After two years of enforcement actions, state bans, and competing jurisdictional claims, the CFTC has submitted its event contracts proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget, formally initiating the federal rulemaking process. The details of the proposal have not been published. But the CFTC's direction has been clear for some time. Chairman Michael Selig said in January that the agency intended to develop formal rules for prediction markets, after withdrawing an earlier proposal that would have restricted political and sports event contracts. In April, Enforcement Director David Miller publicly stated that insider trading rules apply to prediction markets as "event contracts are not gaming", and should be treated as swaps under federal law.Compliance Expectations Are Already Taking ShapeThat distinction has practical consequences for brokers, exchanges, and fintech firms. If event contracts are derivatives, the full compliance stack applies: KYC, trade surveillance, insider trading controls. Platforms are already starting to apply those standards in practice. Kalshi suspended and fined three U.S. political candidates for betting on their own races, citing the move as evidence that regulated prediction markets can enforce insider trading rules as traditional financial venues do. The CFTC recently charged a Google employee who allegedly used non-public company information to trade on Polymarket. Congress separately demanded KYC and trade-surveillance records from both Kalshi and Polymarket following investigations into trades tied to geopolitical events.The Federal-State Fight Is EscalatingThe rulemaking process runs in parallel with an unresolved fight over who actually has authority here. Minnesota, New York, Illinois, Arizona, and Connecticut have each argued that prediction markets are gambling products subject to state betting law. The CFTC's position is the opposite: these are event contracts under federal commodities law, regulated as swaps, and states don't have jurisdiction. The White House has backed the federal position. Trump described prediction markets as a "major industry" and argued that fragmented state regulation would undermine U.S. competitiveness in digital finance. For financial firms exploring the sector, the outcome will determine whether event contracts can scale under one federal framework or remain subject to state-level gambling regulation. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

DraftKings is moving deeper into federally regulated event contracts, expanding a strategy that increasingly blurs the line between sportsbook products and financial trading infrastructure. Through its DKeX exchange entity, the company filed its first event contract templates with the CFTC on May 22, 2026. The filings cover two classes of contracts, “GAMEPROPERTY” and “GAMEWIN,” with official listing scheduled after the close of business on May 27. The DCM Structure DKeX is registered as a Designated Contract Market, a CFTC-regulated board of trade authorised to list futures, options, and event contracts under a single federal framework. Under the DCM framework, operators can offer event contracts without separate state sportsbook licenses. Rather than filing contracts one by one, DKeX is using a template system that sets common parameters across multiple asset classes and can later be extended to additional listings. Each contract follows the same baseline terms: binary payout, $1.00 notional size, $0.01 minimum tick, 24/7 trading, and position accountability capped at 125,000 contracts per market. Sport-specific schedules are attached as riders. GAMEPROPERTY covers football, ice hockey, MMA, soccer, and tennis. GAMEWIN extends that to baseball, basketball, golf, and motorsports. Expanding the Federal Event Contract Model The DKeX filings come as more firms explore event contracts under the federal framework rather than through state sportsbook structures. The federal model offers one license, standardized product terms, and centralized clearing instead of dozens of separate state approvals. Sporttrade recently moved fully into the federal model, announcing plans to shut down sportsbook operations in five states while seeking approval to operate as a derivatives exchange and clearinghouse under the CFTC. DraftKings launched “DraftKings Predictions” in late 2025, while FanDuel partnered with CME Group on a parallel product, “FanDuel Predicts.” Market Making and Order Flow Flutter Entertainment is already monetising the sector as a market maker, using its pricing infrastructure across third-party platforms rather than operating a standalone retail exchange. That model has also drawn criticism. DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish recently argued that platforms like Kalshi function more like sportsbooks than neutral exchanges. He said retail order flow is effectively routed toward institutional market makers such as Susquehanna. The filings suggest DraftKings wants a larger role in both retail distribution and liquidity provision around event contracts. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority (FMA) published a 15-page report today (Wednesday) outlining what it learned from its fintech regulatory sandbox pilot. The numbers tell a more complicated story than the framing suggests.Of 24 firms that submitted expressions of interest when the pilot launched in December 2024, six were admitted to the cohort. Only one is identified in the FMA's published timeline as having reached the market in the 17 months since.The Pilot's Flagship Is on the BlockThat firm is ECDD Holdings, the Easy Crypto subsidiary behind the NZDD stablecoin. ECDD received the first sandbox exemption and license in December 2025, the FMA said.In March, the regulator granted ECDD a first-of-its-kind designation declaring NZDD is not a financial product. Within roughly ten days, Swyftx, Easy Crypto's Australian parent, was reportedly shopping the stablecoin business, according to NBR.Swyftx then shut Easy Crypto's New Zealand exchange on March 31, citing regional streamlining. The stablecoin business has remained for sale, with demand for the locally backed NZDD reportedly failing to gain meaningful traction.The Other Five Firms Are Still Working Through the SystemThe remaining pilot participants are Tandym, a group investing platform, Homeshare, which proposed fractionalized real estate, Invest Inya Farmer, an agricultural assets venture, Emerge, a digital banking entrant and IndigiShare, a Māori capital access platform.The FMA Chief Executive, Samantha Barass, said that participants expressed "frustration with uncertainty, cost, and the steep transition to full licensing."“The sandbox has provided valuable insights into how innovative firms experience our regulatory system in practice and where more proportionate pathways to market could support innovation without compromising regulatory standards or consumer protections.”On-Ramp Lincense Aims to Address the BottleneckThe FMA is now building an "on-ramp" license intended to give innovative firms a more proportionate pathway to market. The May 27 report confirmed that workstream and added a multi-year program covering virtual assets and payments.The agency also flagged a thematic exploration of artificial intelligence in financial advice, following its Access to Advice report in March.Regional peers including Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia have all moved on stablecoin or digital asset regimes during the past year, narrowing New Zealand's first-mover window.For now, the FMA's signature sandbox outcome remains a stablecoin whose issuer has been wound down, and whose token is waiting for a new owner. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Polymarket has hired a dedicated representative in Japan to seek government authorization for the platform, setting up a prolonged push against some of the world's most restrictive gambling laws. The company is targeting official approval by 2030. The effort is being led by Mike Eidlin, a crypto industry veteran who previously ran Japan operations for decentralized exchange Jupiter, Bloomberg reports. From Defiance to Dialogue The move reflects a meaningful change in how Polymarket approaches new markets. The default posture has been to operate first and negotiate later. In India, both Polymarket and Kalshi continue onboarding users despite a federal ban under PROGA and explicit warnings from the technology ministry. In the U.S. and Brazil, platforms have leaned on litigation to defend their classification as financial derivatives after facing blocks and regulatory pressure. Japan is different. Polymarket is building a regulatory foothold before attempting a commercial launch — a bet that working through official channels will ultimately prove faster than fighting in court after the fact. The Legal Terrain Japan's Penal Code carries prison terms of up to five years for gambling operators, and the government's tolerance for new wagering products has been narrowing. In 2025, Japan passed legislation against online casinos that gave authorities broad powers to block foreign sites and made placing bets on offshore platforms a criminal offence. The 2026 national budget follows that trend, raising the Casino Management Commission's funding by 5.4% and earmarking new money for the Digital Agency to build surveillance infrastructure for online gambling. The pachinko industry, worth roughly $100 billion, operates through a well-worn legal workaround, and the government permits specific exceptions like horse racing. But those carve-outs reflect decades of embedded political relationships. Polymarket would be building from scratch. The 2030 Calculation The target date is not arbitrary. Japan's first integrated casino resort, MGM Osaka, is scheduled to open in 2030. Polymarket appears to be positioning itself as part of the broader opening of Japan's regulated gambling sector rather than as a foreign operator trying to punch through the door. "We're always evaluating opportunities to expand access globally in compliant and locally appropriate ways," a company spokesperson said, pointing to "meaningful organic interest" already coming from Asia. Prediction markets platforms used to launch first and negotiate later. Polymarket is doing the opposite in Japan. If the approach works, it may become the template for every restricted market. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

On Friday, the House Oversight Committee sent formal information requests to Kalshi and Polymarket, demanding internal records on identity verification and trade surveillance, escalating prediction markets to the compliance scrutiny Congress typically reserves for registered derivatives exchanges. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), committee chair, announced the inquiry, and is seeking detailed documentation on how each platform detects anomalous trading and prevents insider activity. The platforms are supposed to provide the required documentation by June 5, meaning they have less than two weeks to prepare responses.?NEW: Oversight Chairman Comer launches congressional probe into insider trading on Kalshi, Polymarket “Comer requested documents and communications from both CEOs on how each company verifies identities and detects unusual trades.” @CNBC https://t.co/E4Jo32Irr7— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) May 22, 2026 The probe follows the federal indictment of a U.S. soldier who allegedly used classified intelligence to generate roughly $400,000 in profits on Polymarket, and Kalshi's recent suspension of three congressional candidates who placed bets on their own races. "Internal records held by prediction market platforms are the only means by which bad actors can be identified," Comer wrote in letters to Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan. "The Committee requests information to understand how [platforms] implement identity verification... and detect anomalous trading activity." What Congress Is Actually Asking For The requests cover three specific areas. First, transaction records: not just trade logs, but auditable documentation of activity that could support enforcement action. Second, KYC systems: Comer's letters challenge the degree of anonymity that crypto-native architectures afford users, and ask how platforms verify identity for both domestic and international accounts. Third, anomaly detection: whether platforms have automated, real-time systems capable of flagging suspicious patterns before they generate a compliance or national security incident. Kalshi, as a CFTC-regulated exchange, already prohibits anonymous trading and maintains an internal enforcement team. Polymarket's architecture presents a more complex compliance picture. Its blockchain-based, internationally accessible structure was not designed around the transparency requirements Washington is now asking about. "The rapid growth and mainstreaming of this platform... and the anonymity it affords users may have created unintended structural conditions that bad actors — especially individuals with national security clearances — can exploit," Comer wrote. What Comes Next Comer said the investigation is designed to build a legislative record supporting a law that would ban government employees and members of Congress from trading on prediction markets. Congressional investigations of this scope typically produce formal regulation. For brokers evaluating the sector, that means compliance infrastructure matters: platforms with real-time surveillance, verifiable identity systems, and documented response protocols will be positioned to survive rulemaking. The probe will either validate that prediction markets can police themselves, or provide the evidence Congress needs to shut government employees out entirely. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Prediction markets are moving into new distribution channels faster than regulators can agree on what they are. This week, Polymarket pushed further abroad while questions grew over how it resolves disputed markets. Sporttrade began moving away from state sportsbook licenses toward the CFTC model. And the SEC slowed a wave of prediction market ETFs that would bring event contracts into standard brokerage accounts. The competition is now centered on which regulatory framework will shape the market’s next phase. Here’s what mattered this week. Polymarket Expands Abroad While Governance Comes Under Pressure Polymarket is continuing to push into international markets even as scrutiny around the platform intensifies. In India, both Polymarket and Kalshi continue onboarding users despite a federal ban and warnings from the country's technology ministry. One Indian Premier League market tied to the May 7 match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced roughly $27.7 million in combined trading volume on Polymarket and Kalshi.In Japan, Polymarket has hired a local representative to pursue formal authorisation by 2030, which may be regarded as a departure from the platform's usual approach of operating first and seeking approval later. At the same time, questions are mounting over how Polymarket resolves disputed markets. A Wall Street Journal analysis found that many token holders participating in UMA governance votes were also trading on the markets they helped arbitrate. The report also showed that voting power in disputes is concentrated among a small number of wallets. Both developments point to the same underlying problem: Polymarket is scaling globally while still relying on governance structures that regulators and traditional financial firms may find difficult to accept.Sporttrade Abandons Sportsbook Licenses for the CFTC Model Sporttrade is shutting down sportsbook operations in five U.S. states and applying to become a federally regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse under the CFTC. The company is seeking registration as both a Designated Contract Market and Derivatives Clearing Organization, moving away from the state-by-state gambling framework used by traditional sportsbooks. The shift highlights the growing appeal of federal preemption. Under CFTC oversight, event contracts can operate under a single national regulatory structure rather than dozens of separate state regimes. The move also intensifies tensions with the gambling industry, which increasingly argues that prediction markets are functioning as sportsbooks under a derivatives label. SEC Slows Prediction Market ETFs SEC Chair Paul Atkins opened a formal public comment process this week for proposed prediction market ETFs from Roundhill, GraniteShares, and Bitwise, delaying products that had originally been expected to launch in May. The funds would allow investors to gain exposure to event contracts tied to elections, economic data, and other real-world outcomes through standard brokerage accounts. The SEC is seeking additional answers on valuation, market manipulation, insider trading, and whether prediction markets are suitable for retail investors inside the ETF structure. The move also expands the regulatory overlap between the SEC and CFTC. While the CFTC has recently eased compliance requirements for prediction market operators, the SEC is moving more cautiously as these products approach mainstream retail distribution. If approved, the ETFs would move prediction markets beyond specialized platforms like Kalshi and into traditional brokerage networks used by retail investors and retirement accounts. Quote of the Week FanDuel co-founder Nigel Eccles has become one of the most prominent industry critics of prediction market advertising tactics. He has previously warned that Kalshi is "going down the same path as Juul." This week, testifying in the context of the Senate hearing, he put it plainly to Front Office Sports: "I love gambling; I work in the gambling industry. But I have a huge problem with people trying to basically mislead customers as if it's some sort of financial liberation." The Friction of the Week The central tension this week is regulatory arbitrage. Polymarket is still expanding internationally, including in markets where regulators have already pushed back. Sporttrade is leaving the state-by-state sportsbook framework and trying to move under federal derivatives oversight. ETF issuers want to package event contracts for retail investors, while the SEC is asking whether that wrapper is appropriate at all. Each case points to the same problem: prediction markets are being routed through whatever framework offers the clearest path to scale. For platforms, the CFTC model offers national reach. For gambling regulators, that looks like sports betting under a different label. For the SEC, the ETF structure raises investor protection, valuation, and manipulation questions. The market is choosing its channels. Regulators are still deciding whether those channels should exist.Bottom Line This week showed prediction markets spreading across three fronts: international access, federal derivatives registration, and ETF distribution. Polymarket is testing foreign markets, Sporttrade is trying to leave the sportsbook model behind, and ETF issuers are trying to move event contracts into brokerage and retirement-account infrastructure. Demand is already there, and the industry is not going away. The remaining question is how it will be regulated before the market becomes too large to contain. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Polish prosecutors said today (Thursday) that Marcin Pióro, the fugitive chief executive of online currency exchange Cinkciarz.pl, has been detained in the United States, ending one of the longest international manhunts in the country's fintech history.The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Poznań confirmed the arrest in a statement, saying the office is now waiting on a US court to determine how extradition proceedings will move forward. Office spokesperson Anna Marszałek told Polish news agency PAP that, given the time difference between the two countries, there was no information yet on when the American court would rule. She added that the court must first decide what form the extradition will take.The arrest was carried out by US authorities working with Polish counterparts from the Central Bureau of Investigation and officers attached to the Criminal Bureau at National Police Headquarters. The exact location of the arrest in the United States has not been disclosed by either side.Customer Losses Climb to More than 185 Million ZlotyProsecutors said the estimated total damage caused by the failed platform has grown to more than 185 million zloty, roughly $50 million at current exchange rates, with over 5,000 customers identified as victims. The number of formal complaints filed with the prosecutor's office is higher still, and authorities expect the case file to keep expanding.That figure is well above the 112 million zloty estimate disclosed when the international warrant was first issued last summer, and roughly 60% higher than the 125 million zloty figure cited when Interpol formalized the search in mid-2025.The probe traces back to October 2024, when the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, KNF, revoked the payment services license of Conotoxia, the Cinkciarz.pl subsidiary that processed the bulk of the brand's currency exchange flow. Within days the Poznań prosecutor's office opened a criminal investigation.From Interpol Red Notice to American CustodyFormal charges, including fraud and money laundering, were filed in March 2025 against Pióro and several other executives, but the CEO had already left Poland and could not be served. A Polish court approved his detention in absentia, paving the way for an international arrest warrant.The hunt escalated in July 2025, when Interpol issued a Red Notice placing Pióro among the policing body's most wanted suspects. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted on the Polish charges.Several other figures connected to the company are already in Polish custody or under investigation. Former board member Robert Górny was detained for three months in early 2025, and chief accountant Monika J. was arrested in mid-2025 on charges connected to the alleged misuse of customer funds. Other former managers of Cinkciarz.pl and Conotoxia, along with staff responsible for currency liquidity on settlement accounts, have been charged with offenses ranging from participation in an organized criminal group to money laundering.From Polish Fintech Darling to Bankruptcy CourtFounded in 2006 in the southwestern Polish city of Zielona Góra, Cinkciarz.pl rode the country's foreign currency boom to become one of Central Europe's best-known online exchanges, processing billions of zlotys in annual transaction volume. Sports sponsorships and corporate campaigns lifted the brand's profile across Poland.That picture unraveled through 2024 and 2025. Customers began reporting that funds deposited for currency conversion were not being returned, with delays stretching from days into months. Many of those affected had been routing life savings, mortgage payments and small business operating funds through the platform.The District Court in Zielona Góra eventually declared the company bankrupt, with proceedings now open for thousands of creditors to file claims. Around 8,000 creditors have registered with the bankruptcy trustee, according to Polish media reports.Crypto Holdings and a Combative DefenseThe case also drew attention to Pióro's personal cryptocurrency holdings. Polish investigators previously alleged the executive held roughly 492 bitcoins, worth about 196 million zloty on personal storage devices. The company said the coins had been acquired by Pióro as a private individual starting in 2015.Throughout the probe, the executive maintained his innocence and used social media to push back, accusing Polish prosecutors of misconduct. The company itself pursued lawsuits against multiple Polish banks for alleged collusion, challenged the KNF's license revocation in court, and at one point publicly announced plans to transform into a joint-stock company and pursue a banking license, a move the regulator rejected outright. Cinkciarz.pl lost its formal court dispute with the KNF shortly before the bankruptcy ruling.How quickly Pióro is returned to Poland will depend on whether his legal team contests the extradition request. Polish authorities have flagged that such cases routinely run for months, and in some instances more than a year. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins announced a formal public comment period on proposed exchange-traded funds from Roundhill, GraniteShares, and Bitwise. The ETFs, which would let investors take positions on U.S. midterm elections, tech layoffs, and macroeconomic data releases through standard brokerage accounts, were originally slated for a May launch.By putting on hold a wave of proposed "Event Contract ETFs", Atkins has signalled that he intends to hold the prediction market sector to traditional securities standards before any funds go live. The move carries a jurisdictional dimension. By formally opening a comment process, the SEC is staking a direct claim over a sector the CFTC has treated as its own. Atkins has called for "harmonized approaches" between agencies, but the practical effect here is that prediction markets now have two regulators asking hard questions at the same time. Why the SEC Called a Timeout Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart described the agency's concern as a reluctance to "open Pandora's box." The SEC is specifically pressing for answers on three fronts. Valuation relates to how a fund accurately prices a binary contract that can move from $1 to $0 on a single headline. Insider trading and manipulation are about preventing government officials or industry insiders from trading on events they may have material, non-public knowledge of. Retail suitability deals with whether the $15 trillion ETF wrapper is the right vehicle for contracts that critics still characterize as gambling.What It Means for Brokers and Asset Nanagers For asset managers, the delay follows a recognisable pattern. Eric Balchunas and other ETF veterans have noted that multiple rounds of SEC delay preceded the eventual approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs.RAIN DELAY: Prediction Market ETFs have been delayed by the SEC, according to Reuters. They were slated to start rolling out Thursday but SEC is seeking more info about mechanics and disclosures. Delay is likely temporary, so stay tuned.. pic.twitter.com/zTwyblC6Ys— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 4, 2026If these funds ultimately launch, they create a new product category - event-specific hedges distributed through the same infrastructure as any other ETF. Approval would pull prediction markets out of specialised platforms like Kalshi and into the distribution networks of firms like Schwab or Fidelity, bringing a new generation of high-volume, speculative instruments into mainstream retail accounts. The harder problem is regulatory divergence. The CFTC has recently moved to ease compliance requirements for prediction market operators to encourage growth. The SEC is moving in the opposite direction, pushing for deeper disclosure and investor protection standards. Firms building infrastructure that has to satisfy both agencies simultaneously are facing a framework that doesn't yet exist. Where This Goes The SEC's decision to formally engage with these filings, rather than let them lapse, confirms that prediction markets have moved from a niche regulatory question to a systemic one. Whether that process produces workable standards or another round of delays depends on how the public comment period goes and, more importantly, on whether the two agencies can agree on where one regulator's jurisdiction ends and the other's begins. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

The fight over U.S. prediction markets has reached a new level of institutional confrontation. The fight is increasingly centering on federal preemption and the CFTC’s authority over event contracts.In testimony before a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday, American Gaming Association CEO Bill Miller called the CFTC a "rogue agency" and accused it of making a "mockery of congressional intent" by allowing financial exchanges to facilitate what he called "backdoor sports betting."AGA's Bill Miller stresses that prediction markets are operating outside the safeguards that define legal gaming in the U.S. Consumer protections, responsible gaming tools, and integrity oversight are not optional.Read more via @WashTimes below. https://t.co/ghtcogqkBD— American Gaming Association (@AmericanGaming) May 20, 2026 The attack cuts to a specific legal question. For brokers and infrastructure providers watching from the B2B side, the real issue is the federal preemption doctrine - the principle that a CFTC license as a DCM or DCO shields a firm from having to comply with 50 different state-level regimes.The appeal of the federal framework is already reshaping business decisions. Sporttrade recently shut down its sportsbook operations to pursue CFTC exchange and clearinghouse status instead. "The CFTC was created to regulate markets critical to the functioning of the nation's economy, not to regulate 'Monday Night Football,'" Miller told lawmakers, arguing the agency is reclassifying gambling as financial swaps. A Multi-Front Regulatory Conflict The AGA's rhetorical offensive tracks an active legal strategy. States are already in federal court: The CFTC recently sued Minnesota to block a law that would make operating, or even assisting a prediction market a criminal felony. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the law would turn legitimate hedgers, including farmers using weather contracts, into "felons overnight." The agency is simultaneously in litigation with Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois, seeking to block those states from using gambling statutes to criminally prosecute federally regulated exchanges. In New York and Massachusetts, the CFTC and federal prosecutors are contesting gaming commission actions against platforms like Kalshi, arguing federal law overrides state unlicensed gambling charges. Former House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry and other industry supporters contend prediction markets hold to higher standards than casinos, including mandatory KYC/AML compliance, no access for minors, and that the comparison to gambling is the wrong frame entirely.As a parent, @PatrickMcHenry strongly believes in protecting our kids. The facts:- Only 18+ allowed, full stop - 97% of trading volume is from users 21+ - Median age is 33 - U.S. companies like @Kalshi going above and beyond with facial recognition login checks, selfie…— Coalition for Prediction Markets (@PredictAction) May 20, 2026 What This Means for Brokers The two outcomes here are structurally different, not just legally. If the CFTC defends exclusive jurisdiction, prediction markets can be cleared, integrated, and distributed through any regulated brokerage stack. If the states and the AGA prevail, the federal license becomes, in practical terms, unworkable. Operators would face a state-by-state licensing gauntlet and tax structures that make the asset class unscalable. As Miller put it, states are spending "extraordinary amounts of money" to push the CFTC out of a space where, in their view, it has no legal standing. Whether that argument lands in court will determine not just the rules for prediction markets in 2026, but whether the regulatory foundation under the whole sector is solid at all. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Australia risks producing a "lost generation" of citizens stuck with a lower standard of living if the country fails to keep pace with global financial innovation, ASIC Chairman Joe Longo said today (Thursday), as the regulator published a landscape review mapping the country's standing against six major overseas jurisdictions.The report, prepared by the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, covers the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada and Switzerland. It concludes that AI is moving into routine financial operations worldwide, while financial services are being embedded inside non-financial digital platforms."Backers, Not Blockers" Is the New StanceLongo used a Tech Council of Australia event in Sydney to push his case. He told attendees that Australia is "in a global innovation race" and that failing to act could mean Australians "could be poorer for it as a nation in the future." He repeated his framing that he wants ASIC to be "backers, not blockers" of financial innovation.Industry engagement on parts of the agenda has been thin. Longo said roughly half the market declined to take part in or even meet with ASIC's recent tokenization survey, and only around a third provided detailed feedback.The pushback comes as ASIC ramps up enforcement, securing a record A$349.8 million in civil penalties in the second half of 2025.Australia Leads on BNPL and Real-Time PaymentsThe DFCRC analysis places Australia in its "advanced" category in two areas. Domestic buy-now-pay-later providers have been required to hold an Australian Credit License since June 2025, placing the country ahead of the UK, where the Financial Conduct Authority will only begin regulating BNPL from 15 July 2026, and alongside the European Union. Around one-third of Australian adults have used instalment payment services, according to Reserve Bank of Australia data.The New Payments Platform also drew favorable comparisons. More than 1.82 billion real-time payments, including Osko and PayTo transactions, were processed through the NPP in 2025. Australian startups raised more than A$5 billion in venture capital last year, the country's third-best year on record, and produced 1.22 unicorns per US$1 billion of VC invested since 2000, almost twice the US ratio.Lemonade, Square and Betterment Set the Global PaceThe gap widens in insurance, SME credit and digital wealth, where the DFCRC found Australia trailing the US, UK and Singapore.Lemonade, the US insurtech founded in 2015, automated roughly 55% of its claims fully without human intervention as of December 2024, and 96% of first notices of loss were handled by its claims bot, according to the company's 2024 annual filing cited in the report. Simple claims settle in under three seconds. In SME credit, Square Capital, now part of Block, had originated more than US$18 billion in cumulative working capital loans by mid-2025 based on merchant transaction data, with Shopify Capital, Amazon Lending and PayPal Working Capital running comparable models.Betterment, the US robo-advisory platform, held roughly US$65 billion in assets under management by early 2025 and charges 0.25% annually, against the 1.0% to 1.5% typically charged by human advisers. Longo said the technology could matter because Australian adviser numbers would need to more than double by 2055 to maintain current coverage.EU and Singapore Set Different Templates for AI GovernanceThe competitive context cuts across regulatory style as much as technology. The European Union's AI Act, which classifies insurance pricing and credit risk assessment as high-risk applications, imposes documentation, testing and human oversight obligations on lenders and insurers using algorithmic underwriting. The bloc's Digital Operational Resilience Act adds parallel rules on third-party tech dependencies.Singapore has taken a different path through its Monetary Authority's Fairness, Ethics, Accountability and Transparency principles and the Veritas toolkit, which give firms practical assessment tools without prescriptive legislation. The European Central Bank has separately warned about AI risk in finance, and Australian and New Zealand regulators have flagged AI-powered investment scams as a growing problem.Open Finance and SupTech Are the Next BattlegroundsThe DFCRC identified four priorities for Australia: clearer guidance on how existing obligations apply to AI-driven decisions, tighter oversight of financial products sold inside non-financial digital journeys, expansion of the Consumer Data Right beyond banking and continued investment in ASIC's own SupTech capacity. The push lands as Australia's parliament has already passed legislation requiring crypto exchanges and custody platforms to hold an AFSL, with penalties reaching up to 10% of turnover for non-compliance.Longo said ASIC will keep working with the Reserve Bank of Australia on a potential digital financial market infrastructure sandbox. Further research on capital market innovation and tokenization is due in June. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Polymarket has launched prediction markets tied to private companies, with Nasdaq Private Market (NPM) serving as the exclusive data provider for market resolutions.The partnership could create a live market signal for pricing unicorns and other private-market assets.A Pricing Layer for Private MarketsNPM will supply private-market data, while Polymarket provides the trading layer on top of it. Together, the platforms create a real-time pricing signal for private companies. Roughly 1,600 unicorns with an estimated $5 trillion in combined value still sit largely outside public markets, where pricing information is limited and updates are infrequent.We're excited to announce our exclusive partnership with Nasdaq Private Market.Retail traders can now get exposure to private companies, one of the historically most profitable asset classes, exclusively through Polymarket. pic.twitter.com/ThotQNwlzW— Polymarket (@Polymarket) May 19, 2026“Prediction markets are one of the most powerful tools we have for democratizing access to financial information,” said Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket. “Today’s launch brings that power to one of the last frontiers of financial markets that retail participants have never been able to access.” For asset managers and brokers, the structure links institutional private-market data with live trading activity on Polymarket. NPM provides the data used to resolve markets, while trading activity creates a real-time view of how participants price IPO timing, valuation changes, and company milestones. “We anchor every market with institutional-quality data, and the activity becomes a real-time signal that institutional investors can use,” said Rodolfo Sanchez, VP of Data at Nasdaq Private Market.Prediction Markets Keep Moving Toward Financial Infrastructure The partnership follows a series of similar moves across the financial industry. ICE, the parent company of the NYSE, has committed up to $2 billion to acquire a stake in Polymarket. Nasdaq and Cboe have separately filed with the SEC to list binary options tied to the Nasdaq-100. Dow Jones also signed an agreement to integrate Polymarket’s real-time odds into The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. Across these deals, the focus is increasingly on infrastructure: verified data sources, institutional partnerships, and standardized settlement. Firms entering the space appear to be interested in building systems that can operate at institutional scale. It remains unclear whether retail demand is large enough to support that model. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Tokenisation is getting a push in Asia, as Singapore-regulated DigiFT and Franklin Templeton have joined forces in a long-term strategic partnership to make the Benji Technology Platform and its related tokenisation products available to accredited and institutional investors.Bridging the Tokenisation GapAnnounced today (Wednesday), the tokenised products will be available on DigiFT’s platform, a digital asset exchange for institutional-grade real-world assets, serving as a key distributor across Asia.Read more: “Tokenisation Isn’t About Technology”The Benji Technology Platform is Franklin Templeton's blockchain-based system for managing and transferring tokenised investments, built to serve both retail investors and large institutions.“DigiFT was built with a specific conviction: that institutional investors deserve access to the world’s best on-chain financial instruments through a platform that meets the regulatory standards they require,” said Henry Zhang, Founder and Group CEO of DigiFT. “The partnership with Franklin Templeton reflects that conviction and marks the beginning of a long-term strategic collaboration to bring tokenised solutions to market.”The companies highlighted that the partnership was formed because of their shared early commitment to institutional tokenisation.Indeed, Franklin Templeton, which has USD 1.74 trillion in assets under management, launched the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to use a public blockchain to process transactions and record share ownership in 2021. It was launched on the Benji Technology Platform.DigiFT, meanwhile, has remained focused on Asian markets. It holds licences in both Singapore and Hong Kong, including Type 1 and Type 4 licences from the Securities and Futures Commission.An Aggressively Growing MarketThe partnership also comes at a time of growing interest in tokenisation globally. The tokenised real-world asset market had a breakout year in 2025, surging from roughly $5.5 billion to $18.6 billion on public blockchains. Tokenised US government securities emerged as the leading institutional category, driving much of that growth.The Benji Technology Platform supports the tokenisation of US government securities that earn yield continuously, including within a single trading day, through Franklin Templeton's patent-pending Intraday Yield mechanism. This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.

Ant International has signed Spanish tennis world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz as its global brand ambassador, the Singapore-based payments arm of China's Ant Group said today (Tuesday).The multi-year deal will put the multiple Grand Slam champion at the front of advertising for Alipay+, the company's cross-border wallet gateway, Antom, its merchant payment service, and WorldFirst, the global account product aimed at small and medium-sized exporters. A Second Sports Deal in Two Months for AntThe Alcaraz signing lands roughly two months after Ant International secured a regional sponsorship of the Argentine national football team covering Asia outside the Middle East, a deal struck through the Argentine Football Association ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Together, the two agreements give the company year-round visibility across the football and tennis calendars in markets where its consumer wallet has the lowest brand recognition compared with established Western payment networks."Carlos is not only a sporting champion, but the very personification of the core values of tennis for fans worldwide: boundless ambition, unwavering dedication, scalpel precision in delivery, and sportsmanship both on and off the court," Peng Yang, Ant International's chief executive officer, said in the announcement.Yang added the partnership would extend "towards a world where every business and every individual thrives, one game at a time, one transaction at a time."Alcaraz, who turns 23 next week, is a multiple Grand Slam winner and has spent extended stretches at the top of the ATP rankings. "What truly drew me to Ant International is their unwavering commitment to financial inclusivity," he said in the statement, adding that he was eager to back initiatives aimed at underserved communities.Fintech Crowds Onto the Tennis TourTennis has become a busy lane for financial brands looking to reach affluent consumers across multiple regions in a single calendar year. Polish broker XTB made its tennis debut at Roland Garros last year by signing 10 players, while CFD broker TMGM previously partnered with Germany's Alexander Zverev for the Australian Open. Dubai-based CFI Financial Group has run tennis activations of its own in the Gulf, and London Capital Group went deeper into the format almost a decade ago when it signed Stan Wawrinka.A FinanceMagnates.com breakdown of broker sports spending noted that football still dominates industry budgets, but newer entrants are pushing into tennis, cricket, and motorsport to chase audiences harder to reach through league deals.Pressure on Western Payment RailsThe marketing push comes as Ant International accelerates the global build-out of its non-China business. The company recently tied management performance reviews to sustainability metrics for the first time and disclosed a wider AI rollout across foreign exchange forecasting, merchant operations, and transaction risk screening. Alipay+ now supports more than 300 payment methods across 220 markets, the company has said, and India's central bank was reported earlier this year to be in talks on linking it to the country's instant payment system.WorldFirst and the firm's embedded finance unit, Bettr, support roughly 1.6 million small and medium-sized businesses and provide credit access to about 30 million micro-merchants and underserved users, according to the company's own figures. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Polymarket is facing renewed scrutiny over how it resolves disputed markets. A Wall Street Journal analysis of blockchain data found that the anonymous token holders ruling on contested bets are often the same people who placed them.The platform outsources dispute resolution to UMA, a decentralised oracle protocol governed by token holders. The WSJ found that at least 60% of active UMA voters are directly linked to Polymarket accounts. In roughly one in five disputes, at least one voter held a direct financial stake in the outcome they were arbitrating. Voting power is also concentrated: more than 50% of it sits with the 10 largest wallets in most disputes, which puts the "decentralized" label under some strain. Why the Model Exists Polymarket moved to UMA in 2022. By outsourcing dispute resolution to external token holders, Polymarket strengthened its argument that the platform operates as a decentralized offshore system outside CFTC jurisdiction.Rival Kalshi handles disputes internally, as a CFTC-registered exchange. That legal architecture is now generating its own risks. "That should be Polymarket's responsibility, not some outsourced, third-party, mysterious, anonymous token holders," said Nic Carter, founding partner of Castle Island Ventures. The Volume Problem Disputes are scaling with the platform. More than 1,150 Polymarket markets have triggered arbitration so far in 2026, already exceeding the full-year total for 2025. The contested outcomes range from technical readings of the Iran-Israel conflict to the verifiable status of a celebrity pregnancy. Each one requires human judgment on ambiguous real-world events, often by anonymous token holders who may also hold positions in the same markets.The issue drew more attention recently when UMA.rocks removed a prominent member over market manipulation allegations. The individual, known as "Scout," admitted to regularly voting on resolutions while holding positions in the same contracts, and defended the practice. "You can either have traders with a conflict of interest, or morons with no conflict of interest," he told the WSJ. "There's not really a good middle ground."Some longtime Polymarket users and crypto market participants have also criticized UMA’s governance structure, arguing that it gives large token holders incentives to influence outcomes in markets where they hold positions.Hopefully Polymarket is on precipice of replacing UMA, because the "oracle" that underpins the site is now a disinformation engine that has been taken over by rogue traders.(If you find the below post confusing, byzantine, stupid, or anything else, first of all that's probably… pic.twitter.com/Z9mtuKsW2O— Domer❤️‍? (@Domahhhh) April 30, 2026 What It Means for Institutional Adoption The dispute resolution directly affects settlement outcomes. It determines whether a contract pays out at 0 or 1. As prediction markets approach the scale where institutional capital becomes a meaningful factor, the question of who rules on outcomes and under what rules is a threshold issue for integration. Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan has described the current process as "messy" and indicated improvements are coming. But the conflict between an anonymous arbitration model and the transparency standards that institutional counterparties expect is not easily resolved by iteration. Until it is, the dispute engine remains a structural obstacle to the platform's mainstream financial ambitions. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Kalshi and Polymarket are continuing to onboard users in India despite an explicit federal ban and a direct warning from the country's technology ministry that both platforms are operating illegally. The situation reflects a pattern increasingly visible among leading prediction market platforms: push into high-growth emerging markets, take the regulatory heat, and keep running until someone actually makes you stop. The prize in India is significant. Wagers on Indian Premier League cricket matches have already reached nearly half the volume of U.S. Major League Baseball games in some weeks. A single match on May 7 drew over $27 million in trading. The Regulatory Context India's position shifted from grey to unambiguous on May 1, 2026, when the new "Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules" (PROGA) took effect, imposing a blanket ban on "online money games." Local platforms including Probo have already shut down, citing financial liability. The US-based operators are not following suit. Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated exchange, continues to accept Indian clients. Its legal counsel has stated the firm has not been told to shut down and will comply only when directly requested. Polymarket, meanwhile, continues to operate without identity verification, allowing Indian users to bypass local internet blocks through VPNs or DNS changes, Bloomberg reports. Why the Platforms Are Not Backing Down After raising significant capital last year, Kalshi announced plans to expand into 140 countries. India is a priority market for that expansion, particularly given cricket's digitally native following. The logic is clear: user demand is large, enforcement capacity is limited, and the cost of staying is lower than the cost of leaving.Brazil has already moved further in that direction. Authorities have explicitly described the platforms as gambling services disguised as financial products. However, Kalshi's Brazil launch was blocked by the government almost immediately last month. Regulators imposed a nationwide ban on non-financial prediction markets, ordering telecom providers to block platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi. India may follow a similar trajectory, but whether it does so remains to be seen.There is a clear enforcement gap as the law is clear, but the ability of national regulators to stop a CFTC-registered exchange or a permissionless crypto-native platform from accepting local capital remains constrained. What It Means for the Broader Industry The India situation highlights a growing problem for prediction market platforms operating internationally. US regulatory status does not necessarily translate into legal acceptance in other jurisdictions. The CFTC has backed Kalshi in domestic court battles but has not commented on its international operations. Both Kalshi and Polymarket rely on dollar-pegged stablecoins for settlement. India's technology ministry has flagged this explicitly as a threat to "economic integrity," making stablecoin infrastructure a liability in any future enforcement or negotiation. The "regulatory first" approach that worked in Washington does not translate automatically to other jurisdictions. The platforms spent years building legitimacy with US regulators, but in India, and Brazil that credential carries little weight. It is unclear whether regulators can effectively enforce these restrictions against international platforms. For now, the major prediction market operators continue expanding in these markets. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

This week, Interactive Brokers integrated contracts from Kalshi, CME Group, and ForecastEx into a single trading platform for retail and institutional clients. At the same time, the SEC slowed down a wave of prediction market ETFs, while the CFTC eased reporting requirements for operators. Here’s what mattered this week. Interactive Brokers Brings Prediction Markets Into Its Trading Stack On May 14, Interactive Brokers launched a prediction markets platform combining contracts from Kalshi, CME Group, and its own ForecastEx exchange. The system allows retail and institutional clients to trade contracts tied to economics, climate, and political events from a single interface, with pricing displayed across venues side by side.Kalshi x Interactive Brokers One of the largest brokers in the world. Casual, sophisticated, and institutional investors can now trade the future. All in one place. pic.twitter.com/yM2S4mksU9— Kalshi (@Kalshi) May 14, 2026 The move pushes prediction markets deeper into traditional brokerage infrastructure. Rather than operating as standalone platforms, event contracts are increasingly being integrated alongside existing trading products and execution systems.Interactive Brokers said sports and entertainment contracts are not part of the initial rollout. Kalshi Extends Its Lead as Polymarket Volume Slips Polymarket’s trading activity declined in April for the first time in eight months, while Kalshi continued to gain ground in the U.S. market.According to Dune Analytics data compiled by @datadashboards, Polymarket’s monthly notional volume fell about 9% to $10.3 billion. Over the same period, Kalshi’s volume rose 13% to $14.8 billion. Polymarket attributed the slowdown to a major infrastructure overhaul rolled out at the end of April after months of trading delays, failed transactions, and postponed product releases. The platform also introduced trading fees across most markets in late March, a change that may have contributed to lower activity. A company spokesperson told Bloomberg that the upgrade is intended to improve execution speed and reliability. “Over the coming weeks, we are shipping a series of updates that will make trading faster and smoother than ever — reducing delays and delivering the biggest speed improvement in Polymarket’s history,” the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, Kalshi’s institutional expansion has continued to accelerate following its $1 billion funding round earlier this month.CFTC Eases Reporting Requirements for Prediction Markets On May 13, the CFTC issued a no-action letter relieving prediction market operators from certain swap data reporting requirements tied to fully collateralized event contracts. Previously, companies had to seek this relief individually. The new letter creates a single framework that other operators can join. The change lowers compliance costs for prediction market platforms and gives the industry a more standardized regulatory setup while broader rulemaking is still being developed.SEC Slows Down Prediction Market ETFs The SEC delayed the launch of 24 prediction market ETFs this week, pausing products filed by Roundhill Investments, Bitwise, and GraniteShares. The funds would have given retail investors exposure to event contracts tied to elections, economic data, and other real-world outcomes through a standard ETF structure. Under SEC rules, the filings were approaching automatic approval deadlines before the agency intervened. ETF analysts said the delay was likely procedural rather than a rejection, comparing it to the early regulatory path of spot bitcoin ETFs. But the SEC’s hesitation reflects broader concerns around market manipulation, insider trading, and whether prediction market infrastructure is mature enough for mainstream investment products. The delay matters because prediction markets are already moving toward institutional finance.Quote of the WeekOn May 12, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig gave a rare interview to Axios in which he drew a direct line between prediction markets and financial derivatives — and away from sports betting. Selig is the sole current member of the typically five-member commission, appointed by Trump, and his classification of these products as financial instruments carries direct regulatory weight."They represent different frameworks. Standard sportsbooks and casinos provide entertainment and possess considerable power to exclude winners. In derivative markets, that is not permissible. If you keep winning? Fantastic. You retain your profits. What we are witnessing is a distinction between markets and entertainment." Bottom Line This week showed prediction markets moving closer to the structure of traditional financial markets. Interactive Brokers integrated event contracts into its brokerage infrastructure. The CFTC reduced reporting friction for operators. ETF issuers moved closer to bringing prediction markets into retail investment accounts, even as the SEC slowed the process down for additional review. At the same time, the debate over what these products actually are remains unresolved. Industry participants continue to frame prediction markets as financial derivatives tied to hedging and price discovery. Critics still view them as gambling products operating under a financial label. The infrastructure is moving faster than the classification debate around it. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

Revolut has apointed Michael Schroeder, formerly Chief Risk Officer and Managing Director for Europe at Coinbase, as Global Head of Crypto Expansion.Schroeder spent nearly three years at Coinbase overseeing European risk and regulatory operations. In a LinkedIn post announcing the move, he said his focus at Revolut would include “licensing, regulatory readiness, operations, and market launches”.The wording is revealing. This is not the sort of hire associated with customer acquisition or product marketing. It suggests that regulatory and licensing capabilities will be as important as product expansion.The move also reflects a broader pattern emerging across the sector. Recently, Kraken appointed Andreas Roussos, a regulatory technology specialist, to lead its Cyprus operations. While Kraken’s Cyprus unit is closely tied to MiFID-regulated activity, the underlying logic appears similar: risk, compliance and licensing expertise is at the centre of expansion strategies.Moving Back to America? Revolut already holds a strong regulatory position in Europe and the UK. In 2025, the fintech became one of the first firms to secure a MiCA licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, with Cyprus serving as the base for its European crypto operations.The fintech was officially added to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) list of registered cryptoasset firms in 2022. Yet despite aggressive international growth, there is still one major market where Revolut lacks crypto permissions: the US. In October 2023, Revolut suspended all cryptocurrency services for US customers, citing what it described as an “evolving regulatory environment” amid intensifying scrutiny of the sector by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.American users retained access to Revolut’s banking and fiat services, but could no longer buy, sell or hold digital assets through the platform.Things are changing, though.In March 2026, Revolut filed for a US national bank charter, a move widely interpreted as an attempt to deepen its American presence and reduce reliance on partner banking arrangements.If Revolut becomes a federally chartered bank, it could improve the odds of a crypto return. This article was written by Adonis Adoni at www.financemagnates.com.

Dutch neobank Bunq has applied for a banking license in Mexico, the company said, opening a third regulatory front for the digital lender after a fresh US application earlier this year and its existing European banking permit.Dutch Neobank Bunq Applies for Mexican Banking LicenseThe filing would let Bunq, which describes itself as Europe's second-largest neobank, offer full-service banking, multi-currency accounts and protected deposits in Mexico, according to the company. Bunq did not disclose a target launch date or capital commitment. Mexican banking authorizations run through the National Banking and Securities Commission, known as the CNBV, in coordination with Banco de México and the Ministry of Finance.The Mexico push comes roughly four months after Bunq refiled for a US national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in January, two years after withdrawing its first attempt.Founder and Chief Executive Ali Niknam has framed the dual push as part of an effort to serve customers who split their lives across countries."Bunq is designed for people who live, work, and travel across borders, and as a vital hub connecting the Americas, Mexico is a natural home for us," Niknam said in a statement. He added that the bank's users "need a bank that is safe, secure and easy to use, wherever they are."A Crowded Mexican Race Bunq Is Joining LateThe application places Bunq behind several digital banks already moving through Mexico's licensing pipeline. Revolut, the UK fintech valued at around $75 billion, received final operational approval from the CNBV and Banco de México on October 20, 2025, becoming the first independent digital bank to clear Mexico's full licensing process from scratch.Revolut's local entity, Revolut Bank S.A., is now opening accounts for a waiting list the company estimated at nearly 200,000 people as of May 2025, with a stated one-year target of 1.5 million customers. Juan Miguel Guerra, who runs the Mexican bank, has said the launch will lean on free international transfers, an area where Bunq's product would directly overlap.Brazil's Nubank, the largest digital bank in Latin America with around 94 million customers, is further along the same path. Its Mexican subsidiary received CNBV approval in April 2025 to convert into a multiple banking institution under the name Nubank S.A., and is now in the systems-testing phase ahead of final operational sign-off, according to a company filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.Cross-Border Money Is the PrizeMexico's appeal for foreign digital banks rests on one of the world's largest remittance corridors. Inflows reached a record $63.3 billion in 2023, the bulk of it from the United States, and the share of Mexican adults with a bank account remains below most OECD peers. Those numbers are what neobanks targeting "global citizens," as Bunq describes its users, are trying to capture.Other foreign players have entered through different doors. Webull moved into the country by acquiring Mexican investment app Flink in November 2023 and picking up local brokerage Vifaru Casa de Bolsa as part of the deal. Australia-headquartered Airwallex took the payments route, buying Mexican payment service provider MexPago in January 2025 to support cross-border transactions for businesses. Neither pursued a full deposit-taking license.Aggressive Global Pipeline, Mixed ExecutionBunq has been pushing hard outside Europe. The company secured a US broker-dealer license from FINRA in October 2025, launched flexible crypto staking through a partnership with Kraken across the EU, and reached 20 million users in September 2025, placing it second in Europe behind Revolut's 60 million.The US banking effort has not been smooth. Bunq filed with the FDIC in New York in 2023, withdrew the application in April 2024 citing regulatory issues, and returned to the OCC in January 2026 under what Niknam has described as a more favorable supervisory environment. Mexico now joins that pipeline, with no disclosed timeline on either authorization. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Investors gave eToro Group (NASDAQ: ETOR) a quick double-take yesterday (Tuesday). Pre-market shares climbed roughly 6% to $41.20 on a 35% earnings beat, then reversed once the conference call started, dropping more than 6% intraday before settling at $37.61, a 3% loss for the session. The Q1 numbers were a clean beat on the headline figures, with adjusted EPS of $0.91 against a $0.69 consensus and net contribution up 19% year-over-year to $258 million. Assets under management declined quarter over quarter, while average trade sizes shrank by nearly 50% year over year.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The Q1 figures FinanceMagnates.com reported yesterday showed net income up 37% on a near-fourfold surge in commodities trading. CEO Yoni Assia opened the analyst call by calling it the "fourth consecutive strong quarter since becoming a public listing." Technically, the stock still sits near the local highs it has drawn for about a month, levels last seen in December 2025. But the price action puts the shares more than 40% below the $67 first-day close eToro registered on its May 2025 Nasdaq debut, and roughly 28% below the $52 IPO offer price.The eToro’s AUA Number Investors Won't HeadlineeToro's earnings deck leads with "AUA grew 15% YoY to $17 billion." Three quarters back, the same chart tells a different story.Source: eToro shareholder update, May 12, 2026.That is $3.8 billion in client assets that have walked off the platform or depreciated since the September peak, a sequential erosion of 18% over two quarters. April rebounded to $18.7 billion in the monthly KPI release, but eToro is still trading well below the Q3 high. The press release frames the story through the year-over-year lens, which works because Q1 2025 was a weak comparable.The drag is concentrated in one place. Crypto assets held on the platform fell from $7.8 billion at the end of Q3 2025 to $4.1 billion at the end of March, a 47% decline in two quarters.Equity AUA has climbed in the same window, from $6.5 billion to $9.3 billion, but the offset has not been enough to keep the total rising. Assia framed the crypto decline as opportunity rather than risk, telling analysts that "crypto downtimes are the time to build." The framing tracks with eToro's February pivot story, but the underlying asset retention question keeps surfacing.Margin Math the Call SurfacedCFO Meron Shani told analysts the company will scale selling and marketing spend from 22% of net contribution in Q1 to 25% by year-end 2026, repeating the commitment first made on the Q4 2025 call in February. At Q1 net contribution of $258 million, every percentage point added is roughly $2.6 million in incremental quarterly marketing. Shani also confirmed adjusted operating expenses rose 7% sequentially, with a $12 million step-up in customer acquisition costs the main driver.Asked about Q2 trends, Shani said the company expects revenue per trade to be "just slightly above the range" of 60 to 75 cents the company normally guides to, a step down from the elevated Q1 print that commodities trading powered. Net trading contribution from crypto was $13 million in Q1, with Shani specifying that the figure includes a $5 million negative valuation impact on eToro's own corporate crypto holdings. Strip that out and the underlying user-driven crypto trading business contributed $18 million, less than half the level reported a year ago.Average Trade Size CollapsedThe Q1 invested amount per capital markets trade was $197, down from $304 in Q4 2025 and from $262 a year earlier. April held flat at $197 against $379 in April 2025, a 48% year-over-year drop. eToro attributes the trend to a higher mix of copy and automated trading, but the figure is also consistent with retail clients trading leveraged commodity CFDs rather than larger directional cash positions. The balance sheet hints at the same shift. Counterparty balances, which represent collateral posted with trading counterparties on the hedging side of the book, rose 39% in the quarter to $347 million from $249 million at the end of December.For comparison, XTB delivered an 88% revenue jump on 370,000 new clients in a single quarter, while Plus500 lifted its full-year 2026 outlook on $242 million in Q1 revenue. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Revolut is expanding its presence in Israel with a new hiring push, as the fintech giant continues efforts to secure a lean bank license in the country. The move follows its earlier approval to offer payment services and signals a broader plan to enter the local banking market.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Hiring Supports Expansion PlansRevolut is now recruiting a Strategy and Operations Manager to remotely support its growth in Israel. According to LinkedIn job post, the role focuses on building scalable processes, managing infrastructure projects, and improving operational efficiency.The hire will also work on setting project priorities, developing new product features, and managing relationships with external vendors. Revolut expects the role to support decision-making across teams and help execute key initiatives tied to its expansion.Revolut’s hiring comes as it engages with Israeli regulators to obtain a lean bank license. The license is a limited banking framework that allows non-bank entities to accept customer deposits and provide credit services. Focus on Lean Banking ModelThe company currently operates as a full bank in Lithuania, where it holds a European Economic Area banking license supervised by the European Central Bank, and in Mexico, where it has a Multiple Banking Institution license. It also operates as a fully licensed bank in its home turf in the UK, after regulators lifted restrictions on its UK banking licence last month. Additionally, it submitted banking applications in Peru earlier this year.The structure of a baking license Revolut is seeking sits between a basic payment license and a full banking license. It gives fintech firms the ability to offer interest-bearing deposits and lending products while operating under lighter regulatory requirements than traditional banks.Related: Revolut Can Now Hold Britons’ Cash and Lend It, After Securing a Full UK Bank LicenseIsrael has opened its financial sector to more competition in recent years. Regulators granted payment licenses to several fintech firms, including Revolut, Rapyd, Mesh, and Airwallex, aiming to lower costs and increase consumer choice, according to Calcalistech. Revolut now appears to be building the local infrastructure needed to support a wider product offering. No incentive to Switch LendersHowever, some experts maintain that Israel’s banking sector remains structurally uncompetitive. ONE ZERO CEO Eyal Gafni told media outlet Globes that customers in the region rarely switch because incumbent banks offer near-identical products and “crumb-level” deposit rates unless clients bargain."Until recently, there was no reason to switch or open another account. Everything is the same, the banks are pretty similar, and they just have a different color. The gap (between the interest rates on deposits) that the banks give is crumbs, very embarrassing, unless you call to bargain," Gafni commented for the publication as translated to English. He pointed to Bank of Israel data showing Israelis hold on average just 1.1 bank accounts, noting that financially literate, higher-earning customers tend to maintain multiple relationships to gain bargaining power.He framed ONE ZERO as a proof-of-concept for foreign neobanks, adding that international players like Revolut are unlikely to enter Israel until a local digital bank demonstrates it can meaningfully change the market, a milestone he believes is now within reach. This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.