A U.S. Army soldier faces federal charges for allegedly using classified intelligence to trade on Polymarket, marking the first insider trading case tied to a prediction market. The indictment in the Southern District of New York names Gannon Ken Van Dyke. Prosecutors say Van Dyke accessed classified details about "Operation Absolute Resolve," the campaign to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and used it to bet on Polymarket. He wagered about $33,000 on 13 contracts tied to U.S. involvement in Venezuela or Maduro losing power by January 31, 2026. After the operation ended on January 3, he reportedly earned around $409,881. "Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "The defendant allegedly violated the trust placed in him... That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law."U.S. Soldier Charged With Using Classified Information To Profit From Prediction Market BetsGannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly made more than $400,000 trading on polymarket on the basis of classified information regarding the timing of a U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás… pic.twitter.com/528YaGQr8N— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) April 23, 2026The indictment describes a cover-up. After the media reported suspicious trading, Van Dyke tried to delete his Polymarket account and changed the email addresses for his crypto exchange accounts. "Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply," said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. What this means for the industry This case immediately impacts prediction market operators and their brokers. By charging Van Dyke under the Commodity Exchange Act, the DOJ is reinforcing CFTC jurisdiction and treating prediction market contracts as financial derivatives — not recreational wagers. That's a legal distinction platforms have been addressing carefully, and the government has now made its position explicit. The ruling also strengthens the position of regulated operators like Kalshi, which has long argued it operates under the same insider trading framework as traditional exchanges.Less-regulated platforms now face pressure to demonstrate comparable compliance infrastructure. Surveillance and monitoring are urgent concerns. All platforms and brokers must show they can detect and flag suspicious activity. The DOJ credited Polymarket's cooperation, signaling that regulators expect platforms to act as enforcement partners, not just infrastructure. Whether insider trading rules apply to prediction markets was theoretical until now. The Van Dyke case ends that debate and raises a practical issue: how enforcement will work in an industry without uniform compliance standards. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

In today's hyper-connected digital economy, a robust and intelligent payment gateway is no longer a mere operational necessity; it's a strategic asset for global e-commerce success. Businesses that treat payment processing as a commodity risk falling behind, while those that embrace a fast, versatile, and customer-centric payment strategy unlock significant competitive advantages.The critical question for modern merchants has evolved from "What are the transaction fees?" to "Is our payment strategy optimized for global reach, diverse customer preferences, and sustainable growth in a mobile-first world?”The Global APM Landscape: Driving E-commerce Growth with Alternative Payment MethodsFor any business aiming for international e-commerce expansion, a sole reliance on traditional credit cards is an outdated approach. The future of online payments is increasingly dominated by Alternative Payment Methods (APMs). These encompass a wide array of digital wallets, real-time bank transfers, and localized payment schemes that are rapidly becoming the preferred transaction methods for millions of consumers worldwide. Integrating these global APMs is crucial for reducing cart abandonment and boosting conversion rates in diverse markets.The APM landscape is inherently diverse and deeply localized. What resonates with consumers in Brazil may not be the preferred method in Vietnam. Successful global payment strategies demand a nuanced understanding of regional payment preferences:Southeast Asia's Digital Wallet Dominance: This region is a hotbed of mobile-first innovation. In the Philippines, e-wallets such as GCash and PayMaya are pivotal for digital transactions, from bill payments to QR code purchases. Malaysia and Singapore extensively utilize super-apps like GrabPay. Vietnam boasts a thriving e-wallet market led by MoMo and ZaloPay. Indonesia features a rich mix of digital wallets (GoPay, OVO, DANA), alongside prevalent bank transfers and cash-based convenience store payments. Thailand has widely adopted QR code payments and bank transfers as primary e-commerce payment methods.Emerging Markets: Real-time Payments and Mobile Wallets: The trend towards localized APMs extends globally. Pakistan is experiencing a significant digital payment surge, with Raast facilitating real-time bank transfers and a growing adoption of mobile wallets. In Brazil, the instant payment system PIX has revolutionized commerce, establishing itself as the country's most popular payment method. Similarly, in South Africa, while traditional card payments remain strong, the rapid growth of digital wallets and instant bank transfers signifies a clear shift in consumer payment behavior.This intricate global tapestry of APMs underscores the need for a strategic payment partner. It's not enough to simply list available alternative payment methods. A truly effective partner provides the intelligence to dynamically present the optimal payment mix to the right customer at the precise moment, thereby maximizing conversion and enhancing the overall customer experience.Overcoming Fragmentation: The Cost of Disconnected Payment SolutionsMany businesses inadvertently create inefficient and costly payment infrastructures by piecing together disparate providers for different regions and payment types. This fragmented approach leads to substantial hidden costs:Operational Inefficiencies: Finance teams face reconciliation challenges across multiple dashboards. IT departments struggle with numerous API integrations. Customer service representatives must navigate various platforms, leading to delays and increased operational overhead.Limited Data Insights: Siloed payment data prevents a unified view of customer behavior, making it difficult to identify trends, pinpoint friction points, and make data-driven strategic decisions for e-commerce optimization.Elevated Security Risks: Each additional payment provider introduces new vulnerabilities and potential attack surfaces. A disconnected system lacks the holistic intelligence required for real-time detection of sophisticated fraud patterns, impacting payment security.Payment Asia: Your Partner for an Intelligent, Unified Payment EcosystemTo thrive in the competitive global e-commerce landscape, businesses must adopt a holistic, ecosystem-based approach to payments. This necessitates a partner that offers more than just a payment gateway; it requires a platform built on speed, intelligence, and a profound understanding of the global payment landscape.Payment Asia stands at the forefront of this evolution, delivering a unified, AI-powered payment ecosystem tailored for the complexities of modern global commerce. With extensive, localized APM coverage across key growth markets—including the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Brazil, and South Africa—Payment Asia empowers businesses to seamlessly connect with customers using their preferred and trusted payment methods.Beyond comprehensive coverage, Payment Asia provides the intelligence to optimize every transaction, the resilience to ensure maximum uptime and payment security, and unified data insights to fuel strategic growth. When evaluating your payment strategy, look beyond mere processing. Choose a partner like Payment Asia that can help you build a fast, versatile, and customer-centric payment ecosystem—your ultimate competitive advantage in the digital economy. This article was written by FM Contributors at www.financemagnates.com.

CFD broker ACCM reported a total trading volume of about $2.14 trillion for Q1 2026, Finance Magnates has learned. The company said the period from January to March marked a strong increase in activity across its markets.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).Tien Ching, CEO of ACCM, said: “We had a fantastic first quarter in 2026, with total trading volume from January through March reaching a new all-time high.”March accounted for $1.2 trillion of the quarterly total. Within that, gold dominated trading at $1.09 trillion. Oil trading volume stood at $5.28 billion in March. The company said oil volumes increased 325.8% compared with February, reaching record levels despite their smaller overall share.For the full quarter, ACCM reported average monthly volumes of 712.86 billion units and 288,000 active traders.Metals Dominate Quarterly Trading ActivityTrading was heavily concentrated in spot metals, which accounted for 91.50% of FX/CFD turnover. FX represented 7.00%, while other instruments made up 1.50%.Platform data showed that 30.76% of total volumes were executed on MT4.Device usage was led by desktop trading at 53.67%, followed by mobile at 32.70%, while Expert Advisors accounted for 13.63%, indicating a measurable but not dominant share of automated trading activity.CEO Links Volatility to Record VolumesChing also added that market conditions played a key role. “The elevated volatility encouraged clients to actively participate in the markets.”Finance Magnates Intelligence reporting shows that FX and CFD activity typically rises during periods of elevated volatility, with metals often accounting for a larger share of turnover. Broker disclosures also commonly include platform, execution, and client activity breakdowns as standard performance metrics.Alongside its expansion strategy, ACCM has opened two local support hubs in Vietnam’s major cities. The hubs are intended to support local introducing brokers and partners. The company said Vietnam currently generates the highest traffic to its website. This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.

Retail investors have returned to speculative trading in April, driven by a broader rally in risk assets and a regulatory change that removes a key barrier to active trading. According to CNBC, he shift has already triggered sharp price movements in several stocks, highlighting renewed volatility across meme trades.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)SEC Rule Change Opens AccessThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a proposal by FINRA to eliminate the pattern day trader rule. The rule previously required traders to maintain at least $25,000 in their accounts if they executed four or more day trades within five business days.The new framework replaces that threshold with an intraday margin system, allowing traders with smaller accounts to participate more actively. FINRA said the rule had become outdated since its introduction after the dot-com crash.Continue reading: SEC Approves Plan to Remove $25K Day Trading Limit: How Will the New Risk-Taking Approach Impact Traders?Adam Cohn, Head of Trading Operations at TradeStation, told the publication that the update lowers barriers while maintaining safeguards. “This change opens the door for more investors with smaller accounts to trade more actively, while still keeping protections in place through modern margin and risk controls,” he said.Analysts at JPMorgan noted that the regulatory shift could drive further growth in retail trading volumes in the coming months.Sharp Moves Highlight RisksRetail traders have already moved into highly volatile stocks. Allbirds shares jumped from about $2.6 to $25 after the company announced plans to pivot toward artificial intelligence infrastructure under a new brand. The stock later dropped to around $8, reversing much of the gain.Avis Budget Group also recorded extreme price action. The stock rose from below $100 to nearly $860 before falling sharply within the same session.The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a plan to eliminate the Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule, which currently requires traders to maintain a minimum account balance of $25,000 to engage in frequent day trading. The rule, introduced by FINRA in 2001 after the dot-com crash, was designed to limit risk exposure for retail investors by restricting those with smaller accounts to no more than four day trades within five business days. Its removal marks a significant shift aimed at broadening access to day trading, particularly for smaller retail participants. In place of the PDT rule, regulators are introducing a new intraday margin framework that assesses risk in real time rather than by trade frequency. Under this system, traders will need to maintain sufficient equity based on their actual market exposure, shifting the focus from “how often you trade” to “how much risk you take.” This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.

A major Russian brokerage group has expanded its retail trading offering by integrating contract-for-difference (CFD) trading directly into its primary investment platform, allowing clients to access global markets without switching applications.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)BCS Company LLC, part of the BrokerCreditService financial group, has launched CFD trading within its “BCS World of Investments” app. The feature is currently available on Android devices, with iOS support expected at a later stage.In-App CFD AccessThe update eliminates the need for qualified investor status, enabling broader access to CFDs. Clients can trade instruments linked to international markets without opening a separate account or using another app.According to the firm, “BCS clients no longer need a separate app to work with CFDs, they can trade directly on the BCS World of Investments digital platform.”You may also like: Russia Postpones Telegram and YouTube Ad Ban, Easing Pressure on Online MarketingThe move signals that regulated Russian brokers continue to shift more complex products like CFDs into mainstream retail channels, which may increase competition with offshore providers and concentrate more trading activity on domestic infrastructure.Besides that, the broker also allows users to open accounts in multiple currencies, including rubles, US dollars, euros, yuan, and UAE dirhams.Product Range and Trading ConditionsThe offering includes more than 100 CFDs on shares of major international companies, as well as instruments linked to the S&P 500 index and popular exchange-traded funds. Traders can take positions based on both upward and downward price movements.BCS stated that “this instrument offers extensive opportunities for portfolio diversification,” highlighting its use across different market strategies. The company has set leverage at up to 1:2, with trading conducted via the MetaTrader 5 platform. The minimum trade size is one share, and no minimum deposit is required.Russia’s retail forex market is setting new volume records in 2026, but the growth story is dominated by a single player rather than a broad competitive field.Record FX Boom, but One Broker DominatesRussia's regulated forex market posted a record quarterly trading volume of $68.6 billion in Q1 2026, but more than 90 percent of that flow came from clients of a single licensed dealer, Alfa-Forex, leaving the rest of the market split between two much smaller competitors and a long tail of largely inactive accounts.Meanwhile, SPB Exchange is preparing to launch a new class of perpetual derivatives called “Neo-Assets,” designed to mirror how Russian retail traders use offshore CFDs and perpetual swaps while keeping all trading and settlement onshore. The contracts are perpetual and cash-settled in rubles, support margin trading, and charge no intraday fees, with costs applying only to overnight positions. At launch, the lineup will cover U.S. equities such as Tesla and Amazon, as well as crypto-linked indices based on Bitcoin and Ethereum, with the latter restricted to qualified investors. This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) carried out its first coordinated raids against illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading, working with HMRC and a regional organised crime unit. Authorities issued on-site cease-and-desist letters at each location. The FCA confirmed that the evidence gathered is now supporting multiple ongoing criminal investigations.A Market Outside the Regulatory PerimeterThe FCA stated that there are currently no registered peer-to-peer crypto traders or platforms operating in the UK, which means every P2P operation in the country is, by definition, illegal.It was an operation against an entire business model that sits outside the regulatory perimeter rather than a crackdown on outliers within a regulated sector. "Unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating in the UK are doing so illegally and pose a financial crime risk," said Steve Smart, the FCA's executive director of enforcement and market oversight. "We will use our powers and work with partners to disrupt them."An Enforcement Model, Not a One-Off Raid The presence of an organised crime unit and HMRC signals what the FCA considers the core risk: money laundering. The UK government's National Risk Assessment has flagged crypto assets as an increasingly common channel for moving illicit funds, and law enforcement framed the operation accordingly. "By working with our colleagues at the FCA and HMRC we are able to effectively target and disrupt unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders," said DI Ross Flay of the SWROCU. "As law enforcement, we want to stop these traders providing a route for criminals to move, disguise, and spend illegal money." This is not the FCA's first direct action in the space. The agency has previously prosecuted the operator of an illegal crypto ATM network and supported arrests in an unauthorized exchange case. But the multi-agency raid format is new, and suggests the enforcement model is shifting from reactive prosecution toward active, coordinated disruption.For any firm facilitating crypto activity in the UK, the message is straightforward: FCA registration is a necessary prerequisite to operate legally under the current regulatory framework. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

IC, formerly known as IC Markets, has announced a partnership with Mexican footballer Guillermo Ochoa as part of its expansion strategy in Latin America.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).The move follows a series of recent sports sponsorships. Earlier this year, the firm signed a deal with Australian tennis player Alexei Popyrin ahead of the 2026 season. Before that, the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team named the firm as its official forex trading partner in a multi-year agreement announced before the season finale at the Yas Marina Circuit, with branding placed on several parts of the car.IC Targets Mexico with Ochoa PartnershipThe company said the latest agreement focuses on Mexico, which it identified as one of its fastest-growing markets. The partnership grants IC exclusive rights to use Ochoa’s name, image, and likeness in global marketing campaigns.Ochoa, who currently plays for AEL Limassol, remains a well-known figure in Mexican football. He has had a long international career and continues to have broad recognition across Latin America.Rollout Focused on Engagement and AcquisitionIC said the collaboration will combine its trading platform with Ochoa’s profile to support regional growth and expand its client base. Andrew Budzinski, Founder of IC, described the move as “a strategic move, not a branding exercise.” He said Ochoa represents “performance under pressure, consistency at the highest level, and absolute trust,” adding that the partnership would help the company “connect deeper, and convert stronger” in markets such as Mexico.The company said it will promote the partnership through broadcast, digital, and social media channels, including live match exposure and localized content across Latin America. It expects the campaign to improve engagement and client acquisition. This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.

More than a Drop in the OceanWhile regulators in the US grapple with the question of who has jurisdiction over prediction markets, current and prospective users would do well to consider what they are up against when placing their bets.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The Wall Street Journal reports that White House staff received an email in late March warning them not to use any information they came across in the course of their work to gamble on the timing of specific events.The Trump administration reacted in typical fashion to the report, with spokesman Davis Ingle telling the BBC that ‘any implication that administration officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting’.He went on to point out that all federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines that prohibit the use of insider information for financial gain, adding that ‘the only special interest that will ever guide President Trump is the best interest of the American people’.Perhaps the most egregious example of potential insider trading to emerge on prediction markets to date is the sizeable pricing bets placed by oil traders just minutes before Trump revealed that he was postponing strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure.There will be some who point to prediction markets as just the latest example of mankind’s obsession with betting that can be traced back to 2300 BC, noting that even children will ‘wager’ on which of two raindrops runs down a window the fastest.But markets rely on at least the illusion of fairness - which is why the first recorded ban on insider trading was introduced in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to outlaw manipulative and deceptive devices following the 1929 stock market crash.Give Us a BreakEarlier this month, we looked at the results of a Crisil Coalition Greenwich survey of buy-side equity traders, which found that one in five saw the quest for work-life balance as their biggest source of fatigue and burnout.Jesse Forster, senior analyst in market structure & technology at Crisil Coalition Greenwich and the author of the study, observed that traders see volatility, long hours and performance pressure as part of the job.However, the findings of the firm’s latest offering in this space - which analyses traders’ attitudes to round-the-clock trading - suggest that even the most stress-free institutional traders are balking at the prospect of moving stocks at any time of the day.Only 14% of the buy-side equity traders surveyed said they were enthusiastic about 24/7 trading, with 60% stating that they had absolutely no interest in round-the-clock trading.“Retail traders are excited, particularly around market-moving headlines that come outside of traditional trading hours,” says Forster. “Institutions largely view it through the lens of execution quality, operational risk and market impact, and they are concerned about the possible negative impact it could have on their physical and mental health.”These individuals saw round-the-clock trading as introducing unnecessary risk for little reward, especially if it siphons liquidity and attention from the core session. Even among supporters, expectations are more evolutionary than revolutionary. They see the ability to trade around the clock as being useful for specific situations, rather than a wholesale transformation of trading workflows.Nearly two-thirds were concerned about poor market quality during overnight hours, expecting these sessions to mirror today’s extended sessions, characterised by sporadic volume, inconsistent participation, wider spreads and less price discovery. A similar percentage were concerned that liquidity would worsen during core hours, adding time-based fragmentation to their list of worries.Liquidity tends to concentrate around auctions and key events, and extending trading spreads participation more thinly.Some noted they don’t want to be trading during the most illiquid, costly time of the day - currently the overnight session. Others point to the existing pre- and post-market sessions as a live experiment, describing them as ‘sporadic at best’ and ‘unreliable’ in terms of volume and participation.“Most traders support focusing on improving outcomes during core hours, such as increasing crossing opportunities, rather than spreading the same liquidity across more time,” says Forster.Strategy or Insanity?The phrase ‘social media spat’ would make most sensible people run for the hills. But a recent exchange on Michael Saylor’s latest Bitcoin purchase highlighted the divide between those who see the cryptocurrency as the ultimate inflation hedge and others who argue that this strategy only works under very specific structural conditions.Strategy Inc (formerly known as MicroStrategy) has doubled down on its strategy of buying Bitcoin despite the fall in its value since last October and is now the largest single corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.On Monday, Saylor posted on X that Strategy had acquired 34,164 BTC for approximately $2.54 billion at $74,395 per Bitcoin, bringing its overall holding to 815,061 BTC acquired for approximately $61.56 billion at $75,527 per coin. In other words, the company’s holding is worth pretty much exactly what it has paid for it at current prices.JUST IN: Coffeezilla publishes video taking on Bitcoin believer Michael Saylor & Strategy's $STRC.Coffee says Saylor's STRC preferred-stock pitch is too simple & the risks are not properly explained."It's been compared to the iPhone. It's been compared to a Ponzi scheme."… pic.twitter.com/H9Tx32VbuR— Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDaily) April 15, 2026A salesman at a Bitcoin mining company suggested on LinkedIn that whether you agree with the approach or not, the absence of emotional interference in the execution of the strategy is worth studying, and that the investors he has watched make the most durable wealth in Bitcoin didn’t buy based on price targets but instead built a framework, sized to their conviction level, and executed through the periods that tested that conviction.However, one professional financial analyst took exception to the use of the phrase ‘unrealised loss’ to explain the difference between the current value of Strategy’s Bitcoin holding and what it cost to acquire, suggesting that none of the above was relevant to any other class of investor.Separately, he posted that the Strategy model runs on fair value accounting, a corporate tax exclusion that lets you hold indefinitely without a cash tax liability, zero-coupon unsecured institutional debt with no margin calls, and an institutional market premium that creates a self-financing engine – none of which exist in the UK. This article was written by Paul Golden at www.financemagnates.com.

Moomoo launched a tool today (Thursday) that lets retail customers connect their own artificial intelligence agents directly to its trading platform, the Futu subsidiary said, formalizing its entry into a corner of retail brokering that eToro and Robinhood have been reshaping over the past several months.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The tool, called moomoo API Skills, converts plain-English trading intent into executable orders across U.S., Canadian, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japanese markets. Moomoo said the product is aimed at removing the coding requirement that has historically limited algorithmic trading to a smaller group of technically proficient users. Natural Language Goes from Prompt to TradeAt the core of the product is what Moomoo calls intent-driven development, a pipeline designed to interpret English-language instructions and convert them into structured trading logic. The company said the system monitors volatility around the clock and supports backtesting against historical data before any live deployment."We are seeing a fundamental shift where investors are moving from simply accessing information," Neil McDonald, CEO of moomoo U.S., said in the statement.The announcement lands about a month after eToro began letting users delegate trades to their own AI agents via sub-accounts with defined budgets and risk limits. The parallels between the two rollouts are close enough that they look like a single industry direction rather than a standalone experiment.eToro, Robinhood and Webull Set the TempoThe retail brokerage sector has been stacking AI features at a rapid pace since late 2025. eToro's developer App Store, rolled out on April 14, 2026, offers agent skills, a Model Context Protocol server and no-code publishing tools through a builders portal, putting the Nasdaq-listed broker ahead of Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab and Fidelity in packaging agent-facing tooling for end clients.Robinhood's Cortex assistant, unveiled in September 2025, introduced voice-activated order placement and AI-generated stock movement summaries. Webull followed in November with Vega, an assistant that reviews user portfolios against stated goals and accepts plain-English order instructions. Interactive Brokers has rolled out AI research coverage for the entire S&P 1500, free of charge for clients.OpenD Architecture Keeps Credentials Out of Third-Party HandsSecurity framing takes up a large share of the Moomoo announcement. The company said its proprietary OpenD technology keeps trading credentials and account data inside the user's local environment rather than routing them through third-party AI servers, a setup it describes as data sovereignty. ThA FinanceMagnates.com panel at FMLS:25 flagged explainability and regulatory readiness as the hardest open problems for agent-driven retail trading, questions the Moomoo announcement did not directly address. The company warned in its own release that "losses can happen more quickly with quant and algorithmic trading compared to other forms of trading.""We are reducing the technical barriers that once stood between an idea and its execution," Michael Arbus, CEO of moomoo Canada, said.Futu's Record Year Sets the Stage for the AI PushMoomoo's agentic push comes off a strong 2025 for its Hong Kong-based parent. Futu Holdings reported net income of HK$11.3 billion and revenue of HK$22.8 billion for the full year, with total trading volume jumping 89.4% and funded accounts reaching 3.37 million. Total users across the platform, which spans Moomoo and Futubull, hit 29.2 million by year-end.The commercial case for agent tooling is also visible in the industry's cost structures. Both eToro and FXCM have cited agentic AI adoption in their recent layoff announcements, pointing to automation as a lever for shrinking headcount while keeping customer workflows running. The company launched a crypto service in the U.S. last year through a Coinbase partnership, extending the platform beyond its traditional equities focus. The firm did not disclose pricing, beta user counts, or the specific third-party AI frameworks the tool integrates with at launch. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

B2C2 has integrated with TP ICAP’s FCA-registered cryptoasset venue, Fusion Digital Assets, as a liquidity provider under a newly introduced Matched Principal model.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).TP ICAP has been expanding its Fusion platform to build electronic trading infrastructure across asset classes, including structured products markets. It also operates a matched principal model that processed over $200 trillion in notional volumes in 2025, which underpins its move into institutional crypto trading via Fusion Digital Assets.B2C2 Supports Bitcoin Ethereum OrdersThe latest agreement allows B2C2 to provide liquidity and trading capabilities directly to the platform. The companies said the setup is designed to improve execution quality and risk transfer for institutional participants in cryptoasset markets.Thomas Restout, Group CEO of B2C2, described the move as “a significant step in the evolution of institutional digital asset markets.” He added that integrating liquidity into the Matched Principal model is “reducing the need for pre-funding” and delivering “the capital efficiency that wholesale participants expect.”Under the arrangement, B2C2 will initially support Bitcoin and Ethereum order books. It is expected to expand coverage as the venue scales its product offering.Fusion Digital Assets Adds B2C2 LiquidityThe development follows Fusion Digital Assets’ shift to a Matched Principal structure, where TP ICAP acts as counterparty to both sides of each trade. The model is already used across TP ICAP’s traditional markets and is designed to improve capital efficiency by reducing the need to pre-fund trades while also limiting counterparty risk through the firm’s credit profile.Simon Forster, Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Fusion Digital Assets, said B2C2’s participation strengthens the platform’s liquidity offering. He added that both firms aim to build “deep, liquid on-chain markets” that could extend into traditional asset classes over time. This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.

What Changed in Q1 2026 Across FX and CFDs?Finance Magnates has released its Q1 2026 Intelligence Report, giving a data-based view of the main shifts shaping the FX and CFD industry this quarter.But what are the real changes behind the numbers? And what do they mean for brokers, fintech firms, and service providers?The report looks at market performance, competitive shifts, and new trading trends, all available through the FM Intelligence Portal.?Access the full Q1/2026 report now to find out Are Broker Volumes Still Growing or Becoming Concentrated?Several brokers are now reporting over $1 trillion in monthly volumes.But is this growth spread across the market? Or is it moving towards a smaller group of large players?The Q1 data shows strong activity, but also points to increasing concentration, raising questions about competition and market balance.Why Has a New Market Leader Emerged?One broker has now passed the $2 trillion monthly volume mark.What changed this quarter to drive this result? Was it product focus, regional demand, or client activity?And does this mark a short-term spike or a longer shift in market leadership?Why Are Public CFD Brokers Under Pressure?Trading activity remains strong, yet publicly listed CFD brokers are facing pressure in their valuations.Why is there a gap between performance and market value? Are investors becoming more cautious about the sector?The report looks at how public markets are reacting and what this could mean going forward.Are Prediction Markets Becoming a Real Factor?Event-based trading continues to grow.But is this just a trend, or is it starting to take share from traditional CFD products?The Q1 report explores how prediction markets are evolving and how they fit into the wider trading space.Where Is Trading Activity Moving?Are the same regions still driving growth? Or are new markets starting to take the lead?Understanding where volume is shifting is key for firms planning expansion and resource allocation.Are You Benchmarking Your Position Correctly?Do you know where your business stands compared to competitors?Are you growing faster than the market, or simply following it?The report provides a clear view of rankings, performance, and market positioning to support these decisions.What Data Are You Using to Make Decisions?Are your decisions based only on internal data? Or do you have a full view of the market?The Q1 2026 Intelligence Report is built to support firms with:Broker volume analysis and rankingsMarket leadership trackingCFD sector performance insightsRegional and product trendsNew trading model developmentsThis data is part of the wider FM Intelligence ecosystem, where firms access verified market data, compliance updates, and research in one place.How Can You Access the Report?The Q1 2026 Intelligence Report is available through the Finance Magnates Intelligence Portal.By signing up, users can:Access selected data and insights for freePurchase the full Q1 2026 reportFollow ongoing market and regulatory updatesPremium access is available for firms that need full datasets and deeper research.Are you reacting to market changes… or planning ahead with clear data?? Access the full Q1 2026 Intelligence Report through the Finance Magnates Intelligence Portal. This article was written by Finance Magnates Staff at www.financemagnates.com.

Monetary Authority of Singapore has granted in-principle approval to Robinhood to offer brokerage services in Singapore. The move marks a step in Robinhood’s international expansion and its focus on the Asia-Pacific region.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!).Singapore operates a phased licensing framework for brokers, moving from in-principle approval to full authorisation once conditions are met. Other firms are following the same route. Capital.com, for example, has been seeking a risk manager in Singapore as part of its MAS licence application. The structure reflects a regulatory-first environment, where broker expansion is shaped by compliance milestones rather than acquisition-led growth.MAS Maintains Conditional Approval Robinhood said the approval allows it to move toward offering brokerage services through its local entity, Robinhood Singapore Pte. Ltd. However, the IPA is not a licence at this stage. MAS said a licence will only be issued if conditions are met and there are no material adverse developments, and it retains the right to withdraw approval.An IPA reflects MAS’ preliminary view that a licence may be granted in future, subject to compliance with requirements. RHSG must still meet those conditions before operations can begin.The company said Singapore will serve as its Asia-Pacific headquarters. The firm also highlighted its regional structure, including its subsidiary Bitstamp Asia Pte. Ltd., which holds a Major Payment Institution licence from MAS.Robinhood Prepares Singapore Brokerage OfferingThe IPA would allow Robinhood to offer a range of services in Singapore, including trading in securities, exchange-traded derivatives, custody services, product financing, and collective investment funds.Patrick Chan, Head of Asia at Robinhood, said: “Singapore’s world-class regulatory environment, high rates of digital adoption, and growing population of retail investors make it the ideal hub for our mission.” He added: “We see enormous potential to democratize the financial markets for a new generation of investors in Singapore.” This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.

Just2Trade has become the latest Cyprus-based CFD broker to cross the MiCA threshold. Its crypto arm, J2TX, was registered with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) on March 16, joining a small but growing club of fully authorised players.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The timing is no accident. ESMA has set July 1, 2026, as the cutoff point for the grandfathering period, where firms like J2TX, which operated under previous national frameworks, had to complete the transition to MiCA. The transition has proved exacting, particularly in Cyprus. In an earlier interview, George Theocharides, Chairman of CySEC, noted that early licensees such as Revolut and eToro underwent “extensive scrutiny”. Approval, he stressed, would not be rushed: applicants were frequently required to make substantial changes before securing a licence.Capacity may be part of the story. The small Mediterranean island has been punching above its weight as a CFD and FX hub, so CySEC has had to stretch its resources across a growing supervisory load, which now includes MiCA oversight. Indeed, in January, Theocharides said the watchdog was looking to add around 30 staff in 2026. The numbers are telling. ESMA lists ten MiCA licences for Cyprus, placing the island sixth in the EU. Germany tops the table with 55, though the comparison is flattering: its regulator, BaFin, curtailed the transition period to December 2025, and many of those licences are held by banks focused on custody and administration rather than trading.Converging Markets, Diverging Players?The line between derivatives and crypto has been blurring for some time, opening up a potent new growth vector.Brokers, once confined to CFDs, are building crypto exchanges or plugging them in. Crypto exchanges, for their part, are heading the other way, snapping up MiFID licences. But convergence has not meant convergence in pace. Even as many brokers are still finding their footing in crypto, others are already looking beyond it. Robinhood was among the first to spot the next seam, embedding prediction markets – event-driven contracts – into its core app in 2025.Robinhood Prediction Markets just crossed 4 billion event contracts traded all-time, with over 2 billion in Q3 alone. And we’re just getting started. pic.twitter.com/13LxjqWaNt— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) September 29, 2025Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev hailed it as the fastest-growing business line in the firm’s history, with the product line tracking toward more than a US$300 million run rate within its first year.So, is moving into crypto, with all the tooling and strategic overhaul it entails, already yesterday’s problem? This article was written by Adonis Adoni at www.financemagnates.com.

Interactive Brokers Singapore has joined Singapore Exchange as a trading and clearing member of its derivatives market, the latest step by the Nasdaq-listed brokerage to widen its direct access to Asia-Pacific venues and route more of its regional flow through local infrastructure.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The admission gives the unit the ability to both execute and clear trades on SGX's futures and options markets without routing through a third-party intermediary. SGX said the addition brings its derivatives ecosystem to 68 trading members and 34 clearing members, up from the 64 trading members and 26 clearing members the exchange reported in 2021.APAC Build-Out Continues for Nasdaq-Listed BrokerInteractive Brokers Group, the parent of the Singapore unit, offers automated execution and custody on more than 170 markets, according to the company. Its Singapore entity was set up in 2020 and has since become one of the firm's main vehicles for regional growth.SGX membership fits a clear pattern. In November 2025, the broker added Taiwan's Taipei Exchange to its trading roster, pitching small and mid-cap access to clients worldwide. A year earlier, in August 2024, it integrated Bursa Malaysia's listed derivatives, covering Crude Palm Oil Futures and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Futures. Earlier moves extended the firm's reach into Japan through global CFDs and into Hong Kong through cryptocurrency trading.Yujun Lin, CEO of Interactive Brokers Singapore, said in a statement that the membership "underscores our commitment to Singapore and the broader Asia Pacific region."SGX Membership Base Grows as Competition BroadensThe SGX roster has expanded steadily over the past six years. US-listed INTL FCStone's Singapore unit joined as a trading and clearing member in 2019, taking the exchange to 62 trading and 25 clearing members at the time. Chinese firms including Shanxi Securities International Futures and Hong Kong-based Synergy Futures followed in 2021, as SGX worked to deepen cross-border participation in its pan-Asia equity index, FX and commodity contracts.The exchange has leaned harder into new product areas in the past year. SGX's bitcoin and ether perpetual futures went live in late 2025 with Marex as a day-one clearer, targeting institutional demand that has historically settled on offshore venues. It has also pushed its OTC FX franchise, naming BidFX co-founder Jean-Philippe Malé as CEO of SGX FX in early 2025.Competition for Singapore Flow IntensifiesThe city-state has become one of the most contested battlegrounds for international brokers. Interactive Brokers itself rolled out zero-commission US stock trading to Singapore residents last year, competing with Tiger Brokers, Futu-owned moomoo and domestic platforms for the local retail base. On the institutional side, SGX has attracted fresh volume from regional and global participants, with banks including Mizuho plugging into its FX platform.Pol de Win, Head of Global Sales and Origination at SGX Group, said the admission "reflects sustained international interest" in the exchange's derivatives ecosystem. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

OANDA Securities, the Japanese arm of the FTMO-owned global broker, will more than double margin requirements on its Tokyo server MetaTrader 4 platform from June 12, 2026, cutting available leverage well below the 25:1 cap permitted under Japanese rules and force-transferring accounts with weak margin coverage to MetaTrader 5. Two customer notices setting out the changes also detail a separate overhaul of how required margin is calculated on Tokyo platforms, taking effect from June 6.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Margin Rate Hike Cuts Tokyo Leverage to 10xThe moves slot between OANDA's March announcement that it will shut MT4 entirely on November 27 and the planned September halt to new order placement. The broker framed the changes as a response to recent market volatility and a tightening of risk controls. The selective application, with no equivalent changes on the company's New York servers or on MT5, points to a parallel objective of pushing remaining MT4 holdouts onto the newer platform before the cutoff.The platform shift is no longer marginal. FM Intelligence data shows MT5 overtook MT4 in combined trading volume, capturing 54.2% of MetaTrader activity against MT4's 45.8%.Currency pairs currently set at 3%, 4% or 5% margin will move to a uniform 10% rate, equivalent to 10x leverage. Pairs already at 10% or higher are unaffected. Stock index CFDs jump from 10% to 20%, halving leverage from 10x to 5x. Commodity CFDs move from 5% to 10%, cutting leverage from 20x to 10x. The New York server MT4 and MT5 platforms keep their existing margin rates.Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) caps retail FX leverage at 25:1, equivalent to 4% margin, under rules in place since 2011. OANDA's new uniform 10% rate on Tokyo MT4 sits well above that floor, meaning customers on the affected platform will trade at less than half the leverage Japanese rules permit. The company cited compliance and customer asset protection as the rationale, the same framing it used when it first set the November shutdown date.Forced Transfers for Low-Margin AccountsTokyo MT4 accounts running below 200% margin maintenance at the close of business on June 12 will see their open positions and cash balances moved to MT5 automatically. Customers with existing MT5 accounts will receive transfers into those accounts, while new MT5 Standard Plan accounts will be created for everyone else. FX positions cannot be transferred to the MT5 Discretionary Plan.Stop-loss and take-profit orders attached to existing positions move with them, but pending limit and stop orders will not. Custom expert advisors, indicators and chart layouts will also be lost in the migration. Customers wanting to keep their MT4 setup intact through the November cutoff have one option: top up the account so margin maintenance exceeds 200% before June 12. The mechanism extends a phased approach OANDA Japan started in 2024, when it shut down two MT4 servers and asked clients to consider switching.A Wider MT4 Retreat Across the IndustryThe push echoes a migration away from MT4 that has played out unevenly across the retail brokerage industry for more than a decade. Saxo Bank's Japanese unit terminated MT4 support in September 2022, citing a similar mix of platform aging and strategic alignment, after Saxo had already abandoned its retail MT4 offering in Cyprus in 2015 in favour of its proprietary SaxoTraderGO platform.Brokeree's analysis of more than 900 global brokerages found 68% now offer MT5 against 40% still running MT4, with 23% maintaining both. MetaQuotes stopped selling new MT4 white-label licences to brokers years ago, leaving the platform in maintenance mode while reserving feature development for its successor.What sets OANDA Japan apart is the speed and sequencing. Where Saxo allowed clients to keep trading on its proprietary platforms, and prop firms like FundedNext have pivoted to alternative platforms such as Match Trader only when MetaQuotes restrictions on prop trading forced their hand, OANDA is using selective leverage cuts and automatic position transfers to compress the migration timeline ahead of a hard November cutoff.Methodology Overhaul Brings Tokyo Closer to New YorkA separate change taking effect on June 6 reworks how required margin is calculated on both Tokyo MT4 and MT5. The broker will switch from valuing positions at the entry price to using the previous day's closing price. From June 8, MT5 will recalculate margin daily during scheduled maintenance windows. OANDA's NY servers already use a current-price model, so the change brings Tokyo in line with the rest of the firm's platform stack.The shift carries real consequences for customers holding open positions. OANDA's own worked example shows a 0.1-lot USD/JPY long opened at 153 yen requires roughly 61,200 yen in margin under the old rules, with no recalculation as the rate climbs. After June 6, the same position would require around 63,600 yen if the closing price hits 159 yen, raising stop-out risk for thinly funded accounts.The wind-down follows FTMO's acquisition of OANDA, which closed earlier this year and brought FTMO founders Otakar Šuffner and Marek Vašíček in as co-CEOs of the global broker in March. OANDA Japan has told customers further details on how any remaining open positions will be handled at the November termination date will be issued at a later stage. Customers using the company's NY server MT4, who are not affected by the Tokyo margin changes, will be moved to fxTrade or TradingView when MT4 disappears. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority (FMS)A issued a fresh public warning today (Thursday) over a wave of online trading scams that use staged interviews with executives at large banks to lure investors into depositing as little as 250 euros.A clone of Swissquote, also popular in the CFD industry, was included on the list.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Belgium's FSMA Adds 47 Trading Platforms to Fraud BlacklistThe FSMA said the fake interviews show a journalist criticizing bank lending products before suggesting viewers can build wealth more quickly through a system that lets them "get rich quick" with a small initial outlay. The interviews are fabricated and the products on offer are fraudulent, the regulator said. Belgium has a history of aggressive intervention against unlicensed online brokers, and the FSMA's warning lists have grown steadily over the past year, with its H2 2025 dashboard recording €23.4 million in reported consumer losses, of which more than €10.5 million was tied to fraudulent trading platforms.In total, the regulator named 14 websites it said funnel consumers toward fraudulent trading platforms. It separately advised the public against 33 platforms, among them a clone operating under the Swissquote name from swissquote-es.com and another clone using the brand Innovate X Capital. Other entries on the longer list include Arko Group, Axstera, Genesisarbit, Lotment Capital, NewRockwood, PrymexEnergy and Rockpoint Partners.How the Schemes Reach Belgian InvestorsAccording to the FSMA, scammers use a familiar mix of channels to make first contact: paid advertisements featuring celebrities, the new fake CEO interviews fronted by recognizable television presenters, dedicated recruitment websites, profiles on dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble and Happn, and invitations to closed trading groups on WhatsApp or Telegram. The pitch is consistent across each channel: returns well in excess of what conventional investing typically delivers.Once a target registers, the platform asks for an opening deposit, often around 250 euros. The regulator said fraudsters sometimes ask victims to install remote-access software, ostensibly to help with transfers, which can be used to deploy malware or spyware. The 250-euro entry point matches the threshold the FSMA flagged in an earlier warning this year about networks of scam platforms operating across Europe.Deepfakes Push the Tactic Across BordersThe use of fabricated interviews with bank executives mirrors a pattern other regulators have documented over the past year. New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority warned in 2025 about Facebook pages running AI-generated videos of well-known financial commentators to recruit users into WhatsApp investment groups. Germany's BaFin has flagged a similar uptick in AI-driven schemes promising automated trading returns, and South Africa's FSCA issued public guidance after deepfake clips of local celebrities began circulating in fraudulent ad campaigns.The FSMA itself has previously warned about WhatsApp groups impersonating Saxo Bank and JP Morgan to push fake trading apps to retail investors in Belgium. The country bans the retail sale of contracts for difference and crypto derivatives, leaving local consumers a comparatively narrow set of authorized providers and, regulators argue, more exposure to offshore platforms that operate without a license. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

There is a moment every sales professional knows.You're on a call. The prospect is engaged but hesitant. They like what they're hearing, but they're not quite there. You need something, not a discount, not a longer trial, you need proof. Proof that the company behind you is real, respected, and chosen by peers who know the difference.That moment is won or lost before the call even starts. And a Finance Magnates Award is exactly the thing that can win it for you.More Than a Trophy on a ShelfLet's be direct about what most industry awards actually deliver: a framed certificate, a press release your PR team sends into the void, and a LinkedIn post that gets twelve likes.The Finance Magnates Awards are built differently, and the difference is felt where it matters most: in the sales conversation.When your brand is recognised by Finance Magnates, the most trusted and widely read financial media platforms in the world, you are not just receiving a trophy. This is a powerful tool being put into the hands of your sales team. A credibility marker that travels with every pitch deck, every email signature, every client meeting.This is recognition your sales team can actually use.What Makes Finance Magnates Recognition DifferentFinance Magnates isn't a newcomer with a glossy website and a pay-to-play nominations form. It is a cornerstone of the global financial media industry covering online trading, fintech, payments, and crypto for a professional audience that includes the people your sales team is trying to reach and pitch.The awards process itself is designed to be transparent and credible. Nominations are open and community-driven. 50%t of the final vote comes from industry professionals, peers, clients, and competitors who know the industry inside out. The remaining 50% is determined by an expert judging panel of senior industry figures who bring decades of experience to every evaluation.When you win, or even when you are nominated, the message to the market is clear: your company was seen, assessed, and chosen by the people who understand this industry better than anyone.That is not something a prospect can dismiss.The Conversation Shifts When You WinThink about what your sales team is fighting against every day.Scepticism. Noise. A market crowded with competitors all claiming the same things, "best execution," "innovative technology," "client-first approach." Every broker, every fintech provider, every liquidity solution says the same words. The words stopped meaning anything years ago.A Finance Magnates Award cuts through that noise in a way that internal marketing simply cannot.When a prospect asks, "Why should we choose you over the others?" your sales team can now answer with something that lives outside your own ecosystem. Something earned through an independent, peer-validated process. Something that says, in effect: the industry already answered that question for you.That shift, from selling to proving, is worth more than any script.Recognition That TravelsThe Finance Magnates Awards don't end when you get a trophy during our awards ceremony and gala dinner night.Winners receive dedicated features, exclusive articles, and brand coverage that extends well beyond the ceremony itself. The recognition lands on the Finance Magnates website, across our social channels, and into the inboxes and feeds of thousands of financial professionals globally.Your sales team inherits all of that reach. Every piece of post-award coverage becomes a tool, shareable, linkable, embeddable. A "Best Broker" badge carries weight in an email to a prospective institutional client. A "Most Innovative Fintech" title opens conversations that cold outreach never could.This is long-tail recognition. The Emotional Reality Behind the NumbersBeyond the commercial logic, there is something else worth acknowledging.For the people who built your product, who rewrote the onboarding flow for the fifth time trying to get it right, an award from Finance Magnates means something profound. It means that the work was seen. That the sacrifice was noticed. That the effort wasn't invisible.Sales teams feel it too. There is a pride that comes with representing a recognised brand. A confidence in the pitch. A belief in what they are selling that a prospect can hear even when it's never spoken aloud.Recognition reminds people that what they do is meaningful, that the industry they serve has looked up and said, yes, this one matters.That is not a soft metric. That is culture. And culture drives performance.A Transparent Process Worth TrustingOne reason the Finance Magnates Awards carry genuine weight is that they are not bought. They are earned.The process runs across three stages: an open nominations period, a community voting phase where industry professionals and traders cast their votes, and a final evaluation by an expert panel of judges drawn from respected institutions within the financial world. The split between community and expert input, fifty percent each, ensures that no single stakeholder controls the outcome.This transparency is precisely why the award means something when your sales team presents it. Anyone who knows the Finance Magnates process understands that nomination, let alone a win, represents real standing in the industry.For Brokers and Fintechs AlikeThe awards span the full spectrum of the financial services industry.For B2C brokers, categories range from national recognition to regional and global honours, covering everything from trading experience and customer service to transparency and innovation. For B2B fintech providers, recognition spans liquidity technology, institutional infrastructure, and tools that power the industry behind the scenes.Whatever your market, whatever your segment, there is a category that speaks directly to what your team has built and what your sales force is selling.The Question Worth Asking Your Sales DirectorBefore your next product cycle. Before the next campaign brief. Before the next conversation about why the pipeline isn't converting at the rate it should.Ask your sales director this question: What third-party proof do we have that we are who we say we are?If the answer is thin, or if it relies entirely on internal data and self-produced content, you already know what needs to change.The Finance Magnates Awards exist precisely for this moment. They are the credibility infrastructure your sales team has been missing, the independent voice that speaks on your behalf in every room you're not in.Conclusion: Recognition That Does the WorkThe best sales teams in financial services will tell you that trust is built before the meeting, not during it.It is built through reputation. Through consistency. Through the quiet accumulation of signals that tell a prospect: this company is serious, this company is credible, this company has been recognised by people I respect.A Finance Magnates Award is one of the most powerful tool to any brokerage or fintech operating in this space today. It is recognition backed by a media brand with global reach, an industry audience that cares, and a process rigorous enough to mean something when it lands.Your competitors are in that room. The only question is whether you are too. This article was written by Dora Christofi at www.financemagnates.com.

BMLL Technologies has brought SpiderRock's US equity options analytics into its cloud research environment, giving Data Lab users access to the technology firm's Options Print Set data alongside BMLL's own historical order book records across equities, ETFs, futures and options.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Options Print Set Lands in BMLL Data LabUnder the arrangement, clients working in the Data Lab will be able to pull SpiderRock's print-level implied volatility and Greeks data alongside BMLL's Level 3, 2 and 1 market data for equities, futures and options. The two companies said the combined environment is meant to support quantitative research, strategy development and market structure work, though neither firm named initial users or disclosed how many clients have already signed up to the joint offering.Elliot Banks, chief product officer at BMLL, said the integration is designed to help users tackle "increasingly complex cross-asset questions," adding that the goal is to help them "accelerate research and generate deeper insight into market dynamics."The tie-up is the latest product collaboration BMLL has stacked on top of its core historical dataset since being acquired by Nordic Capital last October, following this week's disclosure of nine new hires across partnerships, sales, revenue operations, finance and engineering. Pricing for the new dataset channel was not disclosed.Chicago-based SpiderRock is a trading technology vendor whose Data and Analytics arm sells institutional-grade options data to hedge funds, bank trading desks and proprietary trading firms. The company also runs a broker-dealer, SpiderRock EXS, and a cloud-based trading platform for options strategies, according to its website.Joint White Paper Models Dealer Gamma and Hedging FlowsThe data launch is backed by a joint white paper that the two firms say illustrates how SpiderRock's options analytics can be paired with BMLL's intraday equity records to estimate dealer gamma positioning and track how that positioning plays out in the underlying stock. The paper argues that net short-gamma exposure can amplify intraday momentum through delta-hedging activity, a dynamic the companies say can be studied systematically using the integrated dataset.Craig Iseli, chief operating officer at SpiderRock, said in a statement that "SpiderRock's options analytics are designed to help market participants better understand volatility and risk," and that distributing them through BMLL's research platform extends that use case further.OPRA Push Puts BMLL Into a Busier US Options Data MarketThe SpiderRock deal marks another step in BMLL's gradual build-out in US equity options, a segment where the company has been layering partner content on top of its own OPRA dataset. BMLL first launched six years of nanosecond OPRA data in November 2024, and in early 2025 expanded an existing partnership with Exegy to stitch historical OPRA records to Exegy's real-time feed, targeting clients moving from research to production.Rivals in the US options analytics space include Cboe's LiveVol unit, which sells historical options data and analytics through Cboe DataShop, and OptionMetrics, whose IvyDB datasets have long been a reference point for academic and quantitative research. ICE Data Services and Nasdaq also distribute historical options content, while Bloomberg and Refinitiv sit above the niche with broader cross-asset research environments. Partnerships Stack Up a Year After Nordic Capital DealThe SpiderRock integration slots into a pattern BMLL has followed across the past eight months, bolting partner data onto its cloud platform rather than building every dataset in-house. In February, the firm teamed up with Features Analytics on market abuse benchmarking products. In March, it opened a year-long pilot with Tradefeedr to extend transaction cost analysis from FX into equities and futures. Earlier this month, the London-based firm plugged its order book records into Databricks, adding another cloud distribution channel. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

The NAGA Group posted its first profitable first quarter today (Thursday), with net profit of €0.5 million, as the Hamburg-based multi-asset fintech behind the Naga One superapp said a leaner cost base and efficiency gains had started to work their way through the business.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)Group revenue at NAGA came in at €14.4 million, down from €16.4 million a year earlier, though the company said sales were flat year over year once foreign exchange effects were stripped out. EBITDA more than doubled to €2.3 million from €1.0 million, and the margin climbed to 15.8% from 6.1% in Q1 2025. Net profit of €0.5 million compared with a loss of €1.7 million a year earlier, a swing management framed as proof that operational changes made during 2025 were starting to show up in the numbers.NAGA Cost Discipline Flips the Loss to ProfitManagement attributed the margin step-up to what it described as a more efficient operating model with a structurally lower cost base, supported by technology-led initiatives including AI-driven tools across marketing, customer support and internal processes. CEO Octavian Patrascu said the company has been "pushing to an AI-first approach" since early in the year, a line he first delivered to investors in February. NAGA has previously told the market that AI resolves roughly two thirds of its chat-based customer support with no human involvement, and that its marketing department runs with about 20% fewer staff than before, claims the company has not independently substantiated to Finance Magnates.[#highlighted-links#] The profit-line improvement comes after a year in which NAGA cited "structural headwinds" to explain a full-year 2025 EBITDA drop to €3.3 million from €9.0 million in 2024. That contrasted with the Q1 2025 comparable, when NAGA's EBITDA had already fallen more than 50% on higher marketing spend. The EBITDA and net profit figures released Thursday reverse that direction of travel, though from a lower revenue base.Users Climb, Funded Accounts SlipOn the operational side, NAGA said 87,500 new users registered during the quarter, up from 73,902 in Q1 2025. New funded accounts, however, fell to 4,903 from 6,088, a drop of about 19% that the company said was partly offset by rising net deposits, falling client withdrawals and higher platform activity. NAGA framed the trajectory as a sign of improving client quality.Reported trading volume reached $80.7 billion, against €47.3 billion in Q1 2025, though the direct comparison is complicated by the change in reporting currency for volumes. March, NAGA said, was the strongest month of the quarter for trading activity and gave the business positive momentum heading into the second quarter.Competitive Backdrop Leaves NAGA a Small PlayerNAGA's numbers read differently once placed next to the larger listed CFD firms reporting around the same time. Plus500, the London-listed broker, booked $242.1 million of Q1 2026 revenue, up 18% year over year, with EBITDA of $95.7 million at a 40% margin. Plus500 also lifted its full-year outlook and said customer deposits hit a record $1.8 billion in the quarter. IG Group, NAGA's other natural comparator and a direct rival in the UK retail CFD market, raised its cash interest offer to 8.5% last year, double the Bank of England base rate at the time, pressing on the same retained-customer battleground where NAGA pays up to 2.77% APY on idle euros.NAGA is at a different point in the cycle. The company still operates at a fraction of Plus500's scale, it has yet to return to its 2023 revenue level of around €70 million, and its shares remain well below the highs reached in 2021 even after a 10-for-1 reverse split completed in December 2025. The stock touched an all-time low of €1.31 on April 9 before rebounding, a trajectory that gave NAGA's AI-first messaging extra weight in recent investor communications.2026 Guidance UnchangedManagement stuck with the full-year 2026 targets laid out alongside the 2025 annual release, guiding to revenue of €68 million to €75 million and EBITDA of €10 million to €15 million. That would mark a sharp margin recovery if delivered, and would take NAGA close to the revenue level it last reached in 2023. The company also flagged a newly signed distribution partnership and ongoing white-label discussions that are not yet baked into the numbers, echoing the superapp distribution push that accompanied the Naga One launch late last year."Q1 2026 marks an important step forward for NAGA," Patrascu added in the earnings release. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Crypto payouts tracked on public blockchains across the ten largest proprietary trading firms rose from $55.3 million in Q1 2025 to $115.1 million in Q1 2026, according to a new FM Intelligence analysis. Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!)The 109% year-over-year jump masks a sharper story, the figure barely moved against the $115.2 million recorded in Q4 2025, a 0.1% sequential change that points to an inflection after two years of rapid expansion.? Read the full FM Intelligence analysis here:Tracked Prop Firm Crypto Payouts Doubled to $115M in Q1 2026Two Prop Firms Now Account for 71% of Tracked VolumeWithin the cohort, the distribution of growth was uneven. FundedNext CFDs climbed 293% year-over-year to $42.7 million, while MyFunded Futures rose 161% to $38.5 million. Together the two firms represented 70.5% of Q1 2026 tracked payouts across the top 10. Six other operators moved the other way, with TopTier Trader down 78%, FXIFY down 59%, and Blue Guardian and E8 Markets both posting double-digit declines. The broader 2025 payout league table compiled by Prop Firm Match put the full-year figure at roughly $325 million, excluding FTMO and The5ers.Transaction counts continued to climb even as aggregate dollar flows flattened. The cohort processed 61,682 payout events in Q1 2026, up 8.1% from Q4 2025 and 129% year-over-year. Average payout size fell to $1,865 from $2,020, suggesting more traders are hitting first-payout thresholds but at smaller ticket sizes.Five Firms Added Brokerage Licenses in 10 MonthsThe plateau at the top has coincided with a structural pivot across the surviving cohort. Between May 2025 and March 2026, five prop firms or their founders added regulated brokerage entities to their corporate structures. FTMO closed its $250 million acquisition of OANDA on December 1, 2025, financed through a UniCredit-led credit line. FundedNext launched FNmarkets in May 2025 under a Comoros licence, with Mauritius and Dubai applications pending.The5ers founders took a minority stake in CySEC-licensed TSG Brokers, which went live in January 2026. The Trading Pit registered TTP Markets with the Seychelles FSA, and Seacrest, formerly MyFundedFX, shut down its prop operations in early February 2026 to operate exclusively as an FSCA-regulated CFD broker. FM Intelligence estimates approximately 80 to 100 prop firms ceased operations between January 2024 and Q1 2026.The Math That Still Defines the IndustryFPFX Technology data covering 300,000 accounts across 10 firms shows a 14% challenge pass rate and a 7% payout rate, with average payouts equal to roughly 4% of funded account size. The July 2025 insolvency of Funded Unicorn, which described losses in the high seven figures from mirroring all funded positions one-for-one in the market, illustrated the risk that brokerage infrastructure is now being built to address. No jurisdiction has enacted bespoke prop firm regulation as of April 2026. The Czech National Bank, CySEC, and ASIC have signaled scrutiny without concrete rules. The CFTC's case against MyForexFunds was dismissed with prejudice in May 2025 after a special master found the regulator had taken "deliberate steps down a path of obfuscation and avoidance."Yesterday (Tuesday), prop firm E8 Markets released a PR statement warning retail traders about the CFD market, noting that most participants lose money there. At the same time, it describes itself as a “SaaS educational simulation platform for financial markets” to avoid regulatory scrutiny.? Read the full FM Intelligence breakdown, including firm-by-firm payout tables, the brokerage build-out tracker, and sequential comparisons:Tracked Prop Firm Crypto Payouts Doubled to $115M in Q1 2026 This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.