Retail Investors and Trading
TD Ameritrade’s Nicole Petallides interviewed MMI’s CEO on low-cost trading, changing attitudes of retail investing, and a recent MMI report on bid-ask spread data. The report highlighted a 50% reduction in bid- ask spreads over the past decade and a 30% increase in retail investor lifetime savings as a result of lower costs and the democratization of investing.

SEC Indicates Broader Market Structure Review
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler indicated the SEC intends to focus on a broad review of market structure, includingpricing incentives such as payment for order flow, amid meme stock frenzy.

Meme Stock Frenzy
It was reported that AMC and other Meme Stocks turned the options market “upside down.”

Crypto ETF Speculation
Speculation continued as to when the United States might approve a Bitcoin ETF, with some speculating an approval as early as Q1 2022.

CyberSecurity
The Justice Department reportedly clawed back over $2.3 million worth of Bitcoin that Colonial Pipeline paid to ransomwareextortionists last month.

Source Code Breach
It was reported that hackers have stolen source code of Electronic Arts, amid broader concert of cyber security and thefts.

Source Code Protection
It was reported that a new firm, ProtectedBy.AI’s product “CodeLock” blocks malware at source code level with digital signatures at predetermined points across an entire code body.