Fazzaco Weekly Digest: Russia Suspends Forex Sale; Stax Achieves Unicorn Status; ADDX Taps New CEO

Take a look at the latest happenings in this week's news digest from around the forex and fintech industry. Here are some of the top headlines from this past week.

1. Russia Suspends Forex Sale Until September 9, Central Bank Reports​

Russia has suspended the sale of foreign currencies until September 9, the central bank said in a statement Wednesday, amid unprecedented economic sanctions on the country following its offensive in Ukraine.

Between March 9 and September 9 "the banks will not be able to sell foreign currencies to citizens," said the statement, which added that Russians would however be able to change foreign currencies into the local ruble unit during that window.

2. All-in-One Payments Platform Stax Achieves Unicorn Status

Stax, an all-in-one payments platform, led by sibling co-founders Suneera Madhani, CEO, and Sal Rehmetullah, president, announced its latest funding raise of $245 million. 

Stax's latest funding round and unicorn status represents a major step forward for minority-led companies looking to make their mark. The payments platform will use the new capital to expand product capabilities, enhance its customer offerings, grow its team and expand internationally.

3. ADDX To Appoint Investment Banking Veteran Oi-Yee Choo as New CEO​

Private market platform ADDX has announced that Oi-Yee Choo will be appointed its Chief Executive Officer, subject to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) approval.

Ms Choo joined the company as Chief Commercial Officer in January 2020, moving from UBS, where she was Head of Investment Banking for Singapore. Leading the company into its next phase of growth, she projects that the ADDX platform will record US$1 billion in transactions by 2023, entrenching its position as Asia's largest private market exchange.

4. eToro Reports 85% Y/Y Rise in Total Commissions in Q4 2021​

eToro, the leading social investing network, has announced its fourth quarter 2021 and full-year financial results.

The broker's total commissions stood at $304 million, up 85% compared with Q4 2020. The net trading income was $237 million, up 50% YoY. It welcomed 2.1 million new registered users, up 31% compared with Q4 2020 with 26.9 million total registered users as of December 31, 2021.

5. INFINOX Introduces Global End-to-End Crypto Trading Solution

Global trading solutions provider INFINOX has officially launched an end-to-end cryptocurrency trading solution on the INFINOX platform. The solution will be available across Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia regions, and will allow users to trade crypto CFDs seamlessly.

By trading cryptocurrencies on the INFINOX platform, traders will now be able to trade both the bull run AND any crashes in global crypto markets, through different trading strategies like day trading. The newly launched service comes with no deposit or withdrawal fees.

6. StoneX Appoints John Radziwill as Chairman of Its Board of Directors​

StoneX Group Inc., a diversified global brokerage and financial services firm, announced that John Radziwill was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

John Radziwill was elected as a director of StoneX Group Inc. in December 2002. Mr. Radziwill is currently a director of Goldcrown Group Limited, and Onyx International Growth Fund Limited, Fifth Street Capital (BVI) and Netsurion LLC (formerly VendorSafe Technologies Inc.).

7. New Zealand FMA Warns Against Capital Cycles Limited

The New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority (FMA) warns that Capital Cycles Limited has falsely claimed that they are legally registered, and the website https://capitalcycleslimited.com may be involved in a scam.

According to the FMA, the company registration details of a New Zealand company, Capital Cycles Limited (NZBN: 9429036155132), is noted on the website. Capital Cycles Limited have confirmed that they are not associated with the website.