Last year Stratos, known for the FXCM retail forex trading platform, launched Tradu for stock and multi-asset trading. Now Tradu has unveiled a crypto trading offering, aiming to compete on low fees and other features. Jefferies owned 49.9% of Stratos, but that recently increased to 100% following a debt default, which ceded the balance to Jefferies.
Tradu charges 0.1% in crypto commission with rebates for larger trades. This is equivalent to Binance, which offers one of the best rates on the market. It is considerably lower than rates charged by Coinbase and other competitors. In addition with the Stratos history in retail trading platforms, it provides support and transparency around fees.
“We are bringing institutional-grade pricing and infrastructure to the retail crypto market, providing traders with upfront costs and tight, transparent spreads enabling active traders and investors to maximise their returns,” said Brendan Callan, CEO of Tradu.
Tradu’s sister brand FXCM has offered crypto trading for years, so it’s not a new group activity. Stratos Markets is registered for several activities with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. However, existing registrants have to apply as a cryptoasset firm to demonstrate compliance with anti money laundering (AML) rules. We didn’t find a registration for Stratos Markets but the company confirmed that the crypto offering is currently live in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Future rollouts are planned for the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
Stratos doesn’t have to worry about U.S. crypto restrictions because it shuttered U.S. activities in the United States in 2017. That was after it surrendered its Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registration when the CFTC found FXCM misled its retail clients regarding conflicts of interest. Senior management also stepped down.
Jefferies blockchain history
Meanwhile, Jefferies has been involved with at least one crypto-linked company for several years. Figure Technologies founded the Provenance public blockchain and also provides retail real estate lending. In early 2019 Jefferies and WSFS Institutional Services provided a $1 billion asset-based financing facility. Jefferies also invested in Provenance and reportedly will help with Figure’s planned IPO.
Update: confirmed the jurisdictions in which it is live.
