retail

Anthropic has selected JPMorgan Chase to handle its IPO stock sales aimed at retail investors in the United States, expecting to allocate about 15% to 20% of the shares to retail investors.JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will participate in the IPO activities. Citigroup is responsible for coordinating the sale to international retail investors, and the IPO will also take place in Australia, Canada, Japan, some European Economic Area countries, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

According to North Korean Commerce reported on October 25, after a sharp decline in the South Korean stock market, individual investors have re-entered to buy leveraged products betting on the rebound of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Data from the Korea Exchange and Koscom ETF Check shows that from October 1 to 23, individual net purchases of 14 related products amounted to 315.4 billion Korean won, of which 7 related to SK Hynix accounted for 226.3 billion won, and 7 related to Samsung Electronics accounted for 89.1 billion won.The aforementioned 14 products had a net purchase of 27.728 trillion won in July, but turned to net selling after regulatory tightening such as the increase in depositary receipts on July 31. In August and September, there were net sales of 648.4 billion won and 497.9 billion won, respectively, and this month individuals have first turned back to net buying. During the same period, KODEX SK Hynix leveraged product saw a net purchase of 15.294 billion won, ranking 11th among ETFs listed in South Korea; individuals also net bought KODEX Leverage 10.448 trillion won and KODEX Semiconductor Leverage 256.4 billion won. The South Korean Composite Index fell by 18.83% in October.Data from the Korea Securities Depository shows that from October 1 to 22, South Korean investors net bought U.S. stocks worth 4.8009 billion dollars, approximately 63.621 trillion won. Among them, the net purchase of SOXL, which tracks the daily returns of the U.S. semiconductor index at 3 times, was 3.54764 billion dollars, about 47.041 trillion won, accounting for 73.9% of the net purchases of U.S. stocks during the same period. The article also noted that leveraged products track daily returns by multiples, and when the market reverses, losses can also be magnified by 2 or 3 times, and during repeated sharp rises and falls, negative compounding effects may also occur.

The Hong Kong dollar stablecoin joint venture Anchorpoint, established by Standard Chartered Bank and Animoca Brands, stated that it will cautiously advance products aimed at retail users and has not confirmed a specific launch time. Anchorpoint's CEO Dominic Maffei declined to reiterate the previous timeline of "opening retail by the end of 2026" during a press conference on Friday, stating that the company would adopt a prudent strategy. He mentioned that the market should be built in a long-term and sustainable manner, and rushing to launch is "not reasonable."Anchorpoint launched its institutional-grade stablecoin product in August 2026. This statement comes as HSBC launched the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin RedCoin for its 3.3 million PayMe app users on Friday. Anchorpoint originates from the collaboration between Standard Chartered Bank, Animoca Brands, and telecommunications operator HKT, which was announced in February 2025. The three parties previously participated together in the Hong Kong stablecoin issuer sandbox in July 2024. Animoca is responsible for providing blockchain expertise and industry networks for the joint venture and promoting the application of the stablecoin in the Web3 ecosystem.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost posted on platform X, stating that as BTC has maintained above $80,000 for several consecutive weeks, there is a clear divergence in the behavior of retail investors and whales transferring BTC to Binance.Data shows that the 30-day cumulative amount of BTC transferred to Binance by retail investors has increased from $5.5 billion to $10.75 billion, nearly doubling and reaching a new high in nearly six months. In contrast, the inflow amount from whales has continued to decline during the same period, dropping from $5.9 billion at the end of August to the current $3.8 billion. Darkfost believes that some retail investors may view this initial rebound as an opportunity to reduce their positions or exit, while whales have not yet shown a clear willingness to sell. It is worth noting whether whales will maintain a low level of exchange inflows if the BTC price continues to rise.

Robinhood plans to launch a retail investment platform in the Middle East next year, with Dubai as its new operational base. The company has obtained authorization from the Dubai Financial Services Authority and will provide trading and custody services for individual users covering 10 asset classes, including stocks, ETFs, and more.

The Swiss financial regulator FINMA has approved the country's first spot Bitcoin ETF aimed at retail investors, allowing the fund to invest directly in Bitcoin under Swiss investment fund regulations. FINMA stated on Tuesday that this ETF falls under the category of "other alternative investment funds" with specific risks under Swiss law.FINMA noted that Bitcoin has a longer trading history and trading volume far exceeding most other cryptocurrencies, thus allowing for exceptions to the rules requiring fund diversification, and listed safeguards regarding custody, operational risks, and investor disclosures. FINMA had previously approved a crypto fund for qualified investors in 2021, while existing Swiss Bitcoin ETPs are classified as debt securities and not investment funds.

Bitcoin News posted on platform X, stating that as the Clarity Act is stalled, regulators are independently formulating rules for the digital asset market based on existing authorities. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has solicited opinions on a framework for retail digital asset trading, which includes a new category of "crypto asset market" exchanges, with the comment period ending on December 14.The comment period for the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets will close on October 20. The pace at which regulators are crafting rules is faster than congressional legislation, but the relevant rules may face challenges in court or be rescinded by future commissions; a lasting regulatory framework still requires legislation.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has approved the country's first Bitcoin ETF aimed at retail investors. This product falls under "other alternative investment funds" according to Swiss law and is labeled as having special risks. FINMA did not disclose the issuer of the fund, but multiple media outlets have indicated that signs suggest it may come from BIT Asset Management (formerly Matrixport Asset Management), and FINMA did not deny this claim in response to inquiries. Additionally, several fund providers have submitted or announced plans to submit Bitcoin ETF applications.The fund is a single-asset product, with all funds directed towards Bitcoin. To this end, FINMA needed to grant an exemption regarding its risk diversification rules, citing that Bitcoin has a long trading history and extremely high trading volume. In terms of asset custody, participating institutions must take measures to prevent operational and custody risks, with standards referenced from the regulatory announcement issued by FINMA on January 12, 2026, which requires that customer crypto assets are not included in bankruptcy assets in the event of the custodian's bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the sales process must comply with Fidleg's conduct rules to provide higher investor protection than direct purchases of cryptocurrencies, and the fund documents must clearly indicate the associated risks.While approving the ETF, FINMA emphasized that even investing in Bitcoin through an approved ETF carries high risks, with severe volatility potentially leading to significant depreciation of the principal invested, and required the issuer to provide clear warnings about volatility and loss risks. The United States has approved Bitcoin spot ETFs starting January 2024, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust launching on January 11, 2024, currently managing approximately $65 billion. The Swiss Exchange has been able to trade Bitcoin products for years, but they have existed in the form of ETPs and do not have fund status; this approved ETF is the first to incorporate Bitcoin into the approved public fund framework.

Bitcoin News posted on platform X that Charles Schwab has opened Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to all eligible retail clients in the United States through its existing investment platform, charging a fee of 0.75% per transaction, with a minimum of $1 and a maximum transaction limit of $2 million.The company is gradually launching digital asset transfers between Schwab accounts and external wallets, requiring users to register their withdrawal addresses in advance and complete security checks. Paxos Trust Company provides custody, trade execution, and settlement infrastructure, and the related digital assets are not protected by SIPC or FDIC insurance.

Financial services company Charles Schwab has launched direct trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum for eligible retail clients. The company manages approximately $13.33 trillion in client assets and has 40.3 million active brokerage accounts. Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster stated that the company is gradually opening up cryptocurrency transfer in and out functions, with plans to add trading for Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink by the end of 2026.Currently, transfers support the Bitcoin network and the Ethereum network, and withdrawal addresses must be registered in advance. Schwab Crypto trading fees are 0.75%, with a minimum transaction amount of $1 and a maximum of $2 million. Rick Wurster mentioned that cryptocurrency trading will become one of the new revenue sources based on transactions; the platform is currently not open to clients in New York, Louisiana, U.S. territories, and international markets.

In September, U.S. retail sales increased by 0.8% month-on-month, higher than the expected 0.3%. The previous value was revised from 1.2% to 1.1%.

Bitget has launched the FASTRETAILING stock perpetual contract. This contract is settled in USDT, supports up to 20 times leverage, and allows trading 24/7. As of now, Bitget supports a total of 356 stock perpetual contract underlying assets.

The CEO of the stock and cryptocurrency trading platform Robinhood, Vlad Tenev, stated in a recent interview that a significant portion of retail trading is expected to be initiated by AI in the future. The Agent can monitor the market around the clock and handle trades in various assets such as stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies, but most funds may still be held long-term.In May of this year, Robinhood allowed users to trade through third-party AI Agents via MCP, and at the end of September, it announced the direct integration of Agents into the App, with over 150,000 customers having opened dedicated trading accounts at that time. Currently, funds are still restricted through independent accounts; the Agent can view users' other account information but can only place orders within the dedicated account, and funds must be actively transferred by the user. Tenev stated that technically, it is not difficult to directly access the main account, but the company has chosen to gradually loosen permissions.In terms of approval settings, the built-in Agent requires users to approve each transaction by default, but this setting can be manually turned off; external Agents accessed through MCP do not require per-transaction approval by default, and users must enable approval themselves. Tenev also envisions allowing retail investors to deploy trading strategies on servers close to exchanges to reduce order delays, and hopes that ordinary investors can use such infrastructure without needing to understand data centers and network engineering. Robinhood has not yet provided this service and has not announced a timeline for its launch.

According to the official website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on October 9, 2026, the SEC officially sued Linqto's former executives William Sarris and Joseph Endoso, accusing them of committing fraud by selling equity in pre-IPO unicorn companies to retail investors through their online platform.Between 2021 and 2024, Linqto's subsidiary sold over $430 million in special purpose vehicles (SPV) to retail investors. The SEC accused the two of: falsely reporting prices below market value (with almost all being above fair value), falsely claiming that stocks were "sold out," pretending that prices were dynamically set by algorithms (when they were actually manually priced), and publicly claiming compliance while knowing they were violating regulations. Additionally, they were accused of illegally operating an unregistered investment company and selling unregistered securities to non-accredited investors.The SEC seeks to impose an injunction against the two, recover illegal gains and interest, impose civil penalties, and prohibit them from serving as executives or directors of public companies in the future. The case is being investigated by the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.

According to Fortune, retail proprietary trading startup Vest Labs announced the completion of a $13 million seed round of financing, led by Portal Ventures, with some executives from Citadel Securities, BlackRock, and KKR participating as individuals. The company did not disclose its post-financing valuation.Vest allows eligible traders to use the company's funds to trade perpetual contracts in real markets around the clock, with traders able to retain up to 80% of the profits, while the remainder goes to the company. The company stated that compared to some retail proprietary trading firms that rely on charging fees for simulated trading accounts, this model allows Vest to benefit from the success of traders rather than betting on their failure.The financing will be used to develop a mobile application, expand the current team of 22 people, and increase the variety of assets available for trading around the clock. According to Vest's own disclosure, as of late September, 26% of the approximately 27,000 traders on the platform had received cash payments, with monthly active traders and trading volume both increasing by over 300% month-over-month.

According to Bloomberg, the office of a South Korean lawmaker cited data from the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea, indicating that retail investors in South Korea are expected to lose approximately 2.3 trillion won (about 1.7 billion USD) from May 27 to August 14 by tracking single-stock leveraged ETFs and note products related to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.Since July, South Korean regulators have implemented measures such as temporarily banning the listing of new leveraged single-stock products, raising minimum cash margin requirements, and strengthening investor education to mitigate the risks associated with these products.

According to Cointelegraph, the nonprofit financial reform advocacy organization Better Markets criticized the CFTC's proposed framework for retail crypto trading, arguing that the protections for investors would be weaker than those provided by the SEC. The CFTC publicly solicited comments on the framework for retail crypto trading involving margin, leverage, or financing on Monday.Benjamin Schiffrin, the Director of Securities Policy at Better Markets, stated that unlike the SEC, the CFTC lacks a mandate for investor protection, as its mission is to regulate commodity and derivatives markets that have historically been dominated by large institutions with minimal retail participation. Therefore, the CFTC is the wrong agency to oversee retail customer crypto asset trading.Better Markets also questioned the CFTC's claim regarding Congressional intent to allow it to regulate such trading. Schiffrin pointed out that the statutory authority cited by the CFTC was originally established to address fraud in leveraged precious metals trading and does not indicate Congressional intent for the agency to become the primary regulator of retail crypto.He also criticized the proposed framework for potentially allowing connections between market participants, which had previously led to the collapse of FTX. Schiffrin simultaneously condemned CFTC Chairman Mike Selig's statements about making the U.S. the global crypto capital, stating that he failed to explain why this would be a good thing and noted that crypto still lacks real use cases after 18 years.Nate Geraci, President of NovaDius Wealth Management, countered that the crypto industry is simply seeking clear rules, and if Congress cannot provide them, the CFTC and SEC may have to take on that responsibility.