MetaQuotes is quietly reshaping a vital a part of the buying and selling know-how stack. It stepped immediately into the liquidity bridge area in 2025 when it launched Ultency, transferring into part of the buying and selling tech stack that had lengthy been dominated by third-party suppliers for the reason that early MT4 period.
Singapore Summit: Meet the most important APAC brokers (and people you continue to do not!).
This bridge infrastructure is what hyperlinks brokers’ inside platforms with exterior liquidity swimming pools, and for years MetaQuotes left that function to others. That hands-off method has clearly modified. The corporate has reportedly poured thousands and thousands into constructing a world server community to assist Ultency.
However it’s Ultency’s pricing that basically stands out. The service prices a flat US$1 per US$1 million traded, with progressive reductions for greater volumes, undercutting what seems to be the trade norm. In contrast, most third-party bridge suppliers cost brokers on a volume-based mannequin, the place infrastructure prices rise as buying and selling exercise grows, making Ultency’s construction significantly engaging to high-volume brokers.
Hantec markets Q1 quantity hits report excessive
A number of brokers launched their earnings this week. Hantec Markets recorded its strongest first quarter on report in 2026, pushed by a pointy enhance in buying and selling volumes. The efficiency builds on the momentum the corporate established in 2025, supported by continued progress throughout its buying and selling exercise and product choices.
The agency reported $1.206 trillion in buying and selling quantity for Q1 2026, up from $437.7 billion in the identical interval final yr, marking a 176% year-on-year enhance. This additionally exceeded its earlier quarterly excessive of $1.013 trillion in This autumn 2025, representing an additional rise of about 19%.
Plus500 raises outlook as Q1 income climbs 18%
On the similar time, Plus500 reported $242.1 million in income for the primary quarter, marking an 18% enhance in comparison with the identical interval final yr. The corporate additionally mentioned it now expects its full-year 2026 income and EBITDA to exceed present market forecasts.
The London-listed dealer attributed the sturdy efficiency to greater shopper exercise, a rising share of higher-value prospects, and continued enlargement in its US futures and prediction markets enterprise, which helped drive a 24% enhance in income in comparison with the earlier quarter.
Buying and selling 212 UK progress continues
Extra numbers this week got here from Trading212 UK, which strengthened its place within the UK retail buying and selling market in 2025, reporting a 72% leap in income to £277.6 million. Pre-tax revenue rose to £123.1 million from £52.9 million a yr earlier, whereas internet revenue reached £92.2 million.
The dealer provides each CFD and inventory buying and selling. It generates CFD income from market making, spreads, and in a single day financing, whereas its zero-commission inventory buying and selling mannequin earns primarily from foreign exchange conversion charges and curiosity on shopper money.
E8 Markets warns retail merchants off CFD brokers
Within the prop buying and selling area, E8 Markets, a prop buying and selling agency that now describes itself as a “SaaS instructional simulation platform for monetary markets,” warned retail merchants in opposition to the dangers of depositing funds with FX, futures, and crypto brokers. The announcement was tied to US Nationwide Monetary Literacy Month.
Supply: E8 Markets
The corporate additionally launched a loyalty program named after one in all its top-earning customers, Tom Gibbs. Whereas losses amongst FX and CFD merchants are extensively documented, E8 didn’t present knowledge on loss charges inside prop corporations buying and selling in simulated markets, the place trade figures additionally counsel unfavorable outcomes.
Axi says 46% of purchasers maintain crypto throughout CFDs
Axi mentioned 46% of its purchasers now maintain cryptocurrencies as a part of their portfolios, regardless of a current three-month interval of low volatility within the digital asset market.
The dealer famous that adoption covers its full vary of crypto merchandise, together with perpetual contracts, CFDs, and spot buying and selling by means of its “Purchase Crypto” characteristic, which permits customers to purchase, promote, and maintain digital belongings. The transfer displays a broader pattern of CFD brokers increasing into spot crypto companies.
Russia’s foreign exchange quantity hits report $68B
In the meantime, Russia’s regulated foreign exchange market recorded a quarterly buying and selling quantity of $68.6 billion in Q1 2026, the best on report. Nevertheless, trade knowledge suggests the expansion is concentrated somewhat than broad-based.
In line with the market’s self-regulatory physique, 90.6% of the full quantity got here from purchasers of a single agency, Alfa-Foreign exchange. Russia has three licensed foreign exchange sellers, with the opposite two accounting for lower than 10% of whole turnover.
AI RegTech lure: why instruments fail unprepared corporations
AI is changing into central to RegTech, with corporations utilizing it to enhance surveillance, reporting, AML detection, and oversight of communications and monetary promotions. Nevertheless, its effectiveness underneath regulatory scrutiny will rely primarily on two elements: explainability and safety.
Whereas regulators and trade contributors are actively discussing AI-related dangers, there stays a spot between these discussions and the event of techniques to handle them in observe. This disconnect leaves corporations uncovered from a compliance and operational standpoint.
New York targets Coinbase and Gemini over prediction markets
Within the Wild West of the prediction markets, New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Coinbase and Gemini, alleging that their prediction market platforms function as unlawful playing companies. The case, filed in Manhattan, seeks to cease each exchanges from providing these merchandise in New York except they get hold of state gaming licenses.
.@Gemini and @coinbase‘s so-called prediction markets are simply unlawful playing operations that expose younger individuals to addictive platforms.
Playing by one other identify remains to be playing. I am suing to cease these platforms from breaking the regulation.https://t.co/DosDKe2un1
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) April 21, 2026
The lawsuit argues that prediction markets ought to be handled as unregulated wagering somewhat than monetary devices. James mentioned the platforms quantity to “playing by one other identify” and should not exempt from state playing legal guidelines and constitutional necessities.
The prediction market trade spent $1.84 million on federal lobbying within the first quarter of 2026, a report degree and greater than 60% greater than in the identical interval in 2025. This marks the most important quarterly lobbying outlay but reported by corporations within the sector.
The determine offers the primary concrete indication of how a lot the trade is investing in political affect because it confronts rising legislative and regulatory scrutiny. It underscores the extent to which prediction market operators are ramping up formal engagement with policymakers in response to that strain.
Polymarket targets $15B valuation in pre-ruling fundraise
Moreover, Polymarket is in talks to lift an extra $400 million, which might raise its present funding spherical to $1 billion and worth the corporate at about $15 billion, based on The Data.
The talks come as investor curiosity in prediction market platforms continues to develop. The additional capital would construct on a $600 million funding already dedicated by Intercontinental Alternate (ICE), the guardian of the New York Inventory Alternate. ICE has beforehand outlined plans to take a strategic stake of as much as $2 billion within the platform.
Kalshi and Polymarket push into perpetuals
Kalshi and Polymarket are each transferring into the perpetual futures market, increasing past event-based contracts and positioning themselves in direct competitors with offshore crypto exchanges that at present dominate this section.
We value the long run.
Now you possibly can lever it.
Perps are coming to Polymarket.
Join early entry 👇 pic.twitter.com/j3PRHhxv8N
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) April 21, 2026
Bloomberg reported that Kalshi plans to launch crypto perpetual futures within the coming weeks, citing a supply aware of the matter. Shortly after the report, Polymarket introduced the same providing, turning what might have been a low-profile rollout into a transparent race for market share in one of the vital actively traded crypto derivatives.
From insider dangers to Bitcoin technique debates
As US regulators proceed to debate who has jurisdiction over prediction markets, present and potential customers are being urged to think about the dangers they face when putting bets on these platforms. The Wall Avenue Journal reported that, in late March, White Home employees had been warned by way of e mail to not use private info obtained by means of their work to wager on occasion outcomes.
Responding to the report, Trump administration spokesman Davis Ingle advised the BBC that any suggestion officers had been concerned in such exercise with out proof was “baseless and irresponsible reporting.”
Govt strikes of the week: Scope Markets, BMLL, and Buying and selling
Applied sciences
Within the govt strikes of the week, former Scope MarketsRegional Head Kubra Caglar joined Tattvam Markets as Head of Industrial within the
United Arab Emirates. She took up the function in April 2026 after practically 9
years with Scope Markets, the place she held a senior regional place.
BMLL Applied sciences appointed 9 new staff throughout partnerships, gross sales, income operations, finance, and engineering. The hires
are a part of the London-based market knowledge agency’s ongoing industrial and
technical enlargement following its acquisition by Nordic Capital in October final
yr.
Lastly, Buying and selling Applied sciences has reorganized its senior
administration staff, creating a brand new Chief Technique Officer function for present ChiefRevenue Officer Nick Garrow and appointing Josh Monroe as the brand new CRO.
MetaQuotes is quietly reshaping a vital a part of the buying and selling know-how stack. It stepped immediately into the liquidity bridge area in 2025 when it launched Ultency, transferring into part of the buying and selling tech stack that had lengthy been dominated by third-party suppliers for the reason that early MT4 period.
Singapore Summit: Meet the most important APAC brokers (and people you continue to do not!).
This bridge infrastructure is what hyperlinks brokers’ inside platforms with exterior liquidity swimming pools, and for years MetaQuotes left that function to others. That hands-off method has clearly modified. The corporate has reportedly poured thousands and thousands into constructing a world server community to assist Ultency.
However it’s Ultency’s pricing that basically stands out. The service prices a flat US$1 per US$1 million traded, with progressive reductions for greater volumes, undercutting what seems to be the trade norm. In contrast, most third-party bridge suppliers cost brokers on a volume-based mannequin, the place infrastructure prices rise as buying and selling exercise grows, making Ultency’s construction significantly engaging to high-volume brokers.
Hantec markets Q1 quantity hits report excessive
A number of brokers launched their earnings this week. Hantec Markets recorded its strongest first quarter on report in 2026, pushed by a pointy enhance in buying and selling volumes. The efficiency builds on the momentum the corporate established in 2025, supported by continued progress throughout its buying and selling exercise and product choices.
The agency reported $1.206 trillion in buying and selling quantity for Q1 2026, up from $437.7 billion in the identical interval final yr, marking a 176% year-on-year enhance. This additionally exceeded its earlier quarterly excessive of $1.013 trillion in This autumn 2025, representing an additional rise of about 19%.
Plus500 raises outlook as Q1 income climbs 18%
On the similar time, Plus500 reported $242.1 million in income for the primary quarter, marking an 18% enhance in comparison with the identical interval final yr. The corporate additionally mentioned it now expects its full-year 2026 income and EBITDA to exceed present market forecasts.
The London-listed dealer attributed the sturdy efficiency to greater shopper exercise, a rising share of higher-value prospects, and continued enlargement in its US futures and prediction markets enterprise, which helped drive a 24% enhance in income in comparison with the earlier quarter.
Buying and selling 212 UK progress continues
Extra numbers this week got here from Trading212 UK, which strengthened its place within the UK retail buying and selling market in 2025, reporting a 72% leap in income to £277.6 million. Pre-tax revenue rose to £123.1 million from £52.9 million a yr earlier, whereas internet revenue reached £92.2 million.
The dealer provides each CFD and inventory buying and selling. It generates CFD income from market making, spreads, and in a single day financing, whereas its zero-commission inventory buying and selling mannequin earns primarily from foreign exchange conversion charges and curiosity on shopper money.
E8 Markets warns retail merchants off CFD brokers
Within the prop buying and selling area, E8 Markets, a prop buying and selling agency that now describes itself as a “SaaS instructional simulation platform for monetary markets,” warned retail merchants in opposition to the dangers of depositing funds with FX, futures, and crypto brokers. The announcement was tied to US Nationwide Monetary Literacy Month.
Supply: E8 Markets
The corporate additionally launched a loyalty program named after one in all its top-earning customers, Tom Gibbs. Whereas losses amongst FX and CFD merchants are extensively documented, E8 didn’t present knowledge on loss charges inside prop corporations buying and selling in simulated markets, the place trade figures additionally counsel unfavorable outcomes.
Axi says 46% of purchasers maintain crypto throughout CFDs
Axi mentioned 46% of its purchasers now maintain cryptocurrencies as a part of their portfolios, regardless of a current three-month interval of low volatility within the digital asset market.
The dealer famous that adoption covers its full vary of crypto merchandise, together with perpetual contracts, CFDs, and spot buying and selling by means of its “Purchase Crypto” characteristic, which permits customers to purchase, promote, and maintain digital belongings. The transfer displays a broader pattern of CFD brokers increasing into spot crypto companies.
Russia’s foreign exchange quantity hits report $68B
In the meantime, Russia’s regulated foreign exchange market recorded a quarterly buying and selling quantity of $68.6 billion in Q1 2026, the best on report. Nevertheless, trade knowledge suggests the expansion is concentrated somewhat than broad-based.
In line with the market’s self-regulatory physique, 90.6% of the full quantity got here from purchasers of a single agency, Alfa-Foreign exchange. Russia has three licensed foreign exchange sellers, with the opposite two accounting for lower than 10% of whole turnover.
AI RegTech lure: why instruments fail unprepared corporations
AI is changing into central to RegTech, with corporations utilizing it to enhance surveillance, reporting, AML detection, and oversight of communications and monetary promotions. Nevertheless, its effectiveness underneath regulatory scrutiny will rely primarily on two elements: explainability and safety.
Whereas regulators and trade contributors are actively discussing AI-related dangers, there stays a spot between these discussions and the event of techniques to handle them in observe. This disconnect leaves corporations uncovered from a compliance and operational standpoint.
New York targets Coinbase and Gemini over prediction markets
Within the Wild West of the prediction markets, New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Coinbase and Gemini, alleging that their prediction market platforms function as unlawful playing companies. The case, filed in Manhattan, seeks to cease each exchanges from providing these merchandise in New York except they get hold of state gaming licenses.
.@Gemini and @coinbase‘s so-called prediction markets are simply unlawful playing operations that expose younger individuals to addictive platforms.
Playing by one other identify remains to be playing. I am suing to cease these platforms from breaking the regulation.https://t.co/DosDKe2un1
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) April 21, 2026
The lawsuit argues that prediction markets ought to be handled as unregulated wagering somewhat than monetary devices. James mentioned the platforms quantity to “playing by one other identify” and should not exempt from state playing legal guidelines and constitutional necessities.
The prediction market trade spent $1.84 million on federal lobbying within the first quarter of 2026, a report degree and greater than 60% greater than in the identical interval in 2025. This marks the most important quarterly lobbying outlay but reported by corporations within the sector.
The determine offers the primary concrete indication of how a lot the trade is investing in political affect because it confronts rising legislative and regulatory scrutiny. It underscores the extent to which prediction market operators are ramping up formal engagement with policymakers in response to that strain.
Polymarket targets $15B valuation in pre-ruling fundraise
Moreover, Polymarket is in talks to lift an extra $400 million, which might raise its present funding spherical to $1 billion and worth the corporate at about $15 billion, based on The Data.
The talks come as investor curiosity in prediction market platforms continues to develop. The additional capital would construct on a $600 million funding already dedicated by Intercontinental Alternate (ICE), the guardian of the New York Inventory Alternate. ICE has beforehand outlined plans to take a strategic stake of as much as $2 billion within the platform.
Kalshi and Polymarket push into perpetuals
Kalshi and Polymarket are each transferring into the perpetual futures market, increasing past event-based contracts and positioning themselves in direct competitors with offshore crypto exchanges that at present dominate this section.
We value the long run.
Now you possibly can lever it.
Perps are coming to Polymarket.
Join early entry 👇 pic.twitter.com/j3PRHhxv8N
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) April 21, 2026
Bloomberg reported that Kalshi plans to launch crypto perpetual futures within the coming weeks, citing a supply aware of the matter. Shortly after the report, Polymarket introduced the same providing, turning what might have been a low-profile rollout into a transparent race for market share in one of the vital actively traded crypto derivatives.
From insider dangers to Bitcoin technique debates
As US regulators proceed to debate who has jurisdiction over prediction markets, present and potential customers are being urged to think about the dangers they face when putting bets on these platforms. The Wall Avenue Journal reported that, in late March, White Home employees had been warned by way of e mail to not use private info obtained by means of their work to wager on occasion outcomes.
Responding to the report, Trump administration spokesman Davis Ingle advised the BBC that any suggestion officers had been concerned in such exercise with out proof was “baseless and irresponsible reporting.”
Govt strikes of the week: Scope Markets, BMLL, and Buying and selling
Applied sciences
Within the govt strikes of the week, former Scope MarketsRegional Head Kubra Caglar joined Tattvam Markets as Head of Industrial within the
United Arab Emirates. She took up the function in April 2026 after practically 9
years with Scope Markets, the place she held a senior regional place.
BMLL Applied sciences appointed 9 new staff throughout partnerships, gross sales, income operations, finance, and engineering. The hires
are a part of the London-based market knowledge agency’s ongoing industrial and
technical enlargement following its acquisition by Nordic Capital in October final
yr.
Lastly, Buying and selling Applied sciences has reorganized its senior
administration staff, creating a brand new Chief Technique Officer function for present ChiefRevenue Officer Nick Garrow and appointing Josh Monroe as the brand new CRO.
