As if it wasn’t clear enough, we just got another indication that the cryptocurrency markets have soured for price speculators. One of the biggest names in the contracts-for-difference field, IG Group, has revealed that crypto CFD trading is on the decline this year.
Also Read: Monthly Web Traffic for Major Bitcoin Exchanges Falls by Half
Cryptocurrency Trading Fattens IG Group’s Profit Margins
UK-headquartered CFD and spread-betting giant IG Group (LON:IGG) has reported its quarterly results for the three months period which ended 28 February 2018, showing cryptocurrency trading had a great positive impact on its bottom line.
The FTSE-250 brokerage has had a record performance in terms of revenue, reaching a net of £152.9 million which is 30% higher than in the same period in the prior year, and 13% higher than the company’s previous record revenue quarter. Clients trading in cryptocurrencies accounted for an impressive 11% of revenue in the period, up from just 1% the year before. However, IG Group also warned investors that cryptocurrency trading by its clients has slowed markedly since the end of January.
Crypto Mania Has Already Peaked
![Crypto Mania Peaked Around Christmas, Fallen Markedly Since Says IG Group](https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/trading2-300x200.jpg)
Unsurprisingly given these results, the company’s following conference call for analysts and investors focused mainly on this issue. CEO Peter Hetherington said: “The crypto mania I think peaked as we approached Christmas, and then if you look at the interest from clients it has fallen away pretty markedly since then. I think whichever measure you track, whether it’s the price of crypto or whether it’s the volume of searches on the internet for crypto trading terms, or any other combination, I think you’d say that the wave has, to a large degree, passed in terms of client interest.”
“And whilst the price of crypto is still volatile by any normal standard it’s a tiny fraction of the volatility that you were seeing in the so-called asset class in the period around Christmas and in January. So, I’d just say it’s stopped moving anything like as much, although it’s still moving a lot, and client interest has fallen away a great deal both from informed and less-informed clients, and as a result the amount that people are trading on the asset class has fallen very considerably since the end of January. That’s not to say it will never restart but I think absent the price of crypto changing a great deal, probably up, it’s not going to be massively significant for the foreseeable [future].”
When should we expect to see the cryptocurrency markets exciting traders again? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, IG Group.
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