Weekly Roundup: Biden To Pardon Sam Bankman-Fried, Spotware Unveils CTrader 5.0

This Week in FX Markets

Big moves this week! Spotware’s cTrader 5.0 is set to debut at iFX EXPO Dubai, Trade Republic has doubled its users to 8 million, and GTCFX joins the Financial Commission for added trader protection. Plus, leadership changes, new partnerships, and fresh features are shaking things up. Stay in the loop!

Spotware to unveil cTrader 5.0 and cTrader Store at iFX EXPO Dubai 2025

Spotware Systems, the software developers behind renowned trading platform cTrader, are heading to iFX EXPO Dubai 2025, from 14-16 January 2025. Read More

iSAM Securities elevates Chris Twort as head of trading

FCA-regulated prime brokerage and execution venue iSAM Securities has promoted Chris Twort as its new Head of Trading. Read More

GTCFX joins Financial Commission, offering traders up to €20,000 in claim protection

The Financial Commission, an independent external dispute resolution (EDR) body, today announced the addition of multi-asset broker GTCFX as its latest member effective January 7, 2025. Read More

Moomoo and Seeking Alpha partner for mutual user benefits

Moomoo has partnered with Seeking Alpha for a three-month collaboration that benefits moomoo users in the US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. Read More

Pemberton Capital taps Broadridge solution for private credit and CLO management

Pemberton Capital Advisors LLP has adopted Broadridge’s Sentry Private Credit Portfolio Management solution to help it gain greater operational efficiencies and scale its private debt and collateralized loan obligation (CLO) businesses to meet growing demand. Read More

TIOmarkets onboards Nick Jay as Chief Operating Officer

TIOmarkets has appointed Nick Jay, who spent three years in the capacity of M4Markets’ chief business development officer, as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Read More

Trade Republic doubles European customer base to 8 million

Trade Republic, the BaFin-regulated digital bank and brokerage, announced that six years after its market launch, it has doubled its customer base to 8 million. Read More

Tradu launches spread betting in the United Kingdom

Tradu, the multi-asset trading platform that is part of Jefferies-owned Stratos Group, has announced the launch of spread betting in the UK. Read More

This Week in Crypto

From El Salvador’s tokenization push to Bybit pausing services in India, it’s been a busy week in crypto. The FDIC clarified its stance on banks and crypto, while Gemini faces a $5M CFTC settlement. Speculation swirls over potential pardons for SBF and Ulbricht, and James Howells loses his $770M Bitcoin landfill battle. Stay tuned for more!

FDIC instructed banks to pause crypto activities without outright ban

Documents released on Friday show that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) instructed U.S. banks in 2022 and 2023 to pause direct involvement in cryptocurrency activities but did not mandate them to sever ties with crypto companies, contradicting allegations of widespread “debanking.”. Read More

CFTC proposes settlement with Gemini over Bitcoin futures

The proposed consent order requires Gemini to pay a $5 million civil penalty and prohibits the firm from making false or misleading statements to the CFTC in the future. Read More

El Salvador doubles down on digital assets with tokenization push

El Salvador is doubling down on its ambition to lead the digital asset revolution, announcing a strategic partnership between Tokeny, a top-tier onchain finance provider, and Ditobanx, a licensed Digital Asset Service Provider. Read More

Bitget taps ZEN.com to offer on/off ramp for 11 fiat currencies

Bitget has announced the introduction of bank deposits via integration with ZEN.com, a banking solution that offers a fiat deposit and withdrawal channel. Read More

Biden to pardon Silk Road and FTX founders, Polymarket bets

With President Joe Biden set to leave office on January 20, speculation has arisen on whether he might issue last-minute pardons for high-profile figures like former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. Read More

Terraform fraud trial to start next year amid six-terabyte data review

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s criminal fraud trial in the U.S. is expected to begin in January 2026, providing time for both prosecutors and defense attorneys to process an extensive six-terabyte trove of discovery data. Read More

Howells loses battle to recover $770M Bitcoin hard drive from landfill

James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, lost his 12-year legal battle to access a landfill where he believes a hard drive containing over $770 million worth of Bitcoin is buried. Read More

Bybit temporarily halts crypto services in India

Bybit stated that it seeks to ensure compliance with “all applicable rules and regulations.” Indian users will no longer be able to open new accounts, execute trades, or place orders on Bybit’s platform. Read More