Digital assets and diligent discussion! A close look at FinanceFeeds South Africa event

Digital assets and the technology that powers them are two much debated new phenomena.

Whilst the modern technological mavericks have become completely consumed with the development and subsequent virality of absolutely everything that is peer to peer, from music sharing applications to lifestyle enhancements such as the Internet of Things, the movement toward putting the control and administration of large facilities into the hands of the masses is somewhat region specific, despite its global aspirations.

Highly technologically advanced and modern nations which are the central focus for developing economies that surround them are prime examples, South Africa being the pinnacle of this dynamic.

Last week, on Thursday, June 28, at the upscale and exclusive Bryanston Country Club in Sandton, one of Johannesburg’s equally exclusive and upscale suburbs, FinanceFeeds hosted the first in a series of conferences which aim to develop the relationship between technological leaders in the digital asset and blockchain business and the all important and highly developed introducing broker network that exists in South Africa, sponsored by London-based brokerless financial trading platform company Spectre.ai

The need for transparency and high quality is evident, and given the proliferation of potential pitfalls, South Africa’s network of introducing brokers who have garnered a loyal client base in a region in which alternative methods of storing capital are of great interest to investors, one of the most important points of discussion was how to avoid fraudulent crypto platforms and how the digital asset business can be developed to ensure no conflict of interest between investor and provider.

Moderated by FinanceFeeds CEO Andrew Saks-McLeod, the panel discussion consisted of a very insightful and very candid interaction between large local introducing brokers Stephen Nefdt, an industry veteran with over 20 years of institutional experience, having been Project Manager at Nedcor Bank’s card processing operations from April 2001, before founding his own database integration consultancy in Johannesburg in 2002, which led to the establishment of Forex Wealth and FXB Africa, Mr Nefdt’s proprietary trading and platform development entities which he has operated for over thirteen years collectively.

Alongside Mr Nefdt was Siaybulela Mzo and Miya Vidalis, two large local introducing brokers, who shared their experiences of how customers that have been subjected to poor practices by offshore retail brokers in the past are now somewhat skeptical and need to see a totally new approach to retail brokerage methodology in order to foster trust.

Taking the lead was Athol Nourse, Global Business Development Director of Spectre.ai, the world’s first brokerless financial trading platform. Mr Nourse differs from many of the recent entries into the digital asset space in the respect that he is not just an enthusiast, but has a 20 year career at senior executive level in the FX and electronic trading industry behind him, having held senior level positions at ThinkMarkets where he was General Manager, FXPro where he was Head of Business Development for Asia based in Japan and Australia, culminating in being Managing Director of ChampionFX.

Mr Nourse considers that by removing the need for customers to deposit funds directly to a brokerage and by using a distributed system for settlement and margin, the conflict of interest between client and broker is completely eradicated.

This was a very key point in the discussions at the conference, which was indeed very well received by the delegates.

Speaking about the event’s ethos and why South Africa is an important region for transparent platforms, Mr Nourse explained to FinanceFeeds

“I believe IBs and Affiliates in South Africa are looking for transparency and a difference. They are looking for a broker which they know they can trust for the long term and has no conflict of interest. Spectre gives them the opportunity to Generate a healthy passive income from sending there clients to a fraud-less, responsible trading platform.”

“The Spectre Team is made up of industry veterans, many of which who have direct research, trading and banking experience at J.P Morgan, Goldman Sachs , Deutsche Bank and also from the margin FX/CFD space . The core mission was to create a brokerless,  fraud-free online trading environment which empowers the traders and creates a level playing field. Spectre offers a massive leap forward in technology and we are witnessing a seismic change in online trading” – Athol Nourse, Global Business Development Director, Spectre.ai

South Africa’s diversified economy and highly educated population make it an ideal center for the innovation and development via distribution channels such as this for new types of trading technology which support and distribute new types of asset classes.

This is most certainly a region of great potential, and one that will be further facilitated by events that bring the key components together to discuss important key factors.

Here is a full montage of the day’s event.