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Bybit is adding options to a product that never holds the underlying shares, even though real, exchange-listed options on both stocks already exist. Bybit will launch what it calls Perp Options on 17 September at 8 pm UTC, starting with contracts on SpaceX (SPCX) and Nvidia (NVDA). The products let users trade options around the clock, with fractional lots, USDT settlement, and portfolio margin available to all users within Bybit's Unified Trading Account. Bybit plans to add new expiries regularly and says Tesla, the Invesco QQQ ETF, SOXL and Micron are coming next. The exchange's own announcement describes the launch as "an industry first." A Derivative of a Derivative The options don't settle against SpaceX or Nvidia shares directly. Their underlying is Bybit's own perpetual futures contracts - SPCXUSDT and NVDAUSDT - which themselves track the stocks' prices without Bybit holding or delivering any actual shares. An option buyer is therefore taking a position in a synthetic instrument that mirrors the stock, with no path to the underlying equity anywhere in the chain.The perpetuals themselves have no expiration date, but the new options will, with Bybit adding fresh expiries on an ongoing basis. Meanwhile both underlying names already trade on regulated US options markets. SpaceX completed its IPO on Nasdaq on 12 June, and standard, exchange-listed options on SPCX began trading four days later; Nvidia options have traded on US exchanges for years. Bybit's version offers weekend and overnight trading, fractional sizing, and access without a US brokerage account, but it also sits outside the clearing and settlement infrastructure that governs the regulated contracts, and carries no claim on the shares themselves. Part of a Rapid Listing Pattern SPCXUSDT itself launched on Bybit in May, marketed at the time as pre-IPO exposure to SpaceX ahead of its since-completed listing. It's part of a broader push by Bybit into single-name and ETF-linked perpetuals: in the past month alone, the exchange has listed contracts tracking consumer-staples and utilities ETFs, McDonald's and Shein, among others. Tokenised and synthetic equity-perpetual trading has grown quickly across the industry. The volume rose from about $85 billion in January to roughly $470 billion in June, according to The Block, with SpaceX the most-traded single name that month at more than $66 billion. Coinbase, Kraken and Robinhood have all moved toward round-the-clock equity access in some form over the same period. Bybit has not published the contract specifications, settlement methodology, margin requirements or jurisdictional restrictions for Perp Options beyond the marketing details in its announcement.This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/Jq8LE0c

Capital.com’s UK regulated business reported a sharp fall in revenue and profit for 2025, after an internal group reorganisation moved some employees and operational activities into a separate group service company. The FCA-regulated entity reported a weaker set of headline figures for 2025, with net trading revenue falling to £18.8 million from £40.9 million a year earlier. Profit also declined, although the accounts show that part of the movement reflected a changed operating structure inside the group rather than a discontinued business line. The largest shift came from rebate income received from group companies, which remained the main revenue line but fell sharply year on year. At the same time, income from other services increased, while revenue share payable declined. The accounts cover Capital.Com (UK) Limited only, not consolidated results for the wider Capital.com group.Headcount falls after internal reorganisation A notable operational change came in staffing. Capital.Com (UK) Limited reported an average monthly headcount of 30 employees in 2025, compared with 116 in 2024. Staff costs fell to £5.0 million from £19.5 million. The annual report said the company underwent an internal reorganisation during the year: certain employees and operational activities moved to a newly established group service entity, though they continued supporting the same group-wide and client-facing operations as before.The company said the change altered the basis on which the UK entity is remunerated by the group, and that the lower revenue and total assets compared with the prior year reflected this shift rather than a discontinuation of any business activity or product line. Administrative expenses fell to £12.8 million from £33.4 million, largely reflecting the smaller reported staff base after the internal reorganisation. Staff costs accounted for the biggest change, dropping to £5.0 million from £19.5 million. Other cost lines moved differently. Direct expenses increased to about £5.4 million from £1.3 million, mainly as marketing and promotion fees and other direct costs rose year on year.Client Funds Rise Despite Lower Reported Revenue The balance sheet told a different story on client money. Segregated client funds rose to £21.7 million at the end of 2025, from £19.7 million a year earlier. The company also paid a £4.0 million dividend during the year, compared with none in 2024. Its regulatory capital note stated that the company met its FCA capital requirements throughout the year. The filing shows two separate developments within the UK entity: lower reported revenue and profit following the change in group operating structure, and higher segregated client funds at year-end. That distinction matters, because the 54% revenue decline applies to Capital Com (UK) Limited, not the wider Capital.com group.This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/EMHYxu9

eToro has entered intoa multi-year partnership with Leeds United Football Club, becoming the OfficialTrading Partner of the club's men's and women's teams from the 2026/27 season.The partnershipextends eToro's existing presence in sports sponsorship. In August 2025, theplatform signed a multi-year agreement to become the Official Trading Partnerof Nottingham Forest, covering the club's men's and women's teams. eToroalso partners with Crystal Palace across its men's and women's teams, as wellas four Ligue 1 clubs and PremiershipMen's and Women's Rugby.eToro Adds Leeds Matchday BrandingStephanieWilks-Wiffen, Director of Marketing at eToro, said Leeds United has “apassionate community of supporters in Yorkshire and around the world”. Sheadded that the company plans to work with the club on content and experiencesintended to connect with supporters and make investing “feel more open andaccessible”.Under the partnership,eToro branding will appear at Elland Road during men's and women's first-teammatchdays. The company's branding will feature on pitch-side LED boards,stadium screens and interview backdrops. The partnership will also includedigital content and supporter activations.Football Partnership Aims to Reach WomenInvestorseToro said itspartnership with both Leeds United teams forms part of its broader effort tomake investing more visible and accessible, with a particular focus onencouraging more women to consider investing.“Loud Investing buildson that ambition with a particular focus on women,” the company said, notingthat women remain less likely to invest than men. Through football, eToro saidit aims to make investing “more visible and relatable”.The financial terms ofthe Leeds United agreement were not disclosed.This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/CW7eTol

The age that lets someone bet on football through a prediction market is three years younger than the age that lets them do it at a sportsbook. Users between 18 and 20 years old traded an estimated $5.4 billion on Kalshi so far this year, according to a CNN analysis published 28 August. That’s legal because prediction markets are regulated federally as financial products under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which sets no minimum age above 18. However, sports and parlays make up roughly 80% of Kalshi’s overall volume, and much of that trading looks like sports betting where the age bar is set at 21. A Backdoor for the IndustryThe American Gaming Association, the casino industry’s lobbying group, has cited Kalshi’s youth trading figures as part of its broader campaign to have sports event contracts regulated as sports betting rather than financial products. “Most parents and grandparents don’t realise that the ‘prediction markets’ are offering a backdoor into sports-betting in jurisdictions where the legal betting age is 21,” AGA president Bill Miller told CNN. The age gap is one argument in a wider fight: Kalshi also faces separate federal-court challenges over how event contracts should be classified, backed by 44 state attorneys general, dozens of tribal gaming authorities and the casino industry.Three Platforms, Two Age Strategies Not every platform uses the federal minimum. Novig and Fanatics’ prediction-markets business have both voluntarily set their own age floor at 21, even though CFTC rules would allow them to accept users from 18. Fanatics has presented its decision as a general principle, saying that 21 is the appropriate minimum age for any activity involving real money. Novig has connected its limit more directly to its relationships with sports organisations. CEO Jacob Fortinsky told CNN that the company had listened to concerns raised by the NCAA and professional leagues and wanted to remain a “good partner” to them. These explanations point to two distinct rationales: a company-wide position on real-money products at Fanatics and a league-focused reputational policy at Novig. Neither company has described the restriction as a condition for obtaining state sports-betting licences. Whether voluntary restraint eventually produces a regulatory or commercial advantage remains untested. For now, it excludes customers who are generating billions of dollars in volume on a competing platform. The Age Limit Could Still ChangeTwo separate efforts are underway to raise that age to 21, and neither has succeeded so far.The first is at the CFTC itself. The agency's own proposed rule on prediction markets did not include an age change and kept the minimum at 18. During the public comment period, which closed 27 July, the NCAA, NFL, NBA and PGA Tour each submitted comments urging the CFTC to raise the minimum specifically for sports event contracts to 21, arguing the risk of financial harm to 18-to-20-year-olds is comparable to the risk from sports betting. The CFTC is still reviewing those comments and could issue a final rule as proposed, revise it, or not complete the rulemaking at all; no decision date has been set.The second is in Congress, and is unrelated to the CFTC process. A bill called the Prediction Markets Security and Integrity Act of 2026 (S. 4060) is still pending. If passed in its current form, it would raise the federal minimum from 18 to 21 across prediction markets, and would also tie a platform's ability to operate in a state to a state-approved wagering programme with federal sign-off.This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/QmX6ieA

Stavros Economides hasleft Match-Prime Liquidity after almost seven years with the company, accordingto a LinkedIn post published today (Friday). He most recently served as ChiefOperating Officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.“When I joined,liquidity was a very different conversation than it is today,” Economides said.He described his time at Match-Prime as the most rewarding stretch of hiscareer, citing his involvement in building its technology, client relationshipsand reputation.“What I'll take withme isn't the numbers. It's the people,” he said.Economides Held Dealing Roles AcrossBrokersMatch-Prime Liquidityis a brand owned and operated by MTG Liquidity Ltd. The company providesliquidity for forex and CFDs and isauthorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.Before joiningMatch-Prime, Economides spent about two and a half years as Head of DealingDesk at Q8 Trade, operated by Q8 Securities, which is regulated by Kuwait'sCapital Markets Authority.He then spent about ayear as Head of Trading at TeleTrade, following just over two years as a SeniorDealer at Capital Index.Earlier in his career,Economides spent just over two years as a Forex/Securities Dealer atMarkets.com.Match-Prime Expands Regional LeadershipThe departure comes as Match-Prime hascontinued to expand its management and regional presence. In January, theliquidity provider appointedKareem Harras as Head of MENA, tasking him with leading its expansionacross the Middle East and North Africa.Match-Prime Expands 24/7 CFD OfferingMatch-Prime has also expanded its productoffering this year. In June, itintroduced 24/7 CFDs on gold, silver, WTI crude oil, US100 and US500through its Cyprus-regulated entity. The products are available via MT4, MT5,cTrader, Match-Trader and FIX API connectivity. Leverage was set at 5x, with a 20% marginrequirement and $1 million net open position limits. When underlying marketsare closed, Match-Prime uses an internal price discovery mechanism with pricebands and a decay function.This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/hzCOS4X

Chelsea Football Club has signed Circle Internet Group as a principal partner, making the USDC stablecoin issuer the club's official front-of-shirt sponsor from the 2026/27 season. Circle and USDC branding will appear on Chelsea's Men's, Women's and Academy shirts, debuting at Stamford Bridge this Sunday when the men's team hosts Brighton in its Premier League season opener.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Circle trades on the NYSE under the ticker CRCL and issues USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin. The company went public in June 2025 at $31 a share. The stock climbed as high as roughly $290 in the months after listing before falling back sharply amid valuation concerns, and it has remained volatile through 2026.NEW FRONT OF SHIRT. 💙 Welcome to Chelsea, @USDC by @Circle. 🤝 From 2026/27, Circle becomes our new Principal Partner and Official Front-of-Shirt Partner across the men’s, women’s and academy teams. Bringing together the global game and the future of finance.— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 28, 2026A Deal Three Years in the MakingThe sponsorship fills a gap that has followed Chelsea since 2023, when its roughly £40 million-a-year deal with telecoms group Three ended following the sale of the club by Roman Abramovich. Chelsea spent parts of three seasons with blank shirts or short-term arrangements, including one-season deals with sports technology firm Infinite Athlete and a partial partnership with property developer DAMAC, while holding out for a longer-term agreement.Read more: How the FCA Just Handed Regulated CFD Brokers a Premier League Window"Partnering with Chelsea connects us with a global sports community built on that exact same borderless vision," said Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire.Chelsea president Jason Gannon, meanwhile, pointed out that the partnership positions the club at the front of football's digital shift, while Chelsea Women CEO Aki Mandhar said the deal coincides with the women's team's first season playing home matches at Stamford Bridge."We are two organisations fixated by the future and are relentlessly innovating to be in the best position possible for the long-term," said Gannon.Stablecoins Chase the Football CrowdThe agreement is the latest instance of a stablecoin issuer moving into elite football sponsorship. Industry estimates put crypto-related sports sponsorship spending at roughly $565 million for the 2024/25 season, with football accounting for the majority and spending up around 20 percent year on year. Earlier crypto shirt deals in English football included Watford's Bitcoin and Dogecoin sponsorships from crypto betting site Stake.com between 2019 and 2021.Circle's move also follows a more direct push into football ownership by a rival stablecoin issuer. In December 2025, Tether, issuer of USDT, submitted a binding all-cash offer to acquire Exor's majority stake in Italian club Juventus, a deal that would take crypto involvement in football beyond sponsorship into outright ownership if approved.Chelsea's men's team enters the new season as reigning FIFA Club World Cup champions following their win over Paris Saint-Germain in 2025. Both the men's and women's teams will carry Circle's branding on their shirts through the 2026/27 campaign under the new agreement.This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/sfDORzh

The European trading landscape has gained a new regulated participant with the arrival of Godo. The now CySEC-regulated broker was co-founded by Mohamed Ahmed and Ebieraja Alex, who served as Chief Executive Officer and Head of Business Development, respectively, at AvaTrade's Dubai operations. The two men left to launch Godo in 2021 under a licence from Mauritius, operating from a regional hub in Dubai.Bucking the Offshore TrendThe broker's decision to establish a regulated presence in Cyprus bucks the broader offshore shift seen across the retail brokerage sector in recent years, as several operators have surrendered their EU or UK licences to focus exclusively on offshore jurisdictions.A primary factor driving this departure has been the increasingly strict oversight imposed by regulators such as ESMA and the FCA.This offshore migration has included brand entities such as Orbex, BDSwiss-linked units, HTFX, and FXDD, with the latter being one of the latest, having relinquished its regulatory licence in Malta in August to operate offshore.Some Still Want the EU Despite that broader outflow, a smaller but steady stream of brokers continues to seek onshore European licences to build credibility with regional clients. UK-based Trade Nation, for instance, recently obtained a regulatory licence from the CMVM in Portugal to strengthen its EU presence.Luis Dos Santos, the Chief Executive Officer of Trade Nation’s Portuguese operations, said that operating in the EU is an essential step in establishing client trust. Speaking to Finance Magnates, he said, "Clients feel that it is safer to invest in an EU-regulated firm instead of an offshore entity; they feel that they are in a safer environment. It’s one less problem they need to think of when it comes to their trading journey,” he notes.This article was written by Adonis Adoni at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/iNGfgWM

Launching a brokerage has traditionally followed a familiar formula. This involves sourcing a CRM provider, selecting a trading platform, negotiating with liquidity providers, integrating payment service providers, engaging compliance consultants and managing multiple implementation timelines before a single client could be onboarded.For years, this was simply seen as the cost of entering the market. But the industry is starting to change.Today's regional brokerage operators are not asking for more technology, they are looking for less complexity. They want to launch faster, reduce upfront capital expenditure, minimise supplier management, and begin generating revenue before market opportunities disappear.The brokerage industry, however, is still largely selling infrastructure as though it's 2015.Why Broker Startups Struggle Before They Ever LaunchMany brokerage founders already have the market knowledge, client relationships and distribution capabilities needed to build a business. The challenge is turning those advantages into a live brokerage without taking on significant upfront costs and months of implementation work. Entrepreneurs with strong distribution capabilities often discover that the biggest obstacle is not demand, but infrastructure. Instead of working with one provider, they may have to coordinate multiple vendors, each with their own separate commercial agreements, implementation schedules and technical requirements.The result is a fragmented operating model. Projects that begin with enthusiasm quickly become exercises in vendor management. Implementation stretches from weeks into months, budgets expand well beyond initial expectations, and founders spend more time coordinating suppliers than building their business.The Rise of Integrated Brokerage Infrastructure Rather than treating brokerage infrastructure as a collection of standalone products, operators are increasingly adopting integrated operating models that combine technology, liquidity, payments, onboarding and compliance into a single solution.The aim is no longer to own every component of the technology stack. Instead, it is to make it simpler so management can focus on acquiring clients, expanding introducing broker networks, developing regional partnerships and growing revenue.This shift is particularly evident among regional operators entering high-growth markets, where speed of execution often matters more than building every capability from scratch.Technology Infrastructure providers such as L7 Prime are enabling this shift through integrated white-label brokerage launch models that replace fragmented vendor ecosystems with a single operating framework. The following case illustrates how this approach can fundamentally change both the cost and timeline of launching a brokerage.A Real Example from South AfricaOne regional operator in South Africa shows how an integrated approach is changing the economics of launching a brokerage.The ChallengeAn entrepreneur with deep local market knowledge and an existing IB network across Southern Africa wanted to launch a regulated FX and CFD brokerage under their own brand. They had the distribution and the client relationships but no CRM, no front-end, no regulatory framework, no liquidity relationships, and no payments infrastructure. Every vendor they approached required them to procure each component separately, manage multiple service provider contracts and accept a 4 to 6 months build timeline. The total estimated cost of assembling the stack independently exceeded $80,000 before a single client was onboarded.Looking for an alternative to the traditional multi-vendor model, the entrepreneur approached L7 Prime to explore whether an integrated white-label solution could accelerate the launch while reducing both complexity and upfront investment.The L7 Prime White Label SolutionL7 Prime delivered a fully branded, fully operational white-label brokerage in under 4 weeks. The build included custom trading groups, ZAR-denominated account structures, custom…

Swiss-headquartered interdealer broker Compagnie Financière Tradition (CFT) has posted solid financial results for the first half of 2026, supported by steady growth across its foreign exchange business.Revenue from Gaitame, the group's Japanese retail FX division, climbed 8.9% to $28.4 million (CHF 22.9 million) during the first six months of the year. The retail division benefited from the successful integration of Money Partners Group, a Tokyo-based retail broker that offers among others crypto CFDs and FX trading. The acquisition provided substantial business momentum and helped lift CFT's share of results from associates and joint ventures by 51% at constant exchange rates to $20.0 million (CHF 16.1 million).Broad Gains in Revenue and Group ProfitThe performance of the FX division formed part of a wider period of growth across CFT's operations. Total consolidated revenue, including joint ventures, increased by 10.4 percent year-on-year to $801.3 million (CHF 646.2 million), up from $783.8 million (CHF 632.1 million) in the first half of 2025. Reported consolidated revenue reached $741.3 million (CHF 597.8 million), up 11.0 percent at constant exchange rates.Operating profit stood at $109.1 million (CHF 88.0 million). While currency movements led to a slight 0.2 percent decline on a reported basis, underlying operating profit rose by 7.4 percent when calculated at constant exchange rates.Group net profit experienced double-digit expansion, rising 12.6 percent on a reported basis to $98.1 million (CHF 79.1 million), which equals a 22.5 percent increase at constant currency. Basic earnings per share subsequently improved by 14.1 percent to $12.93 (CHF 10.43).Balance Sheet Strength and Tech ExpansionCFT closed the period with a solid financial position, maintaining $329.6 million (CHF 265.8 million) in net cash, including its share in joint ventures, and total consolidated equity of $637.9 million (CHF 514.4 million).Moving into the second half of the year, the Group plans to pursue further organic expansion through targeted hiring in its commercial teams. It also confirmed it will continue investing in the digitalisation of its brokerage services, focusing on data analytics and artificial intelligence to support client services and improve operational efficiency across global markets.This article was written by Adonis Adoni at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/HamkNlV

TradeStation retail customers now have access to a suite of CME futures contracts on individual U.S. stocks. The available instruments include both standard-sized and micro-sized contracts across more than 50 leading U.S. stocks. The firm joined a growing list of brokers, including Schwab, NinjaTrader, EdgeClear, Optimus Futures and Plus500, who have already unlocked access to the single-stock futures launched by CME on July 27. Futures Exposure without Owning the SharesSingle-stock futures (SSFs) are another way to capitalise on individual U.S. stock price fluctuations. Traders can take long or short positions in CME-cleared futures contracts without owning or borrowing the underlying assets. Initially, TradeStation offers 55 standard and 22 micro SSFs across more than 50 US stocks, including names from the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and Russell 1000 universe, such as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META), Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPCX). Standard-sized contracts refer to 100 shares of a single company, while micro-sized contracts have a 10-share multiplier, lowering the barrier to entry for retail investors and giving traders greater flexibility in managing their exposure."SSFs give active traders one more way to trade the names they're already watching," said John Bartleman, President and CEO of TradeStation Group, Inc. The new contracts are available early 24 hours a day, Sunday through Friday. According to Bartleman, "paired with a margin-based, nearly around-the-clock structure, these new contracts provide another way for traders to explore new strategies."TradeStation Joins Broker RolloutTradeStation’s addition of single-stock futures puts the broker alongside other retail and futures platforms that have enabled access to CME’s new product suite since its July launch. For clients, the practical change is narrower than a new asset class and broader than another equity product. The contracts give active traders futures-style access to individual names, with margin-based long and short exposure, financial settlement and extended trading hours. The remaining commercial question is execution cost. TradeStation has not disclosed a dedicated commission structure for the new contracts, and futures trading fees normally depend on traded volume, exchange fees and regulatory charges. The launch therefore expands the set of equity-linked instruments available to TradeStation customers, while leaving pricing and execution quality as the points clients will compare with other brokers already offering CME’s single-stock futures.This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com. via News – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news https://ift.tt/S8hJYXl