News Nuggets | 23 August: MetaQuotes Caps Product Activation; Swissquote's Portfolios

M2 Granted Virtual Asset Trading License in UAE

M2, a virtual asset platform, has been granted a Financial Services Permission (FSP) license by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The license allows M2 to operate a multilateral trading facility and offer custody services for users in the UAE.

According to the company’s statement, obtaining the FSP license is a significant milestone for M2 in the development of the virtual asset sector in the country. M2 has termed it a vote of confidence in M2’s team and its commitment to providing investors with a safe and secure platform.

Bitget Unveils Smart Awards to Honor Blockchain Trailblazers

Bitget, the crypto derivatives and copy trading platform, has unveiled Bitget Smart Awards. The awards program reportedly seeks to recognize and honor exceptional performance in key on-chain activities that are impacting the future of the decentralized world.

The winners of the Bitget Smart Awards will be announced at the Bitget Empower X Summit in Singapore on September 12, 2023. There are two categories of awards: Smart Money Awards and Hero Trader Awards.

Australian CBDC Pilot Highlights Use Cases in Payments and Tokenization

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has completed its pilot program of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), highlighting key areas where the currency could be useful. These areas include enabling complex payments, tokenization of assets, supporting innovation, and enhancing financial inclusion.

Overall, the RBA’s pilot program determined that CBDC could have potential benefits for the Australian payments ecosystem. However, the authority noted that more research needed to be done to completely understand the benefits of the currency.

Global Bank’s Currency Desks Hit by Volatility

The currency trading desks of global banks have faced a significant blow due to a marked decline in market volatility. According to a report by Bloomberg, this downturn had led to a 15% decline in foreign exchange trading revenue during the first half of the year.

Multiple banks, including major players like Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas SA, have reported decreased activity in fixed income, currency, and commodities trading, contributing to the weakening trading environment. The decrease in currency volatility has reportedly narrowed the profit margins that banks can generate.

Binance's Token Approaches One-Year Low

BNB, the cryptocurrency at the heart of the Binance exchange, is approaching its lowest price level in over a year amid controversy surrounding the platform. The token has dropped 3.6% to $203.59, bringing its loss for the year to around 15%.

The decline comes despite Bitcoin's rally of more than 50% since December. BNB's market capitalization stands at around $32 billion, making it the fourth-largest crypto asset. BNB holders enjoy trading-fee discounts on Binance, and the token is used in various applications, reflecting its broad market influence.

IFX Payments Secures Canadian License

IFX Payments has successfully acquired a Canadian Foreign Money Services Business (FMSB) license, marking a significant step in its global expansion. The license allows IFX Payments to extend its acclaimed 'ibanq' virtual IBAN solution to Canadian businesses, enhancing their cross-border transactions.

HKEX Announces Senior Appointments in IT

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has announced the appointment of John Hsu as Managing Director and Group Chief Technology Officer, succeeding Richard Leung, who will become Group Chief Information Officer. These appointments reflect HKEX's commitment to investing in technology and providing best-in-class services. The new roles will oversee the Group's IT infrastructure, operations, development, and support functions. HKEX's CEO, Nicolas Aguzin, emphasized the importance of technology in HKEX's vision and strategy, highlighting the leadership of Richard and John in developing a modern and agile infrastructure.

Hut 8 Shareholders to Vote on Merger with US Bitcoin Corp

Hut 8 Mining Corp has announced that voting on the proposed all-stock merger with the US Data Mining Group, Inc. dba US Bitcoin Corp (USBTC) is now open. The combined company, to be named Hut 8 Corp., will be a U.S.-domiciled entity and is expected to become a large-scale, publicly traded Bitcoin miner with diversified revenue streams and leading ESG practices.

The merger is expected to result in 7.5 EH/s of installed self-mining capacity and 253 MW of total energy at six sites. The new entity will have 825 MW of total power under management, with shares listed on Nasdaq and the TSX under the symbol "HUT," subject to approval.

Zopa Bank Predicts Profitability for 2023

The UK's Zopa Bank has narrowed its losses after tax to £26 million, achieving a pre-tax profit of £10.1 million. In 2022, the bank grew its operating income by 131% to £151m and expanded its customer base to approximately 868,000. The growth is attributed to Zopa's Smart Saver product, which allows flexible savings with higher interest rates.

CEO Jaidev Janardana announced that the business is on track to achieve full-year profitability in 2023. The bank's technology, underwriting models, and use of AI and machine learning have contributed to stable and better-than-expected credit performance.

Fenics Market Data Launches AUD Interest Rate Swaps Service

Fenics Market Data has launched a unique data service for Australian Dollar (AUD) Interest Rate Swaps (IRS). Based on executable data, the service aims to bring greater transparency to the market and reduce the risk of mispricing.

The new service is the only composite screen available for AUD IRS, compiled from live inputs from multiple market participants. With over 50% of the market contributing, the service is expected to increase to more than 80% in the coming weeks, reflecting a significant industry development.

MetaQuotes Reduces Maximum Product Activations

MetaQuotes, the developer of MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, will reduce the maximum number of activations authors can set for their Market products from unlimited to 20. The changes will be effective from 1 September 2023.

"We were forced to introduce restrictions only because some authors abused the capabilities of the Market and used the site for personal purposes in an unauthorized way. We apologize for any inconvenience," the company stated.

Each activation creates a special product copy of the SaaS product on the user's device. It is bound to the computer, namely to the hardware and operating system, protecting unauthorised copying.

"The minimum number of activations upon purchase is 5, which is quite sufficient for comfortable use of a product. Activations are spent only if you change hardware or reinstall the system, which does not happen so often in everyday life. If an author provides 20 activations, this will cover any possible use cases. When using a built-in VPS, activations are not spent at all," MetaQuotes added.

Swissquotes Brings Value Rockstars Certificate

Swissquote, a popular broker in Europe, has given color to its thematic portfolios by introducing value rockstar certificates with the names of Michael Burry, Joel Greenblatt, Stanley Druckenmiller, and Warren Buffet.

"We select and allocate the stocks in this certificate according to quantitative criteria, taking into account the size of the holding positions within the portfolios of the investment companies, as well as their most recent highest-conviction calls, based on their latest SEC Form 13F reports," Swissquote explained.

FCA Warns against Fake FX Broker

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has continued its vigilantism against fake financial services brokers with the latest warning against Wind Forex Trading.

Claimed to be addressed in London's Canary Wharf, the suspicious broker offers online trading services. However, most of the functions on its websites are not even working, confirming the fraudulent nature of it.

"This firm may be providing financial services or products without our authorization. You should avoid dealing with this firm and beware of potential scams," the FCA announced.

Conotoxia embraces Google Cloud's AI

Poland's Conotoxia has partnered with Devoteam G Cloud and Google Cloud to develop products and tools using artificial intelligence (AI).

"By harnessing the power of Google Cloud technology, we can now analyse our users' needs in real time and in a systematic way to create tailored offers specifically for them. Most importantly, we also can transparently report results as they happen," said Robert Błaszczyk, the Head of Strategic Clients' Department at Conotoxia.

"The dynamics in the finance world are huge, which translates into customer expectations. The scalability and automation offered by the cloud support us in meeting these expectations."

Lightyear Comes with Business Investment Account

Lightyear, a retail investment platform, has launched business accounts in the United Kingdom, targeting freelancers and sole directors in the country. On top of that, the platform will open access to money market funds through a partnership with BlackRock.

The company will provide 4.5 percent interest on the uninvested funds, while BlackRock's GBP money market fund currently returns 5.14 percent annually.

"We're helping businesses actually benefit from the increasing interest rates – something which they just can't do with banks," said Martin Sokk, the Co-Founder and CEO at Lightyear. "We're first focusing on the largest, but most underserved part of the market – sole owner businesses – then we'll open this out to multi-user and larger businesses in the next few months."