How did eToro do in Q2 and 1H-2021?
And how about Dukascopy?
What’s new about PayPal’s UK crypto trading offering?
What happened to Libertex’s CySEC license, partially suspended earlier this month?
Which executive moves were reported involving OANDA, ETX Capital, Valutrades, and Exness?
Answers to these questions and a whole lot more appeared first or exclusively this week at FNG. Some of the most read and commented-on FX industry news stories to appear over the past seven days on FNG included:
eToro Revenues hit $291 million in Q2-2021, up 8% QoQ. Retail FX and CFDs broker eToro has released summary Q2 financial and operating results, indicating continued but slowing growth. eToro’s Americas business accounted for 12% of funded accounts at the end of Q2 2021 up from 6% at the end of Q2 2020. Cryptoassets drove total commissions in the second quarter of 2021 reflecting strong interest from retail investors in crypto markets. Interest was diversified across the cryptos offered by eToro with the highest trading volumes in BTC, XRP, ETH, ADA and DOGE. eToro has seen a pattern over time, with increased trading activity in a particular asset class or market influencing eToro’s total commission in certain quarters or years.
Exclusive: Dukascopy revenues fall 23% in 1H-2021 to CHF 11 million. FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned from filings that Geneva based Retail FX broker Dukascopy Bank SA has seen a severe and continued drop-off in activity, with first-half 2021 revenues being the company’s lowest result in several years. Revenues at Dukascopy (or what the company terms “Result from trading activities”) came in at CHF 10.95 million (USD $11.9 million) for the first six months of 2021, down 23% from the second half of 2020 and less than half the CHF 25.44 million that the company brought in during 1H-2020. Partly responsible for the drop, in our view, is that Dukascopy was somewhat late to the game in offering crypto trading to its clients.
PayPal offers UK customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency. PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) today announced the launch of a new service enabling its customers in the UK to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency with PayPal. This new service starts rolling out this week. Customers can choose from four types of cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. By accessing their PayPal account via the website or the mobile app, they can view real-time crypto prices, access educational content to help answer commonly asked questions, and learn more about cryptocurrencies, including the opportunities and risks. The launch marks the first international expansion of the company’s cryptocurrency offering outside of the United States.
Libertex has CySEC CIF license reinstated after removing giveaways. Cyprus financial regulator CySEC has issued a notice (see full text below) that it has decided to recall its decision for the partial suspension of the Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license of Indication Investments Ltd. Indication Investment operates the Libertex retail FX brand, at website libertex.com. As we reported at the beginning of August, CySEC partially suspended Libertex’s license restricting the company from accepting any new clients, and from receiving new deposits from existing clients. That followed a €160,000 fine handed out to Libertex / Indication Investments in 2020 for issues that included not executing certain client orders on terms most favorable to the client, and offering more than the maximum 30x leverage allowed to retail traders.
Top FX industry executive moves reported at FNG this week included:
Andrea Di Blasio