Op-ed
Payment Rails Are Connecting Across Borders, but Compliance Is Getting Harder
- Maria Uriarte of dLocal highlights Brazil's PIX and Southeast Asia's payment rails show why merchants need to treat compliance as an ongoing process, not a one-time task.
- As payment networks link across South America and Southeast Asia, the technology is becoming more connected while local rules remain fragmented, widening the compliance burden for providers.
Friday, 18/09/2026 | 14:00 GMT by
Maria Uriarte
The Prop Trading Challenge Pass Means Little Once Real Execution Starts
- Shervin Arian, CEO of OmegaRatio Advisors, highlights the gap between simulated challenge conditions and execution after a trader is funded.
- Prop firms that use different execution models for challenges and funded accounts may underestimate future payout risk.
Wednesday, 16/09/2026 | 12:12 GMT by
Shervin Arian
Google Is Losing LATAM’s Traders to Communities
- Anish Lal, CBDO at BlackBull Markets, argues that the commercial model is shifting from pure CPA and rebates towards retainers, commissions, event support and hybrid performance deals.
- The IB model will not disappear, but it will professionalise, with retainers increasingly justified by retained client books rather than event attendance.
Wednesday, 16/09/2026 | 07:07 GMT by
Anish Lal
Europe’s Next Financial Battle Will Be Fought Under the Screen
- Freedom 24's Valentin Shatalov argues that scale, regulation and operational resilience will shape Europe’s financial winners as fee pressure rises and firms need deeper capabilities to serve fragmented markets.
- AI is changing how Europeans access financial services. The shift could make agents a new gateway to trading and financial infrastructure.
Tuesday, 15/09/2026 | 14:00 GMT by
Valentin Shatalov
Nigeria’s Proposed CFD Rules Are Not Irrational; They Are Mispriced
- SALVUS’ MD Nikolas Xenofontos says Nigeria's SEC chose generous leverage, finds the design coherent, but argues the capital is calibrated to ration licences rather than protect clients.
- Tech providers face a 5 billion naira ($2.2 million) capital requirement and a 30% local ownership requirement. If offshore vendors stay away, regulated brokers will be left with unregulated platforms.
Friday, 11/09/2026 | 07:00 GMT by
Nikolas Xenofontos
Traders’ LTV Is Not Just a Marketing Issue but an Ongoing Development Process
- Oded Shefer, CPattern's founder & CEO, argues personalised trader development could be the next step beyond personalised marketing and retention tools.
- Monthly trader churn can reach 50%, highlighting the cost of disengagement after first-time deposit.
Wednesday, 09/09/2026 | 13:00 GMT by
Oded Shefer
Pakistan Hands You Very Cheap Leads in the CFD Industry. Then the Deposit Page Happens
- Stanislov Galandzovskyi reveals Pakistan leads cost $4.30, but just 1.9% become FTDs, pushing CPA to $226 and payback to 6–9 months despite a potential 3.3x LTV.
- Complex payment routes made Pakistan’s deposit page the main bottleneck, with users needing Urdu guidance and WhatsApp support to understand how to fund their accounts.
Tuesday, 08/09/2026 | 06:49 GMT by
Stanislav Galandzovskyi
Trading Has a Customer Problem. iGaming Has Seen It Before
- ATFX's Line Peteri argues that poker shows why trading education should focus on risk and decision-making, not just profits, as winning a trade does not always mean the decision was right.
- iGaming’s experience with CRM, affiliates and localisation offers trading firms practical lessons on retention, partnerships and adapting the same product to different markets.
Monday, 07/09/2026 | 06:13 GMT by
Line Ho Young Peteri
The Stablecoin in the Headlines Is Not the Stablecoin I Know
- Anndy Lian highlights private chains trade openness for control, while public rails optimise for user dignity. Which one holds the true essence of blockchain?
- Stablecoins have passed $300 billion, but three very different digital-dollar models now share the name.
Friday, 04/09/2026 | 10:00 GMT by
Anndy Lian
Fintech Has Found a New Favourite Number. But It Comes with a Catch
- M4Markets' CEO Oscar Asly highlights how ARR could become another vanity metric if fintech companies obscure the underlying economics.
- After $210bn boom, ARR is fintech’s new favourite. But £1m January annualised isn’t predictability.
Friday, 04/09/2026 | 06:00 GMT by
Oscar Asly
Are Prediction Markets Becoming Too Good at Taking Money?
- Tony Cross argues prediction markets risk losing retail traders if well-capitalised participants gain too much of an edge, with horse racing offering a warning from the past.
- Nearly 2,000 Polymarket accounts captured almost $500 million. Is that a coincidence?
Tuesday, 01/09/2026 | 19:00 GMT by
Tony Cross
What AI Can and Cannot Replace in Trading Technology Development
- Alexis Droussiotis at Spotware argues AI can speed up development, but it can't replace the judgment that keeps trading infrastructure standing under real load.
- The same logic applies to infrastructure: what works at 100 users can buckle at 500,000, and early decisions are the ones brokers end up stuck with.
Tuesday, 01/09/2026 | 04:48 GMT by
Alexis Droussiotis
The Two-Licence Model: How Brokers Bridge Trading and Payments
- NAGA's Alexandru Badea explains how client money rules slow trading withdrawals and why brokers could use payments licences, capital and real-time risk systems to make funds more accessible.
- Revolut and eToro already connect trading with card spending, but leveraged positions still face settlement delays.
Monday, 31/08/2026 | 04:32 GMT by
Badea Alexandru Gabriel
LATAM Broker Growth Is Not Just About Direct Marketing but IBs and Trust
- Sebastián Rivas, Co-Founder of LFXS, highlights how IBs can drive 40%-70% of new funded clients, with a CAC of $200-$450, making trusted partnerships key to growth.
- With LTV reaching $2,000+, brokers need to focus less on chasing leads and more on building strong, long-term partnerships with local trading communities.
Wednesday, 19/08/2026 | 05:00 GMT by
Sebastián Rivas
From MiCA to GENIUS: Why Crypto's Next Regulatory Test Is Cross-Border Coordination
- Europe’s MiCA regime has sharply reduced the number of authorised crypto firms, raising the stakes for regulatory coordination across major markets.
- The US, UK and EU now have major crypto rules in place. The next test is whether they can connect them, or leave firms facing three separate systems.
Friday, 14/08/2026 | 05:29 GMT by
Nilmini Rubin
Trading Frequency Tells Us What Traders Do - Not Why They Do It
- Oded Shefer, CEO of CPattern, says pessimism may drive Gen Z into trading, not just result from it. Frequency alone can't explain the 64% "failure" stat.
- A trader who executes 30 trades may be developing confidence and experience. Another trader executing the same 30 trades may be reacting emotionally to losses. From the perspective of trading frequency alone, they look identical.
Wednesday, 12/08/2026 | 06:09 GMT by
Oded Shefer
The CFD Payments Lab: Why Global Brokers Are Testing the Future in Australia
- Kristofer Rogers from Volt says CFD brokers like Pepperstone and Trade Nation are using Australia's payments ecosystem to validate new customer experiences before rolling them out more broadly.
- Nearly 73% of CFD account top-ups made via Australia's New Payments Platform, such as PayID and PayTo, occur outside standard 9-to-5 banking hours, with more than one in five (21%) taking place on weekends.
Friday, 07/08/2026 | 04:51 GMT by
Kristofer Rogers
Retail Brokers Face an Identity Shift as Crypto and Tokenisation Reshape the Industry
- Demetrios Zamboglou argues brokers must expand digital asset capabilities or risk losing clients to crypto exchanges.
- Client demand for exchange-style crypto trading increases operational complexity and regulatory scrutiny for brokers.
Monday, 03/08/2026 | 15:26 GMT by
Dr Demetrios Zamboglou
Dubai Didn’t Just Win the Brokers. It’s Winning the People Who Run Them.
- Reece Pawsey, Co-CEO of FinTop Consulting, says his company is one of many firms to open a Dubai office as clients are already there and open roles cannot be filled locally.
- UAE-based roles are paying talents significantly higher: a Chief Compliance Officer or Chief Risk Officer in Dubai can command up to EUR 240,000, while a senior Head of Legal and Compliance in Cyprus tops out near EUR 120,000.
Friday, 31/07/2026 | 06:00 GMT by
Reece Pawsey
MiCA Is Not Only for Crypto. It Will Also Decide Prediction Markets’ European Future
- Alexandru Badea, Senior Regional Director at NAGA, says the European Commission's MiCA consultation is a rare chance for the prediction market industry to influence future regulation
- While the European regulator is actively signalling its direction through prediction markets, the industry remains silent, which will be read as consent.
Friday, 24/07/2026 | 04:45 GMT by
Badea Alexandru Gabriel
MENA Expansion Isn't a Market Entry Problem. It's a Localisation Problem.
- Stanislav Galandzovskyi, Acquisition & Growth Consultant, says brokers that overlook MENA's market differences risk failure without country-specific localisation.
- Morocco and Egypt offer lower-cost entry points before expansion into the Gulf. Testing there can help brokers validate funnels before larger budgets.
Monday, 20/07/2026 | 10:42 GMT by
Stanislav Galandzovskyi
Why Scaling a Brokerage Requires More Than Off-the-Shelf Technology
- Scope Markets’ Managing Director John Murphy outlines how data ownership, AI capabilities, and enterprise architecture are shaping the next phase of brokerage technology.
- The brokerage industry has benefited from specialized CRM solutions, but larger firms increasingly need flexible infrastructure that can support scale, personalization, and client demands.
Thursday, 16/07/2026 | 13:00 GMT by
John Murphy
Malta Tried This with Crypto. Now It’s Trying Again with Prediction Markets
- Alexandru Badea, Senior Regional Director at NAGA, argues Malta's prediction-market plan mirrors its 2018 crypto playbook.
- Malta may win first-mover status again, but history suggests Brussels will ultimately define prediction markets.
Tuesday, 14/07/2026 | 12:00 GMT by
Badea Alexandru Gabriel
More Than Jersey: What IG Group’s Offshore Move Really Means
- IG Group is no longer only a UK business with overseas operations, argues Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta: it's "a global financial institution whose historical roots happen to be in Britain."
- AI, cloud infrastructure and tokenised markets scale across borders from their earliest stages, and Dasgupta says corporate structures built for domestic institutions increasingly sit uneasily beside them.
Monday, 13/07/2026 | 12:00 GMT by
Bhaskar Dasgupta
AI Trading Doesn't Need New Rules. It Needs Better Governance.
- AI trading doesn't need a new rulebook. Strong governance, audit trails, operational resilience and accountability matter more than the technology itself.
- The real compliance challenge isn't AI—it's supervision. Firms must prove they can control, monitor and explain every AI-driven trade from prompt to execution.
Tuesday, 07/07/2026 | 11:00 GMT by
Aydin Bonabi
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