Alibaba Starts Mining, IronFX Changes Name: Best of the Week
- Catch up on last week's top stories.

JFD Brokers and ACON
Cyprus-based JFD Brokers has bought a 51% stake in German bank ACON, with the option to purchase a further 20% in the future.
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The deal with the Munich-based bank is pending regulatory approval.
Alibaba starts mining
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has launched a cryptocurrency mining platform called P2P Nodes, registered in Nanjing.
The move comes as the Chinese government is making efforts to close down the country's mining industry entirely.
IronFX changes name
Online brokerage IronFX has changed its name to Notesco Financial Services, following receipt of a $100 million investment from Gemini Financial Services.
The board of the investing company includes Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Gramtoken.io ICO confirmed as fake by CEO of Telegram
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said on Twitter that Gramtoken.io is a scam. The website has been collecting ETH for fake tokens since the first of January this year.
TechCrunch reported on Gramtoken.io, which has a professional-looking website, as the legitimate Telegram ICO, but there was no mention of it anywhere from Telegram itself, causing suspicion. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the scheme.
BitConnect shuts down
Cryptocurrency firm BitConnect, which was labelled a Ponzi scheme by Vitalik Buterin, has announced the shutdown of its lending program and exchange platform. Users have been promised $363.42 for each BitConnect token held.
BitConnect is based in the UK, and has been served with cease-and-desist orders in Texas and North Carolina. The company blames DDoS attacks and bad press for its decision.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group launches crpyocurrency, exchange
Japan’s largest financial group is launching a cryptocurrency exchange later this year, along with a new currency called MUFG Coin. Each MUFG Coin is to be worth approximately one yen.
The bank has already notified the Japanese financial watchdog of its plans, which include “organizing contests” for MUFG Coin-based business ideas in March 2018.
ESMA to ban binary options
The European Securities Markets Authority has issued a statement on its final proposals for the retail Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and CFDs industry, which include a total ban on binary options.
The European regulator is also proposing margin requirements that vary from 1:5 to 1:30, and mandatory Negative Balance Negative Balance In its most basic form, a negative balance represents an account balance in which debits exceed credits. A negative balance indicates that the account holder owes money. A negative balance on a loan indicates that the loan has not been repaid in full, while a negative bank balance indicates that the account holder has overspent.In the retail brokerage space, this phenomenon occurs when a position’s losses in an account exceeds the available margin on hand from a given trader. When a trader place In its most basic form, a negative balance represents an account balance in which debits exceed credits. A negative balance indicates that the account holder owes money. A negative balance on a loan indicates that the loan has not been repaid in full, while a negative bank balance indicates that the account holder has overspent.In the retail brokerage space, this phenomenon occurs when a position’s losses in an account exceeds the available margin on hand from a given trader. When a trader place Read this Term protection.
JFD Brokers and ACON
Cyprus-based JFD Brokers has bought a 51% stake in German bank ACON, with the option to purchase a further 20% in the future.
[gptAdvertisement]
The deal with the Munich-based bank is pending regulatory approval.
Alibaba starts mining
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has launched a cryptocurrency mining platform called P2P Nodes, registered in Nanjing.
The move comes as the Chinese government is making efforts to close down the country's mining industry entirely.
IronFX changes name
Online brokerage IronFX has changed its name to Notesco Financial Services, following receipt of a $100 million investment from Gemini Financial Services.
The board of the investing company includes Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Gramtoken.io ICO confirmed as fake by CEO of Telegram
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said on Twitter that Gramtoken.io is a scam. The website has been collecting ETH for fake tokens since the first of January this year.
TechCrunch reported on Gramtoken.io, which has a professional-looking website, as the legitimate Telegram ICO, but there was no mention of it anywhere from Telegram itself, causing suspicion. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the scheme.
BitConnect shuts down
Cryptocurrency firm BitConnect, which was labelled a Ponzi scheme by Vitalik Buterin, has announced the shutdown of its lending program and exchange platform. Users have been promised $363.42 for each BitConnect token held.
BitConnect is based in the UK, and has been served with cease-and-desist orders in Texas and North Carolina. The company blames DDoS attacks and bad press for its decision.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group launches crpyocurrency, exchange
Japan’s largest financial group is launching a cryptocurrency exchange later this year, along with a new currency called MUFG Coin. Each MUFG Coin is to be worth approximately one yen.
The bank has already notified the Japanese financial watchdog of its plans, which include “organizing contests” for MUFG Coin-based business ideas in March 2018.
ESMA to ban binary options
The European Securities Markets Authority has issued a statement on its final proposals for the retail Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and CFDs industry, which include a total ban on binary options.
The European regulator is also proposing margin requirements that vary from 1:5 to 1:30, and mandatory Negative Balance Negative Balance In its most basic form, a negative balance represents an account balance in which debits exceed credits. A negative balance indicates that the account holder owes money. A negative balance on a loan indicates that the loan has not been repaid in full, while a negative bank balance indicates that the account holder has overspent.In the retail brokerage space, this phenomenon occurs when a position’s losses in an account exceeds the available margin on hand from a given trader. When a trader place In its most basic form, a negative balance represents an account balance in which debits exceed credits. A negative balance indicates that the account holder owes money. A negative balance on a loan indicates that the loan has not been repaid in full, while a negative bank balance indicates that the account holder has overspent.In the retail brokerage space, this phenomenon occurs when a position’s losses in an account exceeds the available margin on hand from a given trader. When a trader place Read this Term protection.