Weekly Review: eToro Crypto Trades Fall 62%; IG Group Secures Court Approval for Jersey Move
eToro reported a 62% drop in cryptocurrency trades in October despite an 18% increase in funded accounts, while IG Group secured court approval for its move to Jersey ahead of a November listing switch.
eToro's clients placed 2 million cryptocurrency trades in October, down 62% from a year earlier, despite an 18% increase in funded accounts to 4.42 million. The average amount invested per crypto trade fell 29% to $228, reflecting a significant shift in trading behavior on the platform.
These figures follow a weaker third quarter when net income dropped 74% year-on-year to $15 million and net contribution declined 13% to $186 million. Adjusted EBITDA fell 56% to $34.2 million, though Chief Financial Officer Meron Shani noted that crypto activity had recovered sequentially compared with the second quarter.
Futures Prop Firms Face Pricing Model Challenges
Several futures proprietary trading firms have moved away from monthly subscriptions towards one-time challenge fees, raising questions about sustainability. Apex, Tradeify, Bulenox and My Funded Futures made this shift in 2026, while exchange data costs continue to recur monthly for active users.
The mismatch between recurring operating costs and one-off customer payments remains a central challenge.
CME's real-time annual licence fee is $29,280 per exchange, with many firms accessing data through platform vendors rather than licensing directly. TradersYard's co-founder noted that a prop-specific simulation licence requires all four exchanges, bringing the base fee to $117,120 annually before additional monthly charges.
Net margins have fallen from 25-30% to 10-15%, according to TradersYard CEO Manuel Sonnleithner, citing internal industry data. Platform expenses and higher operating costs make low-priced challenges harder to sustain, with futures firms generally facing higher costs than CFD prop firms.
Industry Veterans Launch New Ventures
Three former iS Prime executives have launched JT Prime, a prime-of-prime liquidity provider targeting brokers, funds, family offices and proprietary trading firms. Raj Sitlani and Jonathan Brewer, who co-founded iS Prime in 2014, established the business alongside Jeff Wilkins, who previously led iS Prime's risk analytics operation.
JT Prime will offer aggregated Tier 1 bank and non-bank liquidity across foreign exchange, precious metals and index CFDs, with FIX API connectivity. The business operates as the institutional arm of retail broker JT Markets, which currently holds a Seychelles licence while an application in an unnamed Western market remains pending.
Broker Expansions and Regulatory Moves
CFI Financial Group has received in-principle approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for its crypto brokerage subsidiary, CFIX. The approval covers broker-dealer services, but the company cannot begin offering virtual asset services until it receives a full licence.
IG Group secured court approval for its proposed move from England and Wales to Jersey, bringing the restructuring closer to completion. The transition will establish a new Jersey-incorporated holding company, Jenkins Topco, which will be renamed IG Group Holdings. The move is scheduled to take effect on 13 November, with existing shares cancelled and new shares issued through the Jersey entity.
CFI's independent chairman, Federico Cirulli, outlined how the board oversees management as the broker expands. He said independent directors should pressure-test management proposals rather than routinely block them, noting that governance and internal controls must keep pace with the company's 123% year-on-year trading volume growth to $3.45 trillion in Q3.
AI Technologies Transform Broker Operations
Artificial intelligence agents are increasingly able to interact directly with retail trading accounts, creating new monitoring challenges for forex and CFD brokers. Connections through platforms like MetaTrader and cTrader allow AI tools to access trading functions through Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, making it difficult for dealing desks to distinguish automated orders from manual trades.
Forex brokers are also considering AI voice agents for customer acquisition and routine communications. However, Anish Lal of BlackBull Markets argued that voice agents should only support administrative tasks, not provide trading advice or encourage deposits, and that transparency about AI interaction is crucial.
eToro plans to generate $100 million in Latin American revenue within two to three years using its proposed acquisition of Argentine fintech LB Finanzas as a regional base. The company agreed to acquire the investing and payments app for less than $20 million, marking its fourth deal announced in 2026.
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