FX week in review: Saxo adds crypto CFDs, INFINOX and VantageFX expand, Stake raises $40M
In which jurisdictions will Saxo Bank be adding crypto CFD trading? And, in which instruments?
Where did Retail FX brokers INFINOX and Vantage FX say they’d each be expanding their operations?
What will Stake and Copper.co use freshly raised funds for?
Where did former eToro UK CEO Iqbal Gandham head to?
Answers to these questions and lots more appeared exclusively or first at FNG. Some of the top FX industry news stories to appear this week on FNG included:
Exclusive: Saxo goes live with crypto trading in Singapore and Australia. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that Copenhagen based Retail FX and CFDs broker Saxo Bank has gone live in offering cryptocurrency trading to its clients, but only in certain jurisdictions. We had exclusively reported last month that Saxo was planning for and preparing the move to add cryptos, an asset class already offered by many of its competitors – and generating a good chunk of overall trading volumes in certain months for some FX brokers. For now, it appears that cryptos will be available only to clients of Saxo Markets Singapore and Saxo Markets Australia. And for the time being, Saxo is offering offer trading in BTC, ETH and LTC.
INFINOX continues expansion adding Dubai Hub. Global trading provider INFINOX has unveiled a new hub in Dubai amid an expansion of its operations across Asia. The brand, which is headquartered in the City of London but with a presence in 15 countries, said that it grew its number of Asian clients by 102% in the 12 months to the end of March 2021. Over the same period, Asian investors traded 114% more through INFINOX’s online platform compared to the previous year. Trading volumes through the provider’s institutional arm, IX Prime, soared by 261% across Asia. INFINOX stated that its Dubai hub will house 20 staff and be led by the newly appointed Head of Global Marketing Rajan Naik.
Vantage FX plans strategic push in the UK. Australia based Retail FX broker Vantage FX has announces a series of significant upgrades to its UK services, and of its FCA regulated UK arm Vantage Global Prime LLP, which the company said is part of the group’s long-term strategic push into the UK. Following what the company said was a period of extensive market research to find out what UK traders value, Vantage FX has introduced what it calls several new features and services encompassing diverse products, easy access, and a smooth user experience, all provided at a market-leading cost. Vantage FX said that the modern trader expects mobile access, with around 90% now trading on mobile. Seeing this demand, the company has launched a UK specific app that allows users to trade anywhere, anytime.
Australian neobroker Stake raises AUD $40M for expansion. Australian online brokerage startup Stake, which has set itself up as a Robinhood-like democratizer of global markets, has announced that it has raised an additional AUD $40 million (USD $31 million) to help the company expand operations globally. The round was led by New York based tech investor Tiger Global, with participation from partners of Internet tech investor DST Global. Over the past year Stake, which operates the site hellostake.com, claims to have grown its customer base more than six times over, and has begun expanding beyond its home market of Australia.
Top FX industry executive moves reported at FNG this week included:
❑ Exclusive: ex eToro UK chief Iqbal Gandham joins crypto firm Ledger.
❑ Exclusive: Cristian Arellano joins 24 Exchange as VP Andean Market.
❑ oneZero appoints Marc Reider as Director of Hub Product Management.
❑ Samer Mourched joins Advanced Markets as CEO of Bermuda and Emerging Markets.
❑ Glenn Stevens joins Voyager Digital BoD.
❑ Natasha Cazenave replaces Verena Ross as Executive Director of ESMA.