LONDON — Freetrade, a British rival to popular stock trading app Robinhood, said Thursday that it’s been acquired by online investing platform IG Group.

The deal values Freetrade at £160 million ($195 million) — a 29% discount to its last valuation. The startup said that it would continue to operate as a commercially standalone entity under its own brand.

Founded in 2016, Freetrade garnered popularity among mainly younger, more inexperienced traders in the U.K. with its zero-commission trading platform.

The app initially began by offering equities but later expanded to roll out trading in exchange-traded funds, savings products and government bonds.

In pandemic times, Freetrade was riding high on a retail trader frenzy. The app benefited heavily from GameStop “short squeeze” in early 2021, when traders on a Reddit forum for retail investors piled into the stock and caused it to rally in price.

Short-selling refers to the practice of an investor borrowing an asset and then selling it on the open market with the expectation of repurchasing it for less money in future for a profit.

However, worsening macroeconomic conditions in 2022 and 2023 hit Covid high-fliers like Freetrade hard — and in 2023, Freetrade completed a crowdfunding round at a valuation of £225 million down 65% from the £650 million it was worth previously.

The deal is a potential signal for further consolidation coming to the wealth technology industry. It comes after Hargreaves Lansdown was acquired for £5.4 billion by a consortium of investors including private equity giant CVC Group.

Viktor Nebehaj, CEO and co-founder of Freetrade, described the takeover as a “transformative deal that recognizes the significant value that Freetrade has created.”

“Together with IG Group’s significant resources and backing, this is an exciting opportunity to accelerate our growth and delivery of new products and features,” he added.

Freetrade said the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals, adding that it expects it will close the deal later this year.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced an executive order on cybersecurity that imposes new standards for companies selling to the U.S. government and calls for greater disclosure from software providers.

The White House is looking to put in place new rules “to strengthen America’s digital foundations,” Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cybersecurity and emerging technology, said in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.

Cyberattacks have caused an increasing number of disruptions inside federal agencies and companies in recent years.

Attackers have pulled off ransomware attacks at Change Healthcare, the operator of the Colonial Pipeline and the Ascension health care system. And Microsoft said in 2023 that Chinese attackers had broken into U.S. government officials’ email accounts, prompting a critical federal report and a series of changes at the software maker.

Companies selling software to the U.S. government will have to demonstrate that their development practices are secure, according to a statement. There will be “evidence that we post on a government website for all software users to benefit from,” Neuberger said.

The General Services Administration will have to make policy that makes cloud providers provide information to clients on how to operate securely.

Companies selling products and services to the U.S. government must adhere to a new set of security practices as a result of the executive order.

Last week the White House announced the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark label to help consumers evaluate internet-connected devices. The executive order states that the U.S. government will only purchase such products if they carry the label, starting in 2027.

The order also directs the National Institute for Standards and Technology to come up with guidance for handling software updates. In late 2020, hackers gained access to Microsoft and U.S. Defense Department systems by targeting updates to SolarWinds‘ Orion software.

It’s not clear if President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration will uphold the executive order. Biden’s cybersecurity officials have not met with those who will take up the work for Trump.

“We haven’t discussed, but we are very happy to, as soon as the incoming cyber team is named, of course, have any discussions during this final transition period,” Neuberger said.

WATCH: Fmr. CISA Director Chris Krebs on cyberthreats: Expect an increase of offensive cyber activity

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company‘s fourth-quarter revenue and profit beat expectations, as demand for advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications continued to surge.

Here are TSMC’s fourth-quarter results versus LSEG consensus estimates:

• Net revenue: 868.46 billion New Taiwan dollars ($26.36 billion), vs. NT$850.08 billion expected
• Net income: NT$374.68 billion, vs. NT$366.61 billion expected

TSMC profit rose 57% from a year earlier to a record high, while revenue jumped 38.8%. The firm had forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $26.1 billion and $26.9 billion.

As the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer TSMC produces advanced processors for clients such as Nvidia and Apple and has benefited from the megatrend in favor of AI.

TSMC’s high-performance computing division, which encompasses artificial intelligence and 5G applications, drove sales in the fourth quarter, contributing 53% of revenue. That HPC revenue was up 19% from the previous quarter.

“The surging demand for AI chips has exceeded expectations in Q4,” Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint Research told CNBC, adding that revenue was also bolstered by demand for the advanced chips in Apple’s latest iPhone 16 model.

The Taiwan-based company first released its December revenue last week, bringing its annual total to NT$ 2.9 trillion — a record-breaking year in sales since the company went public in 1994.

“We observed robust AI related demand from our customers throughout 2024,” Wendell Huang, chief financial officer and vice president at TSMC, said in an earnings call on Thursday, adding that revenue from AI accelerator products accounted for “close to a mid-teens percentage” of total revenue in 2024.

“Even after more than tripling in 2024, we forecast our revenue from AI accelerators to double in 2025 as a strong surge in AI-related demand continues as a key enabler of AI applications,” Huang added.

However, TSMC may face some headwinds in 2025 from U.S. restrictions on advanced semiconductor shipments to China and uncertainty surrounding the trade policy of President-elect Donald Trump.

TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said the company will not attend Trump’s inauguration as its philosophy is to keep a low profile, Reuters reported.

Trump, who will assume office next week, has threatened to impose broad tariffs on imports and has previously accused Taiwan of “stealing” the U.S. chip business. .

Still, Counterpoint’s Wang forecasts 2025 to be another strong year for TSMC, with significant revenue growth fueled by strong and expanding demand for AI applications, both in diversity and volume.

Taiwan-listed shares of TSMC gained 81% in 2024 and were trading 3.75% higher on Thursday.

Stocks of European semiconductor companies trading on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange rose Thursday, with ASML up 3.5%, ASM International gaining 3.75% and Besi rising 5.1%.