CFI Volume Doubles to $3.45 Trillion; FTMO Goes Live in Futures

CFI Financial Group booked a record $3.45 trillion in notional trading volume for the third quarter, up roughly 123% year on year, making the Dubai-based broker the loudest number in a week crowded with retail-market developments. The figure, 14% above the second quarter, came while the broader broker market tracked by Finance Magnates Intelligence was contracting.

The weekly round of news stretched across proprietary trading, listed derivatives and broker earnings, with execution infrastructure and customer-acquisition economics also on the agenda.

What did FTMO's founders say about futures and OANDA?

FTMO's futures offering is now officially live, powered for exchange access through Tradovate, NinjaTrader and TradingView. Co-founders Otakar Šuffner and Marek Vašíček discussed the launch, the firm's acquisition of OANDA and the challenges facing proprietary trading firms.

Founded in 2015, FTMO initially focused on CFDs (contracts for difference, leveraged derivatives tracking an underlying asset) because it lacked the capital and experience to enter futures. The founders said customer demand and a market where futures evaluations cost less than comparable CFD and forex challenges drove the move. Combining FTMO's business with OANDA's established reputation could help distinguish the group from newer entrants, they argued. Regulatory uncertainty, abusive trading groups targeting evaluation systems and a possible initial public offering also came up in the discussion.

How far did Plus500 raise its outlook?

Plus500 now expects full-year 2026 revenue and EBITDA to exceed market expectations, reversing guidance from July, when it forecast results in line with consensus. Third-quarter revenue rose 11% year on year to $203.2 million, while EBITDA increased 7% to $88.4 million.

Nine-month revenue reached $666.1 million, up 11%. Other quarterly metrics:

• New customers up 27% to 28,747
• Active customers up 4% to 119,528
• Average revenue per user of $1,700
• Record customer deposits of $1.9 billion

Customer trading income grew, while interest income fell amid lower global interest rates.

Where is NinjaTrader expanding?

NinjaTrader launched its retail futures platform in the UK, extending a European rollout that already covers Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. UK customers can trade futures on US equity indices, energy, metals and foreign exchange through CME and Eurex markets. The platform ships with proprietary charting tools, algorithmic trading capabilities and native TradingView integration. NinjaTrader said UK traders had sought direct market access, transparent pricing and execution on a futures-specific platform. The launch lands as European brokers explore listed products amid regulatory pressure on CFDs, more experienced retail traders and competition from US futures and options specialists.

Why did CFI's volume more than double?

CFI's quarterly figures form a rising staircase through 2026: $2.3 trillion in the first quarter, $3.03 trillion in the second, $3.45 trillion in the third. Nine-month volume of $8.8 trillion is roughly double the same period last year and already above CFI's full-year 2025 total of $6.4 trillion.

How did XTB quadruple profit on weaker trading?

XTB reported preliminary third-quarter net profit of PLN 213.7 million, about $54 million — four times the year-earlier result and 6.4% above the average analyst forecast. The figure was still less than half the PLN 492.2 million recorded in the second quarter. Revenue rose 65.9% year on year to PLN 623.3 million even as clients traded 18.3% fewer CFD lots. Revenue per lot nearly doubled to PLN 301 from PLN 152. Commodity CFDs generated 70.8% of the gross result on financial instruments. The comparison flattered the quarter: the third quarter of 2025 suffered from low volatility.

Client assets tell a split story. XTB clients held PLN 56.2 billion, about $14.2 billion, at the end of September, up two-thirds since the start of the year. Stocks and exchange-traded funds accounted for 86% of those assets; open CFD positions represented just 1.3%. Yet CFDs still contributed 90.5% of the gross result on financial instruments in the quarter, per Finance Magnates' calculation from the preliminary report, down from 96% in the first half. Chief executive Omar Arnaout has said he wants CFDs at around 70% as investment products attract more clients.

What do institutions and CIS marketers show?

An analysis by Paul Golden argues that execution infrastructure now differentiates institutional brokers beyond tight spreads: pricing aggregation, low latency, smart order routing, automated hedging, reliable market data and stress-resistant systems matter, alongside APIs and integration with order management, execution management and transaction cost analysis tools. Index CFD execution costs remain hard to assess given futures, dividends and shifting conditions; stronger benchmarks may be needed.

Separately, Stanislav Galandzovskyi found that a single Russian-language strategy missed audiences in parts of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Switching to Uzbek-language creative and adding local payment options Click and Payme cut reported acquisition cost in Uzbekistan from about $650 to around $380. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan ranked as higher-value opportunities; Tajikistan's limited disposable income and Turkmenistan's currency controls remain barriers. Budgets, the analysis argued, should follow funded-trader acquisition costs before longer-term value is assessed.