NCFA Guest Post | Mar 4, 2019

At some point in your business life, you will need to raise money. It might be right at the start so you can hit the ground running, or it could be later on when you want to expand and need a boost. Whenever and why ever you want to raise money, it’s important to know what options are open to you, as there are many different ones, and they won’t all suit your situation. Here are some of the main ways to finance your business venture, no matter what reason that money is required.

Look To The Government

Depending on how much you need, what you intend to do with it, and what sector you are working in, there might be a government scheme or grant that could work for you. You will need to research this thoroughly, and it is always wise to ask for expert advice if you think there is something that could apply to you and your business.

If in doubt, apply for the grant or scheme anyway. The worst that can happen is that you are told no, and it might just be that you are able to obtain the money you need through this means. Even if it is a loan, the interest rate is likely to be much lower than those of traditional lenders.

See:  Peer-to-peer lending will help small businesses stay afloat

Loans

What most people think of when they start to consider financing their business is a loan. This could be a business loan or perhaps a personal one. Loans can be extremely useful, offering you the money you need and giving you the peace of mind of knowing how much you need to pay back each month, and for how long.

To obtain a business loan, you will need to have a business plan that outlines exactly where you plan to spend the money and how it will help you to make a profit so that you can pay the money back again. Some lenders might not be able to lend to a startup business that has no financial records, however, because they simply can’t be sure of being paid back.

In this case, some business owners might turn to a personal loan. This can be just as good, as long as the business pays the loan back so that the individual is not out of pocket. The only problem is that you might not be granted a loan due to a poor credit score. This is why it’s best to check beforehand; you can either dispute your ranking on ChexSystems and find out more on Crediful.com why this is a good idea, or you can try to repair your credit if you can’t find any errors. At this point, you can apply for another loan.

Find An Angel Investor

An angel investor is a wealthy individual who is keen to invest in a business in order to get a return on their money. How much they put in and how much they want in return will vary, and is something you will need to discuss between you if you can set up a meeting with such an investor.

Some angel investors will want to put money into a business and then leave others to run it. Others will want to be more involved, and may want to be part of the management team. Again, this is all to be negotiated when the finer details are discussed.

See:  CSA Staff Notice: Update on the Start-up Crowdfunding Registration and Prospectus Exemptions

Crowdfunding

You will probably have heard of crowdfunding, and perhaps you have even invested some money yourself, but you might not have considered it for your own business. However, it can be ideal for raising money to help you to grow, and shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. Crowdfunding is no longer just for charities and good causes; small businesses are more than welcome to create a page as well.

There are many different crowdfunding companies available to choose from, each one specializing in a different area. Research is key, because writing a great campaign but using it on the wrong forum is not going to help you get the money you need for your business.

The first step is to find the right forum and create the campaign. After this, you will need to share it on social media, and ensure that others share it too. Some campaigns offer stakes in the business or products or services in return for cash, so you will need to know what you are willing to give away in order to bring in the money you need.

The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org

Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter! Follow @NCFACanada Not to be missed! Registration NOW OPEN! Help us kickoff the Summer in style

[FINTRAC 101 Presentation and Q&A, Jul 19 and 21]: For business engaged in crowdfunding platforms services

July 5, 2022

FINTRAC | Laura Colella | July 5, 2022 The recent amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations (PCMLTFR) and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Administrative Monetary Penalties (PCMLTFAMP) Regulations now cover crowdfunding platforms as money services businesses (MSBs) or foreign money services businesses (FMSBs) under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. Businesses engaged in crowdfunding platform services now have the following obligations: Register with FINTRAC Develop and maintain a compliance program Carry out know your client requirements, including verifying the identity of persons and entities for certain activities and transactions Keep certain records, including records related to transactions and client identification Report certain transactions to FINTRAC EVENT DATES and HOW TO REGISTER July 19, 2022 at 2 p.m. (English presentation) July 21, 2022 at 2 p.m. (French presentation) Virtual format To register or ask questions, please confirm your virtual attendance by emailing your RSVP to:  guidelines-lignesdirectrices@fintrac-canafe.gc.ca Don't forget to specify English or French and/or the date you with to attend.  A meeting link will be sent a day before the presentation Download PDF Agenda for more details --> here You may like to read: NCFA Response to ...
Read More

Binance CEO Raises Red Flag on Massive Chinese Data Leak

July 5, 2022

BeINCrypto | David Thomas and Kyle Baird | Jul 4, 2022 Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao sounded the alarm on a massive data leak of one billion Chinese residents that went up for sale on the dark web. Twenty-three terabytes of data containing names, addresses, birthplaces, national IDs, phone numbers, and criminal case information was reportedly stolen from a police station database in Shanghai, China. The hacker offered the information on a dark web forum for ten bitcoins. CZ took to Twitter on July 3 to announce that Binance threat intelligence had discovered resident records for sale on the dark web, without mentioning the country. He attributed the data breach to a bug in a government agency’s software using an “Elasticsearch” algorithm.  CZ explained that the compromised data had implications for Binance users since the data in question could be used to take over accounts. CZ added that Binance uses internal and outsourced threat detection. Elasticsearch is used to quickly search through massive data sets and return answers in milliseconds (and could include corporate or government entity, data from social media posts to emails to company spreadsheets). While this makes for easy access to a wealth of enterprise information, it ...
Read More

Unconstitutional financial surveillance? Advocacy group Coin Center is suing the US government

July 5, 2022

The Verge | Corin Faife | Jun 21, 2022 Last week, Coin Center filed a legal challenge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, naming as defendants Janet Yellen as a representative of the Treasury Department, IRS commissioner Charles Rettig, and US attorney general Merrick Garland on behalf of the government as a whole. A blog post from the advocacy group says that the legal complaint aims to overturn “unconstitutional financial surveillance.” If Coin Center’s challenge is successful, it could have implications far beyond cryptocurrency due to how the reporting law was passed in the first place. See:  NCFA Response to FINTRAC’s ‘Knee Jerk’ Regulations Requiring Donation Crowdfunding Platforms to Register and Comply with AML/ATF Legislation The authors, Coin Center executive director Jerry Brito and research director Peter Van Valkenburgh, write: Our suit leads with two major claims: (1) forcing ordinary people to collect highly intrusive information about other ordinary people, and report it to the government without a warrant, is unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment; and (2) demanding that politically active organizations create and report lists of their donors’ names and identifying information to the government is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. When the ...
Read More

Meta’s money transfer service pilot, Novi, is shutting down this September

July 5, 2022

Fortune | Olga Kharif | Jul 1, 2022 The remainder of the cryptocurrency project that Meta Platforms Inc.’s Founder Mark Zuckerberg took a beating over from Congress is officially shutting down. Meta’s Novi pilot—a money-transfer service using the company’s own cryptocurrency digital wallet—will end on Sept. 1, the service said on its website, a link to which it texted to its users. Meta launched Novi pilot in October of last year amid scaled back ambitions to dominate the crypto remittances space. Instead of a new Diem token Meta once backed, Novi ended up using Paxos Trust Co.’s USDP stablecoin to allow wallet users from parts of the U.S. and Guatemala to conduct transactions. Starting July 21, users will no longer be able to add money to their accounts [advising users to withdraw their balance] as soon as possible. Users won’t be able to access their transaction history or other data after the pilot ends. See:  Meta to Start Testing NFTs on Instagram (Facebook and Other Apps To Follow) Leverage Novi's technology The company does plan to use Novi’s technology in future products, such as in its metaverse project, a company spokesperson said in an email.  While scaling back this effort, ...
Read More

Where Did Convoy Support Come From?

July 4, 2022

The Tyee | Christopher Cheung  | Mar 15, 2022 Where did support for the Canada’s convoy protests come from? Thanks to a data leak, we have a rough idea. The so-called “Freedom Convoy” began in B.C.’s Lower Mainland and traversed the country before converging in Ottawa on Jan. 29. The protests attracted people with a broad mix of views, including anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown and anti-government sentiments. At first, convoy organizers used the crowdfunding website GoFundMe to collect donations. But after police reports of violence by protesters in Ottawa, the website decided to stop hosting the cause. Organizers then migrated fundraising efforts to GiveSendGo, which describes itself as “The No. 1 Free Christian Fundraising Site.” See:  NCFA Response to FINTRAC’s ‘Knee Jerk’ Regulations Requiring Donation Crowdfunding Platforms to Register and Comply with AML/ATF Legislation Leaked Data GiveSendGo accepted donations from Feb. 1 to 10 before hackers illegally targeted the site and leaked donor data online. The hackers did not steal any donations. The leaked data contains donors’ full names, email addresses, postal codes, donation amounts, methods of payment and personal comments. It does not contain credit card information. Based on the postal codes, we are able to map where convoy donations came ...
Read More

SolidBlock Offers NFTStays as a Booking Tool for US Hotel Industry

July 4, 2022

SolidBlock | Miriam Green | Jun 9, 2022 SolidBlock is making history by being the first company to offer NFTs as a booking tool for the hotel industry in the United States. Launched in May 2022, NFTstays is a reservation system that enables hotels to increase their revenue and occupancy rates by tapping into the lucrative NFT market and allowing guests to book their stays with NFTs. When hotels work with NFTstays, they mint a specific number of NFTs that include a package deal of night stays and exclusive perks and benefits. The platform uses blockchain technology and creates a new way to grow brand awareness and expand publicity for hotels. Specifically, this technology removes the difficulty of compensating guests for unused rooms by giving guests the ability to resell with ease the NFTs with their reserved night stays. See:  FFCON20 Week 8 Fintech Draft Finals: Congratulations to the Winners! SolidBlock and DivDot The hotel’s collection of NFTs is currently housed on the OpenSea platform and will soon be added to more NFT marketplaces. The NFTs each contain unique art and photos of the hotel and are redeemed using the hotel’s existing booking system, making it easy for hotels to ...
Read More

EU agrees on landmark MiCA rules putting pressure on UK and US to regulation crypto assets too

July 4, 2022

The Guardian | Dan Milmo  | Jul 1, 2022 The EU has moved to rein in the “wild west” of crypto assets by agreeing a groundbreaking set of rules for the sector, adding to pressure on the UK and US to act too. Representatives from the European parliament and EU states inked an agreement on Thursday that contains measures to guard against market abuse and manipulation, and require that crypto firms provide details of the environmental impact of their assets. “Today, we put order in the wild west of crypto assets and set clear rules for a harmonised market,” said Stefan Berger, the German MEP who led negotiations on behalf of the parliament.  The recent fall in the value of digital currencies shows us how highly risky and speculative they are and that it is fundamental to act. The European parliament’s markets in crypto assets (MiCA) law is expected to come into force at the end of 2023. Globally, crypto assets are largely unregulated, with national operators in the EU required only to show controls for combating money laundering. See:  A European approach to DeFi regulation MiCA will be the world’s first comprehensive regime for crypto assets and will contain ...
Read More

Understanding The Importance Of Rental Property Management

July 4, 2022

Jul 4, 2022 Most people consider rental properties to be a form of passive income. In its very essence, it is, yet it is not as simple as buying a place and putting it aside for the time being. Once you find a suitable place that will make a good rental property to buy, there is a whole list of tasks and responsibilities that you need to do that will make your rental property a good investment. Some of the things you will have to manage include tenants, finances, and the property itself. Regardless of whether you decide to manage the rental property on your own or hire a rental property manager to run the business on your behalf, you need to make sure that everything works. So, here are a couple of things you should know about managing a rental property. What Are the Key Responsibilities of Managing Rental Properties?  In its very essence, there are three main categories to be distinguished, each of which plays a critical role in running this type of real estate business. The main responsibilities of landlords include: managing tenants managing finances managing the property In this case, tenants play the main role in ...
Read More

Three Arrows Capital crypto hedge fund files for bankruptcy

July 4, 2022

The Verge | Emma Roth | Jul 2, 2022 Cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in a bid to protect its US assets from creditors in the country, as reported earlier by Bloomberg and CNBC. Representatives for the Singapore-based company made the filing in a Southern District New York court on Friday, which legally protects the US assets of insolvent foreign debtors from creditors in the US. Founded in 2012 by Kyle Davis and Su Zhu, 3AC managed about $10 billion in assets as recently as March, later sinking to $3 billion in April. See:  Justin Hartzman: Unveiling the Celsius and 3 Arrows Capital implosions Like several other crypto firms, including the lending giants Celcius and Babel Finance, 3AC’s turn in fortunes is part of the so-called crypto “winter” that’s brought down stablecoins and sent Bitcoin’s value plunging. Earlier this week, reports emerged that 3AC failed to pay a $670 million loan provided by crypto broker Voyager Digital, which has since halted all trades, deposits, and withdrawals as a result. Sky News later reported that a court in the British Virgin Islands has ordered 3AC’s liquidation and that the firm is reportedly working with ...
Read More

Cato Analysis: SECs Proposed Climate‐​risk Disclosure

July 4, 2022

Cato Institute | Jennifer J. Schulp and William Yeatman | Jun 8, 2022 While some environmental advocates, consultants, and asset managers selling “sustainable” investment products have found a myriad of things to love about the proposal, there are far more reasons to criticize the SEC’s bold move: it’s a menace that threatens harm upon financial markets, the SEC itself, and even the cause of environmentalism. Proposed increase in compliance costs Under the proposal, about 7,000 companies would have to report their “climate‐​related risks and impacts.” The SEC estimates that these new rules would raise the annual cost of compliance from $3.8 billion to $10.2 billion. That’s no small change. And the SEC’s estimates of $420,000 to $530,000 in annual expenses, including the services of climate modelers and emissions accountants, places a substantial burden on companies, particularly smaller ones. SECs justifications fall short First, the SEC says that it must “protect investors” from an ongoing “market failure” involving “difficulties locating and assessing climate‐​related information when making their investment or voting decisions.” Second, the agency purports that it must correct “market inefficiencies” resulting in capital flows that supposedly do not reflect the true threat of global warming. See:  NCFA Response to FINTRAC’s ‘Knee Jerk’ Regulations Requiring ...
Read More