The Revolut euro stablecoin launch was the most-discussed product move in online trading this week, though the token entered circulation with just EUR 374 on its reserve dashboard. Meanwhile, Plus500 started its second $100 million buyback of 2026, IG suffered a login outage, and regulators across three jurisdictions issued decisions that retail investors should be aware of.
Revolut Euro Stablecoin Launch: Tiny Supply, Big Ambitions
EURR, Revolut’s new euro-backed token, became publicly available on 20 August. It is backed one-for-one by euro-denominated reserves, but is not issued by Revolut directly. The legal issuer is Bridge Building S.A., a Luxembourg-based company owned by Stripe and regulated as an electronic money institution and crypto-asset service provider. Revolut distributes EURR through its app and Revolut X, operating initially on Ethereum and Polygon.
The Revolut euro stablecoin launch gives the company a live product under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which sets binding rules for stablecoin issuers across Europe. That regulatory standing matters for credibility and distribution reach. Even so, a supply of EUR 374 at launch is a fraction of what established rivals such as Circle’s EURC have built. Supply growth is the metric worth watching from here.
Plus500 Returns Cash While Dukascopy’s Profits Slide
Plus500 launched a fresh USD 100 million share repurchase programme this week, its second of that size in 2026. The programme is structured as a USD 35.3 million interim buyback combined with a USD 64.7 million special buyback, summing to the full USD 100 million. Both sit within a broader USD 182.5 million total shareholder return announced alongside first-half results, with USD 82.5 million of that going to dividends.
The London-listed broker is authorised to buy back up to 5.76 million shares under authority approved at its May annual general meeting. Past repurchases have already reduced the weighted average share count, contributing to a 6% year-on-year rise in first-half earnings per share. The programme could extend into 2027.
Dukascopy Bank reported a contrasting picture. Consolidated first-half profit fell 58% to CHF 1.38 million, as the trading result (the group’s largest income line) dropped 25% to CHF 8.77 million and net interest income fell 33%. Net commission income provided some offset, rising 37% to CHF 2.33 million. Customer deposits grew 25% to CHF 239.29 million and total assets rose 19% to CHF 309.50 million. The interim statement gave no guidance for the second half.
IG Outage, CySEC Settlement, and a Malta Licence Surrender
IG clients in the UK, Ireland, Singapore and Australia reported login failures across web and mobile platforms shortly before the US market open on 24 August. The broker confirmed a technical issue affecting client logins and said it had been fully resolved.
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) reached a EUR 100,000 settlement with RoboMarkets Ltd over possible breaches of investment services rules, covering the marketing and sale of contracts for difference (CFDs, leveraged products that let traders speculate on price moves without owning the underlying asset) to retail clients. The settlement has been paid. The 2023 CySEC action that preceded this was formally an imposition of sanction and measure, requiring RoboMarkets to stop offering non-monetary rewards such as race tickets and branded merchandise to retail CFD clients.
In Malta, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) accepted the voluntary surrender of a Class 2 Investment Services Licence held by Triton Capital Markets Ltd, which operated under the FXDD Malta brand. The surrender took effect on 25 August 2026, ending 16 years of authorisation. The MFSA confirmed the withdrawal was not the result of regulatory action. Triton had used MiFID passporting rules to serve clients across the European Economic Area; that route is now closed for the Maltese entity.
ASIC Reviews CFD Leverage Caps and Raises the Bar on AI Resilience
ASIC said it will consult in the fourth quarter on proposals to amend and extend its CFD product intervention order, which is due to expire on 23 May 2027. Current rules cap leverage at 30:1 for major currency pairs and 2:1 for crypto CFDs, and require negative balance protection, margin close-out rules and standardised risk warnings. ASIC has not yet indicated which provisions might change, with ministerial approval planned for the first quarter of 2027.
Separately, ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) called on financial firms to establish incident-response hierarchies before an AI-enabled cyberattack occurs. Boards should decide in advance who can order a shutdown, set recovery priorities and approve public communications. The guidance followed nine roundtables with more than 600 participants from over 380 entities. ASIC framed cyber resilience as a licensing obligation.
Prop Trading: Two Very Different Businesses
The prop trading sector continued to divide along institutional and retail lines. Non-bank trading firms generated an estimated USD 114 billion in revenue in 2025, with Jane Street alone reporting more than USD 40 billion in net trading revenue over the previous 12 months. Large firms are expanding beyond high-frequency equities and investing heavily in AI, data and computing infrastructure.
Retail prop trading, where individuals pay fees to access capital under evaluation conditions, is moving differently. One industry survey found that a USD 100,000 futures evaluation cost around USD 193 on average, against USD 419 for a comparable CFD evaluation. Lower entry costs are drawing participants into futures-based programmes even as consolidation continues. The gap between the two ends of prop trading shows no sign of narrowing.
The most immediate catalyst for retail traders is ASIC’s upcoming CFD consultation. If the regulator signals changes to leverage caps when it publishes its proposals in the fourth quarter, the largest online brokers serving Australian retail clients will need to adapt, and quickly.
