Another busy week across financial markets saw cryptoweakness weigh on trading revenues, while broker earnings, regulation andexpansion plans remained in focus.Trading activity softened in parts of the CFD market, whilefirms continued to invest in equities, technology and new markets. AI adoptionalso accelerated across trading infrastructure, alongside regulatorydevelopments in crypto and CFDs.Crypto Revenue Falls Across Major Trading PlatformseToro,Robinhood and Coinbase all reported lower crypto revenue in the second quarter,as weaker market activity reduced the contribution from digital assets. eToro’scryptoasset revenue fell 30% year-on-year to $1.35 billion, while its netcontribution from crypto dropped to about $12.5 million.Robinhood’scryptocurrency transaction revenue declined 38% to $100 million, despite totalnet revenue rising 32% to $1.31 billion. Coinbase reported $1.2 billion intotal revenue and a $359 million net loss, with Bitcoin-related transactionsaccounting for only 12% of revenue. The declines coincided with a 12.6% fall intotal crypto market capitalisation and a 27.9% drop in centralised exchangespot volume during the quarter.eToro to Buy TradeZero for Up to $231 MillioneToroagreed to acquire US brokerage TradeZero for up to $231 million as itexpands further into equities and active trading. The deal, announced alongsidesecond-quarter results, includes cash and up to 2.5 million newly issued ClassA shares.TradeZero generated about $80 million in revenue in the 12 months toJune, with an 81% gross margin. eToro’s net contribution rose 9% year-on-yearto $229 million, while net income reached $53.5 million.Net trading incomefrom equities, commodities and currencies increased by $27.6 million to $141.6million. TradeZero operates in the US, Canada and international markets. Theacquisition requires regulatory approval and is expected to close in the firsthalf of 2027.Swissquote Nears CHF 100 Billion as Crypto Income FallsSwissquoteended the first half with client assets of CHF 96.3 billion, up 19.8%year-on-year and close to the CHF 100 billion threshold. Client accounts rose5.5% to 1.22 million, while net new money reached CHF 5.1 billion. Net revenueincreased 1.7% to CHF 364.2 million, supported by higher fee and commission,trading, interest and eForex income. Crypto was the exception, with cryptoincome falling 66.2%. The weaker crypto environment prompted Swissquote tolower its full-year guidance to about CHF 730 million in net revenue and CHF365 million in pre-tax profit. The company said its 2028 target of CHF 500million in pre-tax profit remains unchanged despite the near-term downgrade.Plus500 Announces $182.5 Million Shareholder PayoutPlus500announced $182.5 million in dividends and share buybacks, exceeding its$151.9 million first-half net profit. The package comprises $100 million ofbuybacks and $82.5 million of dividends, or $1.2001 per share. Totalshareholder returns announced by the company this year have reached $370million. Plus500 ended June with $861.3 million in cash and no debt. First-halfrevenue rose 12% to $462.9 million, while operating expenses increased 20% to$278.5 million. EBITDA rose only 1% to $187.5 million, reducing the margin to41%. The company attributed the higher cost base partly to increased customeracquisition spending, US-related costs and the stronger Israeli shekel.Plus500 Targets 20% Margin for US BusinessPlus500expects its US futures and prediction markets business to achieve a profitmargin of 20% or more, according to Chief Executive David Zruia. Hecompared that expected margin with a 10% market practice figure. The USoperation is part of the group’s non-OTC business, which also includes sharedealing and generated about $70 million of revenue in the first half, orroughly 15% of group revenue. Plus500 is targeting annualised revenue of about$140 million from the business in 2026. The company does not report the USoperation as a separate segment and has not disclosed a profit figure. Zruia’s marginestimate is therefore a management expectation rather than a reported result.MFSA Puts Licence Quality Ahead of MiCA VolumeMalta Financial Services Authority CEO Kenneth Farrugia saidtheregulator is prioritising the quality of applicants over the number oflicences issued under MiCA. The MFSA has licensed 22 firms under the Europeancrypto framework, Farrugia told Finance Magnates, while stressing that strongergatekeeping reduces the risk of admitting problematic firms. He also discussedthe treatment of perpetual futures under Malta’s CFD rules and the unresolvedregulatory position of prediction markets. The MFSA is also considering howartificial intelligence-driven trading should be addressed. Farrugia said theregulator’s approach is focused on legitimate business rather than licencevolumes. His comments come as European regulators continue to refinesupervision under MiCA following the end of its transitional period.BREAKING: Nothing has changed in Malta, for Binance or any other crypto exchanges. No licenses were granted to anyone by Malta, as of yet.Some media, even crypto media, has such a bad habit of releasing misleading news that only hurts their own credibility and our industry. https://t.co/C9MdCngx70— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) February 21, 2020CFD Broker Trading Activity Falls Despite Stable AccountsRetail CFD brokers saw tradingactivity weaken in the second quarter even as account numbers remainedbroadly stable. FM Intelligence calculations showed monthly volume per activeaccount declined at 45 of 51 brokers tracked in both quarters. The median fell9.7% to $3.06 million, while aggregate monthly volume across the matched groupdeclined 7.3% to $30.5 trillion. Active accounts remained near 7.39 million,down only 0.4% excluding Japan. Only two brokers increased both active accountsand monthly trading volume. Six firms recorded higher volume per activeaccount, although four achieved that result while their estimated account basesdeclined. The data indicates that account growth did not translate directlyinto higher trading activity during the quarter.ASIC Proposes Extending CFD Capital Rules to 2032ASIC has proposed extending Australia’scapital requirements for retail OTC derivatives issuers until October 2032,five years beyond the current expiry date. The regulator is not proposing tochange the existing test, which requires the greater of AU$1 million or 10% ofaverage revenue. Half must be held in cash or cash equivalents and half inliquid assets. The rules have applied since January 2014 and are scheduled toexpire in October 2027. ASIC said its review found the instruments effectiveand necessary. Consultation on the proposed extension closes on 8 September.CFD-related cases accounted for about 37% of ASIC’s record AU$830 million incourt-ordered civil penalties over the past year.Spotware Adds AI-Controlled Trading Through cTrader CLISpotwarelaunched cTrader CLI, a command-line tool that allows users to managetrading accounts, cBots, backtests and market data without relying on the maingraphical interface. The tool supports Windows and Linux environments,including a Docker image, and allows bots to run as external processes. Itscommand set covers account and symbol information, market data, orders,positions and trading history, while users can start or stop cBots and changeparameters. Spotware said third-party AI applications can translatenatural-language instructions into commands, extending automation beyond theplatform interface. Backtests can use server data, local files or customdatasets, with reports available in HTML or JSON. Match-Trade Opens Broker APIs to AI SystemsMatch-TradeTechnologies introduced AI Skills for its Broker API and CRM API, givingcompatible AI systems structured access to broker data and integrationdocumentation. The tools are designed to let users describe an intended outcomewhile AI assembles relevant API connections, which technical teams can thenreview. Match-Trade highlighted applications including reporting,reconciliation, commission calculations and client-level profitabilityanalysis. The Skills can combine CRM records with trading and sales data,including positions, trade counts and account information. The company alsoused Claude to build dashboards covering traded instruments, prop tradingaccounts and prediction market activity. Match-Trade said the approach reducesthe need to build and test individual API integrations manually, while leavingproduction deployment subject to technical validation.MetaQuotes Reports 1 Trillion Tokens Through MT5 AIMetaQuotes said users have processed more than 1trillion tokens through its built-in AI assistant since the tool wasintroduced for the MT5 client terminal in July. Chief Business OfficerChristoforos Theodoulou described the assistant as an orchestrated coding agentpowered by large language models, supporting code analysis, multi-step actionsand routine workflow automation. MetaQuotes said thousands of MT5 users areapplying the tool to tasks including chart analysis and automated strategydevelopment. The token figure indicates substantial early usage, but it doesnot measure trading performance or financial outcomes. Token consumption canreflect repeated prompts, debugging or other activity without demonstrating animprovement in strategy quality. Trading Frequency Alone Does Not Explain Trader BehaviourOded Shefer, CEO of CPattern, says a recent study linkingfrequent stock trading among young men with feelings of failure highlights thelimits of using trading frequency as a measure of trader behaviour. Theresearch found that 64%of daily-trading men aged 18 to 29 described themselves as failures, butfrequency alone does not establish why someone trades frequently or how theyexperience losses. Financial pessimism may also influence the decision to entermarkets, while different instruments attract traders with different objectivesand risk profiles. A stock investor may behave differently from a CFD, forex,options or prediction-market trader. Understanding behaviour therefore requiresmore than one metric, with trading history, experience, strategy and othercharacteristics needed to put frequency into context.Emerging-Market Currencies Outpace G10 in 2026Emerging-market currencies have outperformed manytraditional G10 pairs this year, supported by high interest-rate differentialsand relatively low volatility, according to Paul Golden. The Brazilian real,Mexican peso and South African rand have been among the stronger performers.Thereal has gained 8% against the US dollar since January, with Brazil’spolicy rate at 14%. One measure of the carry trade was up about 12% by April,its strongest start to a year since 2023. The strategy has benefited fromborrowing lower-yielding currencies such as the yen or Swiss franc and buyinghigher-yielding emerging-market currencies.The gains highlight the potentialappeal of emerging markets for FX traders, although liquidity, volatility andcountry-specific risks remain important considerations.Revolut Secures French Banking LicenceRevolut received afull French banking licence from the European Central Bank following a jointassessment with France’s ACPR, giving the fintech its second banking entitywithin the European Union. Revolut Bank S.A. will initially serve Frenchcustomers before expanding the structure to Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugaland Spain. Its Lithuanian banking entity will continue to cover the rest of theEuropean Economic Area. Revolut said it has committed more than €1 billionacross Western Europe and plans to hire more than 600 people in the region.Thelicence comes after the ECB imposed restrictions on new product launches byRevolut’s Lithuanian bank in 2025. The French announcement did not confirmwhether similar restrictions would apply to the new entity.Revolut Names Former Trading.com CEO to Cyprus CryptoUnitRevolut has appointed former Trading.com CEO GeorgiosVasiliou to lead its digital assets unit in Cyprus. Vasiliou spent 12 yearswithin XM’s group, including five years at Trading.com, where he served firstas chief risk officer before becoming chief executive. He previously spentseven years at XM, moving from the dealing desk into risk management. Vasilioureplaces Costas Michael, the founding CEO who stepped down earlier this yearand remains a board adviser. The appointment comes as Revolut expands regulatedcrypto services under MiCA. Its Cyprus unit was among the early recipients of aCySEC Crypto Asset Service Provider licence. Vasiliou’s risk background adds toRevolut’s focus on compliance as European crypto supervision develops.This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.