Embedded finance has evolved from payments to lending. It is a logical progression for transactions to lead to the next stage. Platforms that require users to switch between multiple service providers to access various asset classes are gradually losing their competitiveness. Patrick Murphy, Managing Director for the UK and Europe at Eightcap, states that for platforms to continuously attract users, they must incorporate multi-asset access from the beginning.

However, meeting such expectations is not simply a matter of adding new products. A deeper consideration of infrastructure is necessary. How can regulated derivatives be incorporated alongside cryptocurrencies? With banks still using existing systems, how can stablecoins be applied to cross-border payments? And what happens when tokenized assets start being used as collateral in both traditional finance and DeFi?

In this conversation with BeInCrypto, Murphy explains how Eightcap approaches these challenges. He discusses embedding compliance into the API stack and preparing for a world where Bitcoin, stocks, and gold are increasingly traded on-chain.

BeInCrypto: Eightcap Embedded supports brokers, exchanges, and wallets to integrate multi-asset trading through a single API. What specific market signals or client demands convinced you that embedded multi-asset access would become a new engagement point for the platform?

Patrick Murphy: "While looking at market trends, a few points stood out. The needs of clients were becoming increasingly similar across brokers, exchanges, and other fintechs. Users wanted to be able to move cryptocurrencies, forex, and commodities seamlessly. When users had to leave the platform to access other asset classes, platform churn occurred, leading to retention issues. If multi-asset exposure cannot be provided in-house, customers end up trading elsewhere."

Embedded finance was changing expectations. Just as payments and loans naturally integrated into the non-financial ecosystem, the next step was for trading to also be embedded seamlessly. We saw an opportunity to introduce this model into trading and believed we could transform partners into all-in-one investment hubs rather than mere single-asset providers.

Moreover, I realized that what today’s traders value is not just order processing, but the 'experience'. They want to access the market in real time, without friction. Through Eightcap's embedded multi-asset capabilities, traders gain opportunities to diversify their assets not just by buying and selling cryptocurrencies on exchanges but also through derivatives. This increases both customer engagement and monetization potential. Eightcap Embedded was not developed based on a single request but is the result of trends in embedded finance and changes in trader expectations for an all-in-one approach."

BeInCrypto: Based on your background in compliance and payments, how did you approach embedding regulated trading features into the partner platform while maintaining speed and scalability?

Patrick Murphy: "Based on the experience gained in payments and compliance, we were able to merge regulatory principles with product agility. What I learned in the payment space is that if compliance is only considered as a 'review stage', scalability falls apart."

At Eightcap, jurisdiction awareness, customer identity verification (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML), and licensing verification logic are integrated into the onboarding process and transaction flow, designing the embedded trading API. As a result, partners do not need to build separate systems. Compliance is inherently embedded in the system.

By maintaining core compliance, partners can quickly launch services without needing to revisit or reaffirm core controls.

Eightcap Embedded has been built from the ground up with compliance-focused infrastructure, supporting brokers, exchanges, and wallets to maintain trust with both customers and regulators while confidently expanding their businesses."

BeInCrypto: Integrating derivatives and cryptocurrency products within embedded finance presents unique technical and risk management challenges. What was the most challenging balance between usability, compliance, and resilience in a volatile market?

Patrick Murphy: "One of our challenges was to provide an experience where users feel natural within the partner platform while also meeting regulatory requirements such as customer classification (TMD), leverage limits, and margin requirements."

However, this was managed well by having the trading team collaborate with the legal and compliance teams to build an integrated environment that fits the partner while meeting regulatory requirements."

BeInCrypto: Eightcap TradeSim offers rewards for simulated trading. What have you learned about trader behavior or education through this experiment, and how has it impacted onboarding and retention strategies?

Patrick Murphy: "Through TradeSim, we confirmed that traders learn best when the environment feels realistic but the actual results do not follow. By simulating real-time market conditions and providing rewards for training performance, confidence in trading increased quantitatively. Many traders are beginning to acquire the discipline needed for actual trading, such as position management, market understanding, and data analysis. Gamifying education can quickly bridge the gap between curiosity and confidence."

In fact, we found that the higher the participation in training, the longer the duration of trading continuation. Those who engaged in simulated trading for more than 5 days were likely to become active traders in reality."

BeInCrypto: Stablecoins are innovating payment and liquidity structures. How is Eightcap utilizing stablecoins to simplify the flow of fiat-cryptocurrency within the embedded platform, and what obstacles remain in terms of regulation or cross-border transfers?

Patrick Murphy: "Stablecoins have been one of the most significant financial innovations in the past decade. They expand access to digital dollars like USD₮, enabling low-cost, large-scale real-time transfers. In particular, they are quickly filling the gaps left in emerging markets and other countries outside the UK, Europe, and Australia due to the limitations of fragmented banking or payment systems."

Thanks to stablecoins, Eightcap can process customer deposits and withdrawals much faster and more reliably. This is a significant advantage in reducing friction when existing infrastructure is slow. However, there are currently regulatory limits when licensing authorities consider this form of dollar as customer funds. The existing legal framework does not fit blockchain payments, and custody, protection, and reconciliation requirements are still aligned with traditional banking standards.

Interoperability with dollar accounts remains limited. Stablecoins are settled on-chain 24/7, but banks only use payment networks separate from business hours. Until regulation and infrastructure catch up, stablecoins will remain a parallel system, highly efficient in themselves, but not fully integrated into the existing structure where licensed financial institutions manage customer funds.

BeInCrypto: What regulatory and technological structural changes do you anticipate will define embedded multi-asset trading over the next two years? Additionally, how does Eightcap plan to take the lead during this transition?

Patrick Murphy: "Within the next two years, most assets will begin to move on-chain. This includes not just cryptocurrencies, but also tokenized gold, stocks, and cash-like assets. This fundamentally changes the way capital is utilized. When assets exist directly on-chain, they can be utilized much more efficiently for collateral, payments, and reinvestments immediately. Investors will be able to trade other assets using Bitcoin, tokenized gold, and stocks as collateral, or hedge or reinvest quickly through derivatives."

Eightcap is partnering with major cryptocurrency technology companies that require a global licensing stack to introduce on-chain and hybrid DeFi/traditional finance products to the market. By combining regulated multi-asset infrastructure, tokenized assets, and stablecoin payments, we help partners provide a smooth, compliant, and capital-efficient trading experience.

As cryptocurrency and tokenization regulations mature, Eightcap aims to be the link to transition to the emerging on-chain economy from traditional capital markets."