Embedded financing moved to credit after payments. The next logical step is trading: cryptocurrency exchanges that redirect their users to other platforms to access different asset classes are losing power. Patrick Murphy, Managing Director of Eightcap in the UK and EU, states that if platforms want to maintain user loyalty, they need to rebuild multi-asset access from scratch.
However, meeting this expectation is not as simple as adding new instruments. It raises deeper questions regarding infrastructure: How can regulated derivative products be integrated with crypto? How will stablecoins be integrated into cross-border payments while banks still operate with old systems? What will happen when tokenized assets start functioning as collateral in both traditional finance and DeFi?
Murphy shares in this interview with BeInCrypto how Eightcap approaches these challenges: from integrating compliance processes into the API to preparing for a future where Bitcoin, stocks, and gold are progressing more on-chain.
BeInCrypto: Thanks to Eightcap Embedded, brokers, crypto exchanges, and wallets can integrate multi-asset trading through a single API. What market signals or customer needs convinced you that embedded multi-asset access would lead to a new era on platforms?
Patrick Murphy: 'When we look at where the market has evolved, certain points have emerged. We have seen customer expectations beginning to converge among brokers, crypto exchanges, and other fintech players. Users wanted to transition seamlessly between crypto, forex, and commodities. However, when users had to leave to access different asset classes, there was a loss of loyalty on the platforms. If your platform cannot offer multi-asset positions, your customers are trading elsewhere.
Embedded finance fundamentally changes customer expectations. Just as payments and credit have intertwined with non-financial ecosystems, trading has become the next logical step. Seeing this opportunity, we wanted to transform partners into centers that encompass the entire investment process rather than platforms offering a single asset.
Moreover, for traders today, experience is as valuable as the transactions; they want to access markets instantly and continuously. The multi-asset capability of Eightcap Embedded provides exactly that: The trader not only buys and sells crypto but can also diversify their assets with derivatives. This situation increases both engagement and revenue potential on a customer basis. Eightcap Embedded emerged not just to respond to a single customer need but to observe changing behavioral trends toward embedded finance and the traders' desire to access everything from a single point.'
BeInCrypto: Based on your compliance and payment infrastructure background, how did you integrate embedded trading features into partner platforms without compromising on speed and scalability?
Patrick Murphy: 'My experience in both payments and compliance has allowed me to merge regulatory principles with product flexibility. I learned this in payments: if compliance is seen merely as a 'control step', scalability suffers.
At Eightcap, our embedded trading API is designed with jurisdictional awareness, KYC, AML, and licensing logic: This means that all these processes are directly integrated into both onboarding and transaction flow. Our partners do not need to establish parallel systems because compliance is inherent in the infrastructure and is not added later.
By embedding compliance at the core, our partners can launch much faster, as they do not need to revisit or approve the basic controls repeatedly.
We define Eightcap Embedded as an infrastructure that is 'designed to be compliant.' This way, brokers, crypto exchanges, and wallets can grow comfortably while providing confidence to both regulators and customers.
BeInCrypto: Combining derivatives and crypto products in embedded finance brings unique technical and risk management challenges. In this equation of usability, compliance, and resilience to volatile environments, what areas have you had the hardest time compromising?
Patrick Murphy: 'While providing a completely natural experience on partner platforms, we also had to comply with challenging requirements such as regulations. These include Customer Classification (TMD), leverage limits, and collateral requirements.
However, thanks to the collaboration between our trading team and our legal and compliance teams, we were able to manage this process easily and successfully, providing an integrated solution to our partners appropriately.
BeInCrypto: Eightcap Tradesim rewards users with simulation trading. What insights did you gain about trader behaviors and education from this experience? How did these findings affect your onboarding and retention strategy?
Patrick Murphy: 'What we learned from Tradesim is this: Traders learn better as the environment feels real and produces real results. When we simulate live market conditions and reward performance, we see a noticeable increase in trading confidence. Many traders developed real discipline: they acquired fundamental habits such as position tracking, market reading, and data analysis. The key finding here is: Gamified education bridges the gap between curiosity and confidence.
We have determined that the interest in education directly affects the trading duration. Users who spend more than five days in simulation trading were much more eager to become active traders.
BeInCrypto: Stablecoins are reshaping settlement and liquidity processes. How are you using stablecoins to accelerate fiat-crypto flows on embedded platforms at Eightcap? What overlooked frictions persist in regulations and cross-border transfers?
Patrick Murphy: 'Stablecoins have become one of the most significant financial innovations of the last decade. They provide instant and low-cost access to digital dollars like USD₮; we can transfer large amounts within seconds. This has filled a significant gap, especially in emerging markets where banking and payment systems are inadequate and in countries outside the UK, EU, and Australia.
At Eightcap, we have made customer funding and withdrawal transactions faster and more reliable thanks to stablecoins. We have eliminated friction where traditional finance has faltered. However, evaluating the dollar version of stablecoins as 'customer money' in licensed institutions still faces regulatory hurdles. Existing frameworks are written according to bank money logic, not blockchain-based settlement; custody and settlement requirements are still shaped accordingly.
The interoperability with USD bank accounts is still limited. Stablecoins are traded 24/7 on the chain, but banks still operate within office hours and their own networks. Until regulations and infrastructure reach this point, stablecoins remain a highly efficient parallel system on their own; they are not fully integrated into customer money management of regulated financial institutions yet.
BeInCrypto: What regulatory or technological changes do you foresee defining embedded multi-asset trading in the next two years? How is Eightcap positioning itself to lead in this transition?
Patrick Murphy: 'In the next two years, not only cryptocurrencies but many assets will start to be transported on the chain, especially tokenized gold, stocks, and cash-like assets. This transition will fundamentally change the way capital is utilized. As assets exist directly on the chain, they can be used as collateral much more efficiently; settlement or reinvestment will be easier without the need to sell out. Investors will be able to trade instantly in other assets by using Bitcoin, tokenized gold, or stocks as collateral, hedge with derivatives, or reinvest the fund instantly.
As Eightcap, we collaborate with crypto technology companies that require global licensing infrastructure to launch on-chain or hybrid DeFi/traditional finance products. By combining our multi-asset regulated infrastructure with tokenized assets and stablecoin settlement, we provide our partners with a seamless, compliant, and capital-efficient trading experience.
As crypto and tokenized regulations mature, Eightcap aims to be a bridge between traditional capital markets and the rising on-chain economy,' he said.
