Exclusive: AvaTrade Bids for FXCM as Crypto Exchange Weighs Its Own Offer

Two Sources Describe AvaTrade’s Bid and a Crypto Exchange’s Interest

FM Intelligence understands from two people familiar with the matter that AvaTrade submitted an offer for FXCM and that a crypto exchange, which the sources did not name, is also weighing a bid. Both sources requested anonymity because the discussions are not public. FM Intelligence could not independently confirm the status or size of either party’s interest, and neither Jefferies nor the parties has commented publicly.

The account aligns with reporting by Finance Magnates, which noted that Jefferies is considering a sale of Stratos, the operating company behind FXCM, and that the buyer may be "an out-of-industry participant, such as a crypto exchange," according to the publication. No change-of-control application has appeared on the public registers of FXCM’s regulators, which would be the first verifiable signal of a specific buyer.

People familiar with the matter also described AvaTrade's offer as allegedly covering the entire Stratos business, except for FXCM Bullion Limited, a Hong Kong affiliate formerly known as FTL Bullion Limited, which handles client account servicing in China and Hong Kong. FM Intelligence could not independently verify the scope of the carve-out.

From a $300 Million Rescue to a $5.5 Million Carrying Value

Jefferies’ relationship with FXCM began on January 15, 2015, when the Swiss National Bank removed its cap on the franc and FXCM clients ran up negative balances of about $225 million, according to regulatory filings. Leucadia National, the holding company that owns Jefferies, extended a $300 million rescue loan within days, later clarified as a net $279 million, according to LeapRate. The loan carried an initial 10% coupon and gave the lender most of the proceeds from any future sale.

In February 2017, FXCM exited the US retail market and paid a $7 million penalty after the CFTC found it had misrepresented its order-execution model, according to the regulator. Jefferies took 100% ownership in September 2023 through a foreclosure and renamed the operating business Stratos. It recorded the step-up at $0.9 million in gain and $5.5 million of goodwill, against $447.3 million of total assets acquired and $356.3 million of liabilities assumed, according to its FY2023 Form 10-K.

Five Licenses and 110,000 Clients Underpin the Asset

The value to a buyer rests on regulatory permissions rather than current earnings. FXCM operates regulated entities across five jurisdictions:

Regulator	Jurisdiction	Licensed entity
FCA	United Kingdom	Stratos Markets Ltd
ASIC	Australia	Stratos Trading Pty Ltd
CySEC	Cyprus / EU	Stratos Europe Ltd
FSCA	South Africa	Stratos South Africa
ISA	Israel	Stratos Light Ltd

Obtaining permissions of this kind organically takes one to two years for FCA or ASIC authorization and runs into seven figures to acquire a licensed entity, according to industry practitioners. FXCM adds a client book reported at about 110,000 and platforms including Trading Station, MetaTrader 4 and 5, and TradingView.

Disclosed revenue runs far below the values these assets command. Stratos Markets Ltd, the UK entity, reported turnover of about $103,000 in 2024, down from roughly $1.7 million in 2023, according to its Companies House filing, with losses above $2 million in both years. That figure covers a single legal entity rather than the group, but it shows why any sale price would draw on licenses, brand, and clients rather than an earnings multiple.

Crypto Firms Paid Up to $2.9 Billion for Regulated Brokers in 2025

The interest from a crypto exchange follows a pattern set across 2025, when crypto-native firms paid hundreds of millions to billions of dollars for regulated trading infrastructure. Coinbase agreed to buy the options venue Deribit for about $2.9 billion, Kraken acquired the futures broker NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, and Robinhood completed its $200 million purchase of Bitstamp, according to company announcements. Kraken’s adviser on the NinjaTrader deal was Jefferies, which gives the bank a direct view of that buyer pool.

Retail FX and CFD transactions have priced lower. J. Safra Sarasin agreed to buy about 70% of Saxo Bank at a $1.74 billion valuation, IG Group bought tastytrade for $1 billion, and StoneX acquired GAIN Capital for $236 million, according to the companies. AvaTrade itself changed hands near a $450 million valuation in 2025, up from the $105 million Playtech paid in 2015.

If more than one party moves to a formal offer, FM Intelligence analysis indicates that competition tends to lift the sale price. For FXCM, a brand that twice changed hands under distress, multiple interested parties would place the broker, rather than its owner, at the center of the outcome. The more firms that pursue the licenses, brand, and client book, the more the asset itself stands to gain.

No party has confirmed a transaction. Jefferies has not disclosed a sale process in its filings, the bid and the interest described to FM Intelligence remain unverified, and the $5.5 million carrying value reflects acquisition accounting rather than a market price. Precedent deals involved different businesses and asset mixes, and none sets a value for FXCM. The 110,000 client figure dates to 2023 and may have shifted after job cuts at FXCM and its sister platform Tradu reported in December 2025.