Last Week Recap: Monex Reports Loss; PCAOB Chair Ousted; Bitcoin.com Founder Extradition; Funded Unicorn Fails; Client Account P/L Report

Fazzaco continued extensively covering the latest trends in forex, crypto, fintech, and prop trading last week. The below is the selected highlights of last week.

Monex Europe Reports £2.3 million Loss in 2024 Loss

Monex Europe Holdings Limited, the European arm of Mexico-based Monex S.A.P.I. de C.V., has reported a loss before tax of £2.3 million for the year 2024. This marks a reduction from the £5.3 million loss recorded in 2023, despite an increase in net trading income, which climbed to £77.2 million from £73.3 million in the previous year.

Naga Co-Founder Ben Bilski Launches "True Trading AI"

Ben Bilski, known for co-founding NAGA Group and his past as a German swimming champion, has re-entered the cryptocurrency space with a new venture called "True Trading AI." This decentralized exchange (DEX) is currently in a pre-launch phase and claims to be the "world's first AI-native DEX," combining large language models with Solana's high-speed infrastructure.

SEC Chairman Requests Resignation of PCAOB Chair Erica Williams

Erica Williams, Chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), will step down on July 22 following a request for her resignation by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins. Williams announced her departure in an internal email to staff, which was reviewed by Reuters.

Bitcoin.com Founder Appeals to European Court in Fight Against U.S. Extradition

Roger Ver, a prominent early supporter of Bitcoin, has escalated his legal battle against extradition to the United States by filing a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights. Ver, who was arrested in Spain in April 2024, is facing multiple U.S. charges related to tax evasion and financial fraud, with potential penalties exceeding 100 years in prison if convicted.

FXPA Introduces Industry Guidance for Internalized Algo FX Trading

The Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) has released a new industry guidance paper aimed at clarifying practices around internalization in foreign exchange algorithmic execution. The document, the result of collaborative input from over 75 institutions, seeks to bring transparency and consistency to a practice that has grown in prominence across FX markets.

Behind Funded Unicorn's Fall Lies a Bigger Question: Vision or Exit Strategy?

In early July 2025, Funded Unicorn - the first German prop trading firm boasting their A-book model - announced its sudden shutdown in an email to clients. Founded by trading educator Thomas Hartmann, the company admitted it had suffered a high seven-figure loss due to the real-time mirroring of leveraged trades, which ultimately drained its financial reserves and rendered the business unsustainable.

Funded Unicorn's model involved assigning live accounts with high leverage to traders who passed challenges, mirroring their trades on a 1:1 basis in the real market. According to the company, many of these "challenge accounts" had performed flawlessly for weeks, only to blow up within two days of going live - leaving the firm unable to absorb the mounting losses. The collapse sent shockwaves through the prop trading community, once again exposing deep structural weaknesses in the sector's risk models.

Client Account Profit/Loss Ratio of 25 Brokers in July 2025​

Among the 25 brokers this month, an average of 26.38% of client accounts achieved profits, while 73.61% of client accounts suffered losses. Compared with the average data in May 2025, the winning rate of client accounts decreased by 0.87%.