In a busy week of news, let's take a look back at the biggest news stories from the worlds of  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 trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. 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 trading market by volume. According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) latest survey, the Forex market now turns over in excess of $5 trillion every day, with the most exchanges occurring between the US Dollar and the Euro (EUR/USD), followed by the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen (USD/JPY), then the US Dollar and Pound Sterling (GBP/USD). Ultimately, it is the very exchanging between currencies which causes a country’s currency to fluctuate in value in relation to another currency – this is known as the exchange rate. With regards to freely floating currencies, this is determined by supply and demand, such as imports and exports, and currency traders, such as banks and hedge funds. Emphasis on Retail Trading for ForexTrading the forex market for the purpose of financial gain was once the exclusive realm of financial institutions.But thanks to the invention of the internet and advances in financial technology from the 1990’s, almost anyone can now start trading this huge market. All one needs is a computer, an internet connection, and an account with a forex broker. Of course, before one starts to trade currencies, a certain level of knowledge and practice is essential. Once can gain some practice using demonstration accounts, i.e. place trades using demo money, before moving on to some real trading after attaining confidence. The main two fields of trading are known as technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Technical analysis refers to using mathematical tools and certain patterns to help decide whether to buy or sell a currency pair, and fundamental analysis refers to gauging the national and international events which may potentially affect a country’s currency value. Read this Term, Fintech and Crypto in our best of the week segment.

Bitcoin Wallets Move 7,062 BTC from Coinbase

The trading week kicked off with news of more Bitcoin whale movements. As Bitcoin fell to under $35,000 over the weekend, Bitcoin whale addresses moved more than 7,000 BTC recently in two separate transactions from Coinbase to crypto wallets.

Read more on the Bitcoin whale movements here.

Interactive Brokers Eliminates Monthly Account Inactivity Fees

Interactive Brokers LLC (NASDAQ: IBKR) announced on Thursday that it has removed its monthly account inactivity fees.

The measure has been taking effect since July 1, 2021, and users will no longer be charged for the $10 fee to maintain a minimum balance in their trading accounts, the broker said in an email sent to the customers.

Read more on Interactive Brokers fees withdrawal here.

Ethereum Has the Potential to Overtake Bitcoin, Says Goldman Sachs

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, recently received support from Goldman Sachs, one of the leading American investment banks.

Just days after ETH hit a 2-week high, the New York-based investment bank said in a note that the growing popularity of Ethereum makes it the top contender to overtake Bitcoin as the most valuable digital currency.

Read more on the Goldman Sachs Ethereum support note here.

Institutional Investors Could Soon Enter DeFi through “Aave Pro”

As Finance Magnates reported this week, decentralized lending protocol Aave is planning to launch 'Aave Pro', a permissioned platform for institutional investors later this month.

The platform, which will provide the same kinds of services as Aave’s current platform, will be launched in partnership with the digital asset custody and settlement platform Fireblocks.

Read more on the 'Aave Pro' launch here.

Playtech Postpones Shareholders’ Voting on Finalto Deal

What a week in the battle for Finalto.

Finalto (formerly known as TradeTech), the financial division of Playtech, received a potentially lucrative $250 million acquisition offer from Gopher Investments on the previous Friday, just weeks before the Playtech General Meeting on July 15th where shareholders were expected to agree to the sale of Finalto to a consortium led by Barinboim Group and backed by Leumi Partners Limited and Menora Mivtachim Insurance Limited, together with key members of the Finalto Business’ management team.

Very much the unknown quantity, questions were being asked of Gopher Investments. Then, on Friday, Playtech announced that it has adjourned its General Meeting for two weeks to allow both the Board and the shareholders to ‘further consider recent developments’ concerning the Finalto acquisition deal.

Read more on the Finalto acquisition drama here.

Brazil Police Arrest ‘Bitcoin King’ for $300 Million Fraud

As Finance Magnates reported on Tuesday, the Brazilian Federal Police have arrested several members and the leader of Bitcoin Banco Group, a company that embezzled investors’ funds in the name of cryptocurrency investment.

Following a three year investigation, the arrests included Cláudio Oliveira, better known as ‘The Bitcoin King’, who was the President of Bitcoin Banco Group.

Read more on the arrest of the 'Bitcoin King' here.

Top 5  Cryptocurrencies  Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the networks which are used to authenticate blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can be thought of as systems that accept online payments which are denoted as “tokens.” Tokens are represented as internal ledger entries in blockchain technology while the term crypto is used to depict cryptographic methods and encryption algorithms such as public-private key pairs, various hashing functions, and an elliptical curve. Every cryptocurrency transaction that occurs is logged in a web-based ledger with blockchain technology.These then must be approved by a disparate network of individual nodes (computers that maintain a copy of the ledger). For every new block generated, the block must first be authenticated and confirmed ‘approved’ by each node, which makes forging the transactional history of cryptocurrencies nearly impossible. The World’s First CryptoBitcoin became the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and to this day is still the most demanded cryptocurrency and the most valued. Bitcoin still contributes the majority of the overall cryptocurrency market volume, though several other cryptos have grown in popularity in recent years.Indeed, out of the wake of Bitcoin, iterations of Bitcoin became prevalent which resulted in a multitude of newly created or cloned cryptocurrencies. Contending cryptocurrencies that emerged after Bitcoin’s success is referred to as ‘altcoins’ and they refer to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, and Dash. Cryptocurrencies promise a wide range of technological innovations that have yet to be structured into being. Simplified payments between two parties without the need for a middle man is one aspect while leveraging blockchain technology to minimize transaction and processing fees for banks is another. Of course, cryptocurrencies have their disadvantages too. This includes issues of tax evasion, money laundering, and other illicit online activities where anonymity is a dire ingredient in solicitous and fraudulent activities. Read this Term of 2021

While some of the cryptocurrencies spiked by over 10,000% in 2021, others have not fared so well. Finance Magnates has compiled a list of the top cryptocurrency assets which is not only focused on price gains but also ranked on the basis of retail and institutional adoption, popularity and market cap.

Read more on the Top 5 Cryptocurrencies of 2021 here.