction in court — it is actively suing states, filing for injunctions, and using the Third Circuit ruling as a template. Its argument is consistent: prediction market contracts are federally regulated derivatives, and states cannot recharacterize them as gambling to justify enforcement. States are not retreating. Connecticut AG William Tong called the contracts "plainly unlicensed illegal gambling." Over 34 states filed amicus briefs asserting their regulatory authority. A bipartisan coalition of more than 20 senators has urged the CFTC to stay out of the litigation entirely.The federal government on Thursday sued Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois, challenging their efforts to regulate prediction market operators, businesses that Connecticut Attorney General William Tong argues "are plainly unlicensed illegal gambling." https://t.co/r1UuCQmMzq— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) April 3, 2026 The platforms sit in the middle. They argue they are regulated exchanges operating under federal law — while simultaneously running markets on war, political outcomes, and now tech layoffs. Mansour welcomed federal enforcement against bad actors this week. But the same federal authority Kalshi is relying on to defeat state gambling laws is also drafting rules on margin trading, insider trading, and public-interest prohibitions — rules that could constrain which contracts the platforms can list at all. The CFTC is Kalshi's shield and its regulator at the same time. How much authority it chooses to exercise on both fronts is the question neither side has answered. Bottom Line The regulatory question was not resolved this week. The Third Circuit sided with Kalshi. The CFTC escalated by suing three states. More rulings are coming, and the outcome will likely be shaped across multiple jurisdictions rather than by any single decision. The market is not waiting. Platforms are rebuilding infrastructure, expanding distribution, and listing contracts tied to economic data alongside politics and sports. Prediction markets are now running on two tracks: legal definitions are being tested in court, while usage continues to grow. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.