Weekly Roundup

Stock Trade Pricing: According to a recent study, not all brokerages are created equal. The study found that stock trading price varies widely among popular brokers, and that payment for order flow had little impact on execution quality.

Politician Crypto Scorecard: Politicians are getting a crypto scorecard. Coinbase is building a politician scorecard into its phone app as part of the company’s crypto policy advocacy efforts. Politicians will be graded based on their past statements regarding crypto policy.

New NYSE Member: UP Fintech Holding Limited’s subsidiary TradeUP Securities, Inc. is the latest member of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), making it one of the first fintech brokers to obtain this status. Now, UP Fintech can offer investors direct access to rapid and efficient electronic executions on NYSE.

Algorithmic (Crypto) Trading: Crypto trading meets algo trading with HAL, the algorithmic trading platform for crypto traders. CoinShares, Europe’s largest and longest-standing full-service digital asset investment and trading group, recently launched HAL to simplify crypto trading by offering users access to trading algorithms designed by CoinShares’ quants.

Ripple vs SEC: In a motion filed last weekend, cryptocurrency firm Ripple Labs claimed that the SEC acted outside its legal limits in a 2020 suit accusing Ripple and its top executives of misleading XRP investors. Ripple claims that the SEC’s “position would effectively convert the sale of all types of ordinary assets – diamonds, gold, soybeans, cars, and even works of art – into sales of securities.”

Digital Asset Enforcement: Last Friday, the Biden administration called for U.S. government agencies to double down on digital asset sector enforcement and identify gaps in cryptocurrency regulation. The Treasury Department will also lead a group of government agencies that will consider adopting a central bank digital currency.

In the Mix: This Week’s Top FinTech Thought Leader

  • Ira Auerbach, SVP, Head of Digital Assets, Nasdaq is spearheading a new digital division. The division will offer custody services for Bitcoin and Ether to institutional investors. The move sets into motion Nasdaq’s plan to capitalize on the increasing popularity of digital currencies among big-money investors.

  • Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co, called crypto tokens “decentralized Ponzi schemes.” Despite Dimon’s skepticism of tokens and crypto as a whole, JPMorgan uses its custom blockchain and token, JPM Coin, to conduct intraday repurchase agreements.

  • Jesse Powell, co-founder of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, announced his resignation as CEO. Powell will be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Dave Ripley. The transition will take place over the next few months