DCM was close to a deal with Straticator; founder and Saxo Bank alum Paul Hawtin has moved on to Investment Management.

LeapRate Exclusive… A quick follow up to one of our more followed stories from earlier this year, that of UK forex and spreadbetting broker Derwent Capital Markets (DCM) and the attempted auction of DCM to the highest bidder.

First, we should mention that we felt that DCM was quite interesting and unique in the forex brokerage world, building a sentiment-trading focused platform. Sentiment trading involves the creation of trading signals by sorting through reams of real-time social media. Not an easy task, but the theory is that in today’s world ‘real’ news which can move the markets is first available on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and everywhere else people are discussing things.

Back to the story. As we had indicated earlier, DCM’s attempt to sell itself and its trading platform in an online auction flopped badly, with a reported top bid of £120,000 versus a “guide price” of £5 million.

LeapRate has learned that Hawtin and his team at DCM did indeed have an interested buyer, Spain-based trading platform startup Straticator, although talks ended without a deal. The DCM platform was subsequently shut down. Visits to DCM’s old website are now redirected to a new website for Cayman Atlantic, which appears to be DCM founder Paul Hawtin’s latest company, this time involved in asset management. Hawtin’s new business appears to also be harnessing social media, with its tag line announcing “Unlocking hidden trading opportunities within real-time social media data.”

It is possible that DCM was a little ahead of its time. We are aware of other sentiment trading startups, such as Acuity Trading run by Dow Jones alum Andrew Lane, which are beginning to take off and get serious attention in the trading world.

For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.