Week in Review: Binance Highlights 220% Tokenized Stock Surge, What Is the ARPU for IG, CMC, Plus500, and XTB?

Tokenized stocks surge in July

Interest in tokenized stocks rose sharply in July, with the combined market capitalization of TSLA and SPY reaching $53.6 million, according to a report by Binance. This marked a 220% increase compared to June.

The number of on-chain addresses associated with tokenized stock assets grew significantly, rising from 1,600 to over 90,000 within a month.

Binance noted that if just 1% of global equities were tokenized, the sector could reach a market size of $1.3 trillion—over eight times the peak value of the decentralized finance sector.

Tokenized equity platforms aim to blur the lines between crypto and traditional investing. Major crypto exchanges such as Kraken and Bybit, along with retail trading platforms like Robinhood and eToro, have launched these services.

Moneta Markets secures FCA approval

Outside the tokenization race, CFD broker Moneta Markets secured a license from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority through its subsidiary, VIBHS Financial Ltd.

The FCA license followed Moneta Markets’ recent entry into sports sponsorship through a regional partnership with Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid.

Is the tide turning for UK brokerage? In his weekly feature, Paul Golden observed that Moneta and Ultima Markets' move comes after several years of CFD brokers retreating from the UK.

The moves by both firms suggest a renewed interest in the UK CFD space, which some view as a now more mature and stable market environment compared to earlier in the decade.

This week in numbers: IG Group, Plus500, XTB, and CMC Markets

Publicly traded CFD brokers IG Group, Plus500, CMC Markets, and XTB all reported strong results this week, largely fueled by growth in active client numbers.

IG led in both client volume and profitability, posting the highest average revenue per user (ARPU) at $3,240. Plus500 came in second with an ARPU of $2,310, followed by CMC Markets at $1,350 and XTB at just $350.

For IG, the performance was further reinforced by strong subsidiary earnings. Three of its key units recorded higher profits in fiscal year 2025, reversing the mixed results seen in the previous year.

The5ers Founder speaks to Financemagnates.com

In our exclusive interview with Gil Ben Hur, the founder and CEO of The5ers, we discussed execution among prop trading firms. In his view, the two-step evaluation model used by many proprietary trading firms was incompatible with A-book execution.

He made the remarks following the collapse of Funded Unicorn, a prop trading firm that had promised greater transparency by operating on an A-book model but shut down shortly after.

While most proprietary trading firms do not publicly disclose their risk management approaches, some may still be operating A-book setups.

Turning point for event contracts?

Interestingly, event contracts received a regulatory boost this week after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission granted relief to Railbird Exchange and its clearing partner from certain swap reporting obligations.

The decision marked a shift toward a more accommodating regulatory stance in the U.S., which could support the growth of this emerging asset class.

Financial industry reacts to GPT-5 launch

OpenAI launched GPT-5 this week, introducing its most advanced AI model to date. The rollout marked a significant shift, as the model was made available to all ChatGPT users, including those on the free tier.

AI researcher Dave Wang described GPT-5 as a potential game-changer for finance and investing. He highlighted the model’s increased speed, accuracy, and reasoning as features.

Finance Magnates Data Lab found that out of nearly 1,000 finance jobs, only one in three had “AI” in the title. These positions offered salaries that were, on average, 4% higher than those of other roles. However, over 70% of finance job descriptions referenced AI tools or skills.

The observation emerged from a casual office discussion about how AI was reshaping work and hiring trends.

Can you trust Vibe coding for trading tools?

Finally, Vibe coding has emerged as a new approach to software development, enabling fintech teams to build trading tools through fast, visual, and AI-assisted methods.

It is used for tasks such as simulating KYC flows, mocking order-routing logic, and streamlining the development process.

Instead of starting with complex architecture or boilerplate code, developers could construct data flows and logic through simple prompts or drag-and-drop elements.