Crypto vs Gold in 2026. Where Online Brokers Can Find Their Next Revenue Growth
The online trading industry faces a strategic question that is becoming harder to ignore. Should brokers put their next investment into cryptocurrency, tokenised assets and always-on markets, or continue strengthening established businesses built around gold, precious metals and foreign exchange?
At first glance, the answer might appear obvious. Digital assets have transformed how traders access financial markets, while new technologies promise greater flexibility and more trading opportunities. Yet established markets continue to attract significant activity, particularly across Asia, where gold and major currency pairs remain important parts of the trading landscape.
This tension is at the centre of a discussion featuring IC at iFX EXPO Asia 2026. Jason Hughes, General Manager of IC, was scheduled to join industry leaders for a panel titled “From Bitcoin to Bullion. Where Is the Real Revenue?” on Friday, October 9, from 11:50 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. IC also planned to meet attendees at booth 20 throughout the event.
The discussion reflects a broader challenge for online brokers. In a market crowded with new products, technological innovation and competing growth strategies, the companies most likely to succeed will not necessarily be those following the loudest trend. They will be those that understand where clients actually trade, what they value and which investments can produce sustainable commercial returns.
A Brokerage Industry at a Strategic Crossroads
IC's participation in iFX EXPO Asia 2026 brings attention to a central issue in financial services: the relationship between innovation and established demand.
The event brings together brokers, fintech companies, technology providers, liquidity providers, payment firms and other participants across the online trading ecosystem. These businesses operate in different parts of the industry, but many face the same commercial pressure. They must invest in new capabilities while maintaining products and services that already generate customer activity.
According to the event announcement, Hughes's panel will examine how brokers balance investment in digital assets against continued demand for established markets, including gold, precious metals and foreign exchange.
The question is not simply whether cryptocurrency trading will grow. It is whether the growth opportunity justifies the technology, liquidity, regulatory and operational investment required to serve customers profitably.
For brokerage executives, that distinction matters. A market can attract substantial attention without producing attractive long-term returns for every provider entering it.
What Is Changing in Digital Asset Trading?
Over the past decade, digital assets have changed the range of products available to traders.
Cryptocurrencies have created additional opportunities for speculation and portfolio diversification. Tokenisation has introduced new ways to represent assets digitally. Meanwhile, the expansion of markets that operate around the clock has challenged traditional assumptions about trading hours and customer expectations.
These developments have implications beyond cryptocurrency exchanges.
Online brokers must consider how their platforms handle different asset classes, how liquidity is sourced, how transactions are processed and how customers interact with products that may behave differently from traditional financial instruments.
The commercial opportunity is clear enough. A broader product range can help a broker appeal to different customer groups and respond to changing demand.
However, product expansion introduces complexity. Each additional market may require different pricing arrangements, risk controls, technology integrations and regulatory considerations.
The strategic challenge is therefore not to offer every available asset. It is to determine which products genuinely improve the customer proposition and support the business over time.
Why Gold and Forex Still Matter
The expansion of digital assets has not eliminated the commercial relevance of traditional markets.
According to the information provided by IC, gold, precious metals and major foreign exchange pairs continue to attract significant trading activity across Asia. These established markets remain important considerations for brokers deciding where to direct investment.
Gold occupies a distinctive position in global financial markets. It can attract traders responding to economic uncertainty, changes in interest-rate expectations and movements in currency markets. Its behaviour is different from that of cryptocurrencies, giving traders another way to express market views.
Foreign exchange serves a different purpose. Currency markets support international commerce, investment and financial risk management, while also attracting retail traders seeking opportunities from changes in exchange rates.
For online brokers, these established markets offer a customer proposition that does not depend entirely on the latest digital asset trend.
This does not mean gold or forex will always outperform crypto in trading activity or revenue. The supplied announcement provides no comparative figures to establish that conclusion. Instead, it raises a more useful question: are brokers giving sufficient attention to the commercial opportunities that already exist within their customer base?
The answer will vary by market, customer segment and business model.
Where the Revenue Actually Comes From
Trading volume is an important indicator, but it is not a complete measure of commercial success.
A broker must consider the relationship between customer activity and the costs associated with delivering that activity. Liquidity, pricing, infrastructure, customer acquisition, regulatory compliance and risk management can all influence the economics of a product.
Consider two hypothetical scenarios.
A cryptocurrency product may attract substantial interest because its market operates continuously and experiences sharp price movements. Yet serving that market may require additional technology, liquidity arrangements, monitoring and operational support.
An established gold or forex product may serve a more familiar customer base and use infrastructure the broker already operates. Depending on the circumstances, that existing capability could make incremental investment more attractive.
Neither scenario guarantees better profitability. The outcome depends on actual customer behaviour, trading conditions and the broker's cost structure.
This is why the panel's focus on trading and funding flows, liquidity, regulation and long-term revenue potential is commercially relevant.
The strongest opportunity is not necessarily the asset class attracting the most attention. It is the combination of demand, execution quality, sustainable economics and a service that customers continue to use.
How Technology Can Create a Competitive Advantage
Technology is increasingly central to the brokerage business, but its value depends on what it enables.
A trading platform must do more than display prices and accept orders. It must deliver a reliable experience, support appropriate risk controls and help customers access the instruments they want to trade.
Liquidity is another important consideration. Brokers need access to pricing and execution arrangements that support their products and customer requirements. The quality of those arrangements can affect the experience delivered to traders.
The expansion of digital assets makes these questions more complex because the operational requirements of different markets are not identical.
A broker that invests in infrastructure without a clear understanding of customer demand may increase costs without generating a corresponding commercial benefit. Conversely, a broker that identifies a genuine customer need and supports it with reliable technology may strengthen its competitive position.
The key is to connect investment decisions to measurable business outcomes.
For example, brokers can assess whether a new product attracts customers who remain active, whether platform improvements reduce friction, and whether changes to the customer experience support retention.
These measures offer a more useful basis for decision-making than simply counting the number of instruments available on a platform.
Platform or Product. What Should Brokers Build?
The distinction between a platform and a product offers another way to understand the strategic choices facing the industry.
A product is an individual trading opportunity, such as Bitcoin, gold or a major currency pair. A platform is the broader environment through which customers discover markets, access prices, place trades and manage their accounts.
Brokers need both, but their investment priorities should reflect the role each plays in the business.
Adding more products may help attract customers with specific interests. Improving the platform may benefit a wider range of existing customers by making trading more accessible, reliable or efficient.
The challenge is deciding where the next investment will create the greatest value.
A broker could expand its cryptocurrency offering, improve its gold trading experience, strengthen liquidity arrangements or invest in technology that benefits multiple asset classes. Each option has a different cost profile and potential return.
The best decision depends on evidence rather than assumptions about which market will dominate the next decade.
For this reason, the debate at iFX EXPO Asia 2026 is about more than Bitcoin versus bullion. It is about the architecture of a competitive brokerage business and how technology, products and customer relationships work together.
Competition Will Depend on More Than Market Hype
The online trading industry serves a wide range of customers, from traders focused on foreign exchange to those interested in commodities, equities, indices and cryptocurrencies.
IC describes itself as a global online trading provider offering access to forex, indices, commodities, stocks, bonds and cryptocurrencies. Founded in Australia in 2007, the company highlights its liquidity, spreads and trading technology as important elements of its proposition.
The company also states that it serves traders in more than 200 countries and continues to invest in infrastructure, innovation and strategic partnerships as it expands across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
These are company-provided descriptions of its business and positioning, rather than independently verified comparative findings.
Nevertheless, the broader strategic issue applies across the industry. A wide product range can help a broker serve different customer needs, but breadth alone does not guarantee an advantage.
Competitors can differentiate themselves through pricing, platform reliability, customer service, execution arrangements and the quality of their local market understanding.
In Asia, where customer behaviour, regulation and market maturity vary significantly between countries, local knowledge can be particularly important.
A strategy that works in one market may not translate directly into another. Brokers need to understand the specific customers they want to serve rather than treating the region as a single, uniform opportunity.
The Risks Behind the Growth Opportunity
Digital assets and traditional markets present different challenges, and brokers must assess them without assuming that one category is inherently safer or more profitable.
Cryptocurrencies introduce considerations related to market volatility, trading availability, operational resilience and the regulatory treatment of particular products. Tokenisation adds further questions about how assets are represented and what rights those representations provide.
Gold and foreign exchange have their own risks, including sharp price movements, leverage exposure, liquidity changes and regulatory obligations.
For the brokerage business, there is also a strategic risk: investing heavily in a product because competitors are promoting it, rather than because the investment fits customer demand.
This can lead to higher costs, fragmented technology priorities and products that fail to generate sufficient long-term value.
A disciplined broker should evaluate the potential revenue of each product alongside the resources required to support it. It should also consider how market conditions might change and whether its infrastructure can adapt without compromising customer service.
The objective is not to eliminate risk. It is to understand it well enough to make informed decisions.
How Asia Could Shape the Industry Through 2030
Asia's importance to the online trading industry lies partly in its diversity.
The region includes markets with different levels of financial market development, regulatory frameworks, customer preferences and technology adoption. That diversity creates opportunities for brokers willing to understand local conditions.
The IC announcement identifies Southeast Asia and other international regions as part of the company's broader expansion focus. It also highlights the importance of meeting industry partners and understanding how trends develop across individual markets.
As the industry approaches 2030, the balance between digital assets and established markets may differ considerably across countries and customer segments.
Some customers may prioritise access to cryptocurrencies and flexible trading hours. Others may continue to focus on gold, precious metals or currency pairs. Many may want access to several asset classes through a single platform.
For brokers, this creates an opportunity to compete through a more complete customer experience rather than relying on one market to drive all growth.
The companies that understand local demand and invest accordingly may be better positioned to respond when preferences change.
However, the available announcement does not provide forecasts, market-share figures or revenue projections that would establish which asset class will lead by 2030. The outcome remains an open commercial question.
What Brokers Should Do Now
The debate at iFX EXPO Asia 2026 offers several practical lessons for brokerage executives.
First, evaluate actual customer behaviour. Review which markets attract sustained activity, which customers return and where product demand is growing. Industry attention is useful context, but customer data should guide investment decisions.
Second, measure the full economics of each product. Trading activity must be considered alongside liquidity costs, infrastructure requirements, customer acquisition and operational responsibilities.
Third, invest in technology that solves identifiable problems. Improvements to execution, platform reliability and the customer journey may create value across several asset classes rather than benefiting only one product.
Fourth, adapt strategies to local conditions. Asia's diversity makes it important to understand the needs, expectations and regulatory environment of each target market.
Finally, maintain flexibility. The industry will continue to evolve, and brokers need systems and decision-making processes that allow them to respond to changing demand without making every new trend a major infrastructure commitment.
These steps will not eliminate uncertainty. They can, however, help businesses distinguish between attractive headlines and genuine commercial opportunities.
The Next Revenue Opportunity May Not Be the Most Obvious One
The question posed by “From Bitcoin to Bullion. Where Is the Real Revenue?” captures a fundamental challenge facing online brokers.
Digital assets have expanded the trading landscape and created new opportunities for product development. At the same time, gold, precious metals and foreign exchange remain important parts of the market, particularly across Asia.
Neither side of the debate can be dismissed. Crypto may offer growth opportunities for brokers with the right customers, infrastructure and risk controls. Established markets may continue to deliver value for businesses that understand their customer base and compete effectively.
The strategic priority is to determine where investment creates genuine value.
IC's participation in iFX EXPO Asia 2026, including Jason Hughes's scheduled panel appearance and the company's presence at booth 20, placed this question at the centre of an industry discussion about growth, technology and changing customer expectations.
Ultimately, the future of brokerage will not be determined by Bitcoin or gold alone. It will depend on how effectively businesses combine products, liquidity, technology and local market knowledge to serve customers over the long term.
The winners will be those that recognise the difference between following a trend and building a business around a lasting customer need.
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