The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released a report on the potential benefits and challenges associated with the increasing trend of financial sector firms adopting cloud services technology. 
After a substantial lift in crypto, it begs the question, was that the bottom? 
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Voices
U.S. Treasury Report: Benefits, Challenges Facing Cloud-Based Fintech Adoption
U.S. Treasury | Release | Feb 8, 2023
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released a report on the potential benefits and challenges associated with the increasing trend of financial sector firms adopting cloud services technology.
- Overview: While cloud services can increase access and reliability for local communities as well as empower community banks to compete with financial technology firms, the report found that financial service firms ramping up their reliance on cloud-based technologies need more visibility, staff support, and cybersecurity incident response engagement from Cloud Service Providers (CSPs).
- Report Background: The first-of-its-kind report is the product of months of work in coordination with members of the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and was developed with extensive input from U.S. regulators, private sector stakeholders, trade associations, and think tanks. The report does not impose any requirements and does not endorse or discourage the use of any specific provider or cloud services.
See:
EmFi Fueled by Cloud-based Infrastructure | KPMG Fintech Pulse H1 2022
Cloud’s trillion-dollar prize is up for grabs
- In assessing the current state of cloud adoption in the financial sector, Treasury found that cloud services could help financial institutions become more resilient and secure, but that there were some significant challenges that could detract from these benefits. These include:
- Insufficient transparency to support due diligence and monitoring by financial institutions. Community banks expressed concerns that they do not often receive details of incidents or outages impacting their systems.
- Gaps in human capital and tools to securely deploy cloud services. The current talent pool needed to help financial firms tailor cloud services to better serve their customers and protect their information is well below demand.
- Exposure to potential operational incidents, including those originating at a CSP. Many financial institutions have expressed concern that a cyber vulnerability or incident at one CSP may potentially have a cascading impact across the broader financial sector.
- Potential impact of market concentration in cloud service offerings on the financial sector’s resilience. The current market is concentrated around a small number of CSPs, which means that if an incident occurs at one CSP, it could affect many financial sector clients concurrently.
- Dynamics in contract negotiations given market concentration. The limited number of CSPs may give CSPs outsized bargaining power when contracting with financial institutions.
- International landscape and regulatory fragmentation. The patchwork of global regulatory and supervisory approaches to cloud technology can make it nearly impossible for U.S. financial institutions to adopt cloud consistently at a global scale, reducing CSP use in the market and raising costs for cloud adoption strategies, which ultimately impacts consumers.
View the original press release --> here
Download the 71 page PDF report --> here
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
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Lessons From Marshmallow Experiment Can Make You Wealthy
Level Up Coding | Jayden Levitt | Feb 2, 2023
Image: Flickr/Oscar Thompson
You Must Understand the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.
- Experiment: Walter Mischel was a psychologist who led a study on delayed gratification at Standford University (Stanford Marshmallow Experiment). In this study, a child was offered a choice between a small but immediate reward or two small rewards if they waited for a while. During this time, the researcher left the room for about 15 minutes and then returned. The reward was a marshmallow or pretzel stick, depending on the child’s preference.
- Conclusion: In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who could wait longer and delay gratification for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes. Researchers measured these life outcomes by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index and other life measures.
See: Ray Dalio Favors an Inflation-linked Digital Asset Over Bitcoin
Ray Dalio:
I want to distinguish that there’s a big difference in people’s opportunities worldwide, but if you compare two people with equal opportunities. When it comes to money, it’s delayed gratification that separates them. Once you realise that deferred gratification will improve you, you begin to count and say how many days, months, weeks, or years can I live if I don’t spend the money I have coming in.
Like the marshmallow test, you must delay gratification with your finances. When you save, the next natural question you ask yourself is, where should I hold, and where should I keep this money? When it comes to money, and you don’t spend it for instant gratification, it means you’ve got savings.
See: Tiger vs. SoftBank: Inside the investing playbooks that upended Silicon Valley
The next thing that comes at you is, what do I do with my savings? Now you experience something different with the money you have, compared to the person who spends it straight away.
Continue to the full article --> here
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
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Ray Dalio Favors an Inflation-linked Digital Asset Over Bitcoin
Business Insider | Brian Evans | Feb 2, 2023
Image: Unsplash/Michelle Spollen
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio warned Thursday of a looming currency crisis and that an inflation-linked cryptocurrency would be safer than bitcoin.
- Dalio on Bitcoin: In an interview with CNBC, he asserted that the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization "has no relation to anything" and denounced opinions that bitcoin is a safe store of value. "It's a tiny thing that gets disproportionate attention," Dalio said. "It's not going to be an effective money. It's not an effective store holder of wealth. It's not an effective medium of exchange."
- While bitcoin has been touted as the future of currency, he said it's too unstable. And stablecoins, which have been billed as safer than bitcoin, are basically fiat currencies too, he added.
- Ideal coin: "If you created a coin that says 'OK this is buying power that I know I can save in and put my money in over a period of time and transact in,' then I think that would be a good coin," he said. "So I think you're going to see the development of coins that you haven't seen that probably will end up being attractive, viable coins. I don't think bitcoin is it."
See: According to CBDCTracker, these Central Banks have Launched a CBDC or Pilot Initiative as of Today
- We are in a world in which money as we know it is in jeopardy. We are printing too much, and it's not just the United States.
- He also noted China's push to conduct trade in the yuan and promote its digital renminbi will make them more widely used. President Xi Jinping recently visited the Middle East to tout the yuan in oil deals, threatening the US dollar's status as the top currency in commodities trade.
- "If Saudi Arabia sells oil in renminbi and then buys things from China in renminbi, when they get it they're going to hold more renminbi - it's going to be a higher percentage of their [reserves].
- He also noted China's push to conduct trade in the yuan and promote its digital renminbi will make them more widely used. President Xi Jinping recently visited the Middle East to tout the yuan in oil deals, threatening the US dollar's status as the top currency in commodities trade.
Ray Dalio:
"The question over the next number of years is really what is money, not just as a medium of exchange but as a store holder of wealth."
Continue to the full article --> here
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
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Mike Cagney, Ex-SoFi Boss ‘We’re Dealing with a lot of Headwinds in Industry’, Slashes Funding Targets
Bloomberg | Lizette Chapman | Feb 6, 2023
Image: Bloomberg
Figure is one of countless once-hot startups now suddenly forced to contend with an icy environment for venture capital, particularly in the world of crypto.
- Challenging times: Two years ago, when investors’ fintech frenzy was at its peak, Cagney raised $200 million for Figure. The company at the time was valued at $3.2 billion, gaining it entrance into a rarified club of multibillion-dollar startups.
- But recently, things have gotten tougher. In the last few months, several senior leaders have left Figure, including the president and chief financial officer; it scrapped an attempt to take its lending business public through a special purpose acquisition company; and executives slashed their targets on an ambitious fundraising effort.
- The company, which builds financial products on a blockchain, is also seeking to spin off some product lines as it navigates a dramatic industry downturn.
See: Market Downturns are a Great Time to Build a Startup, or are they?
- The company is currently seeking to raise $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. That’s one-third the sum it initially planned. Figure is not in any serious deal talks at the moment, the people said, and the startup is likely to delay raising money rather than agree to a down round at a lower valuation.
- Last month, in another setback to Figure’s endeavors to access more cash, the startup abandoned efforts to take its lending product public via a reverse merger with a mid-sized mortgage bank. The transaction was supposed to serve as a major milestone and strategic inflection point for the startup.
Mike Cagney, Former-CEO, SoFi:
We’re just dealing with a lot of headwinds in the industry right now. It’s a very hard market.
Continue to the full article --> here
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
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Marx’s Revenge: Sam Altman Says His OpenAI Tech Will “Break Capitalism”
The Byte | Noor Al-Sibai | Feb 3, 2023
Image: Freepik/Starline
The CEO behind the record-breaking ChatGPT has a bit of a strange background, the TL;DR of which being that he once admitted to being a doomsday prepper who believes that killer artificial intelligence or a lab-modified virus could bring about the end of days.
- Origins: Altman, who is also the president of the uber-influential Y Combinator startup incubator, is one of only OG OpenAI cofounders still standing. The company's decision to go from more of a research vehicle to a for-profit venture in 2019 was somewhat overshadowed by his fellow cofounder Elon Musk's decision to leave the firm — over some seemingly huge disagreements about its direction.
- General Intelligence AI: While Altman doesn't think we're that close to AIs gaining consciousness — a belief that's not quite shared by fellow OG OpenAI-er Ilya Sutskever — he did tell Forbes that creating AGI is "the thrust that drives all my actions" and, it seems, his raison d'etre for the firm.
See: Billionaire investor Ray Dalio on capitalism’s crisis: The world is going to change ‘in shocking ways’ in the next five years
Sam Altman:
"I think capitalism is awesome. I love capitalism. Of all of the bad systems the world has, it's the best one — or the least bad one we found so far. I hope we find a way better one. I think that if AGI really truly fully happens," he continued, "I can imagine all these ways that it breaks capitalism."
Continue to the full article --> here
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
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Is the Crypto Bottom In Yet?
Tristram Waye for Bitvo | Feb 2, 2023
After a substantial lift in crypto, it begs the question, was that the bottom?
- The answer, of course, is no idea. Because bottoms are not events but rather a process. After a challenging crypto winter, the relief is welcome, but the question of whether it’s over requires some evidence.
- This lift might be what is known as a bear trap. Bear traps entice buyers before heading back down.
- On the other hand, it might be the beginning of a new trading range for bitcoin and ether.
- So let’s have a look at some things that might tell us about where we are and how to use what we discover.
See: Is Crypto Bouncing Back, or Bull Trap?
- Be careful picking market tops and bottoms
- Jesse Livermore: “One of the most helpful things anyone can learn is to give up trying to catch the last eighth —or the first. These two are the most expensive eighths in the world. They have cost stock traders in aggregate enough millions of dollars to build a concrete highway across the continent.”
- So on the upside, this means picking tops, getting on the short side too early and getting squeezed.
- On the downside, it means catching falling knives trying to pick the bottom.
- In both cases, the financial impact is clear. But there is the psychological component as well. And this can present a bigger problem in some ways.
See: Learn to Love Those Bear Market Rallies
- Signals and sentiment:
- The press will post stories on the cover of their magazines and newspapers. And they are almost always wrong.
- But the response to bad news becomes important to watch. Any negative news that doesn’t generate downside should be examined.
- Sentiment is an interpretation of the bullish or bearish lean of various participants. Crypto has an enormous range of voices coming from a wide variety of content. And Twitter is a great place to get a gauge of sentiment. Here is where you can take a wide view of the voices around the space.
- Another sign of a bottom is the reaction to bad news. On the way to the bottom, every bit of negative news results in selling. The bias eventually becomes sell any story or rumor. We saw the last batch of selling occur with the FTX debacle. But since then, selling has been rather muted.
- At the bottom, negative news has little or no impact. Sellers no longer care. Lots of the sell side overhang is eaten up. And the response to news starts to change. Near the bottom, negative news goes from bearish to bullish.
- The demand for leverage will be low at the bottom and will have limited availability. Risk parameters at exchanges will also be relatively tight at the bottom. So even if you want leverage, and are fine with the cost of capital, the amount of leverage available and the margin required is likely quite a bit higher. Less leverage will mean less risk of downside liquidations.
- Bitcoin seems to be trading in a loose inverse relationship relative to the DXY.
Continue to the full article --> here
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
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ARK Innovation Predictions and Big Ideas 2023
Fortune via Yahoo Finance | | Feb 1, 2023
Image: Ark Invest
Hypersonic flight, 3D printed humanoid robots, groceries delivered by drones, molecular biomarkers for early detection of malignant tumors
- Report: That's the conclusion from her annual Big Ideas report published on Tuesday by her money management firm. This 153-page deep dive attempts to handicap the potential commercial opportunities awaiting those startups and incumbents quick to embrace promising new technologies set to supplant older, obsolete ones.
- Wood believes companies that succeed in disrupting existing industries will experience “super-exponential growth”, lifting their cumulative value by an average annual rate of 40% in the process to reach a staggering $200 trillion by 2030.
- To put that gargantuan figure into perspective, the International Monetary Fund estimated last April that the size of the entire world's economy would cross the $100 trillion mark in nominal GDP terms by the end of the year.
See: a16z: Big Fintech Ideas to Tackle in 2023
- Forecasting winners: Instead of emphasizing spreadsheets and valuation models that often focus on short-term fundamentals like a company’s forward-year cash flow or earnings per share, her ARK Invest research team prefers a top-down analysis of what macroeconomic problems inhibit social progress before examining which innovators are doing the most to solve them.
- Much of the research conclusions in Big Ideas is based on predicting when technologies may reach mass market maturity by employing Wright’s Law, a general theory from 1936 that attempts to model cost degradation curves over time.
- Wood’s team identifies 14 distinct technologies they believe will feed off each other, broadly converging into five overarching investment themes ("innovation platforms") grouped around artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, public blockchains and the multi-omic sequencing of digitalized biological data.
Continue to the full article --> here
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
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