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Blockchain based derivatives platform becomes world's first to get EU MIFID License approval

Tuesday, March 02, 2021
Opalesque Industry Update - CloseCross has become the world's first blockchain-based derivatives trading platform to be licensed under the European Union's MIFID II regulations, enabling the company to accelerate plans for a market launch in March.

The innovative fintech platform, which allows investors to enter multiparty derivative contracts with their predictions on global stock market indices, crypto, forex rates, commodities, stock prices, interest rates and more, is now fully regulated under MIFID rules offering increased protection and transparency for customers.

The company, which has offices in London and Malta, has developed and patented its unique multiparty derivatives trading platform, where traders can enter derivative contracts without the need of major banks issuing derivatives or having to take on leverage. Instead of traders taking on leverage against a single party, at CloseCross traders take on multiple parties and hence do not need leverage for potentially great returns. Trader will have an opportunity to generate strong potential returns without taking on any leverage whatsoever.

Investors will be able to forecast market movements on a wide range of asset classes in a simple interface that allows users to predict simple or complicated movements such as call/up, put/down, volatility or even stability. Accuracy and timing are rewarded with relative better returns as proprietary algorithms are used for automated and transparent risk/reward distributions between the traders. Instead of relying on the dark pools of centralized derivative issuers, CloseCross utilizes the pooled funds from the traders themselves for the pay-outs on the derivative contracts.

Charges will only apply if investors make a correct forecast, whereas those who get the forecast wrong lose the amount they have invested but are not charged any fees. There are no minimum investment levels for traders, making the derivatives market more accessible.

Vaibhav Kadikar, Founder and CEO of CloseCross said: "Being licensed under MIFID regulation is a major milestone in the development of CloseCross and a crucial part of our commitment to traders on keeping trading simple and transparent. This is the first time anyone has been able to marry the best of both worlds by giving traders a non-custodial derivatives solution while still complying with one of the highest regulatory regimes."

Joseph Portelli, Director at CloseCross added: ""CloseCross has become the first MIFID regulated platforms utilising smart contracts and blockchain technology.  We are very excited by the prospects of becoming a trailblazer in the Fintech space and affording traders an opportunity to safely and cost-effectively participate in the financial derivatives markets."

Features on the platform will include CloseCross Crowd Wisdom providing real-time data on the views and investments of other traders. The demo/training version of the platform is already live where users can explore the platform and its unique features ahead of the real-money launch next Month.

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