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
IMF asks Financial Stability Board to develop a global framework for standards for regulation of crypto assets
IMF Blog | Tobias Adrian, Dong He, and Aditya Narain | Dec 9, 2021
Crypto assets and associated products and services have grown rapidly in recent years. Furthermore, interlinkages with the regulated financial system are rising. Policymakers struggle to monitor risks from this evolving sector, in which many activities are unregulated. In fact, we think these financial stability risks could soon become systemic in some countries.
Uncoordinated regulatory measures may facilitate potentially destabilizing capital flows.
While the nearly $2.5 trillion market capitalization indicates significant economic value of the underlying technological innovations such as the blockchain, it might also reflect froth in an environment of stretched valuations. Indeed, early reactions to the Omicron variant included a significant crypto selloff.
Financial system risks from crypto assets
Determining valuation is not the only challenge in the crypto ecosystem: identification, monitoring, and management of risks defy regulators and firms. These include, for example, operational and financial integrity risks from crypto asset exchanges and wallets, investor protection, and inadequate reserves and inaccurate disclosure for some stablecoins. Moreover, in emerging markets and developing economies, the advent of crypto can accelerate what we have called “cryptoization”—when these assets replace domestic currency, and circumvent exchange restrictions and capital account management measures.
See: SEC Regulation: Constructing a Crypto Regulatory Framework – New Tech, Old Rules
Such risks underscore why we now need comprehensive international standards that more fully address risks to the financial system from crypto assets, their associated ecosystem, and their related transactions, while allowing for an enabling environment for useful crypto asset products and applications.
The Financial Stability Board, in its coordinating role, should develop a global framework comprising standards for regulation of crypto assets. The objective should be to provide a comprehensive and coordinated approach to managing risks to financial stability and market conduct that can be consistently applied across jurisdictions, while minimizing the potential for regulatory arbitrage, or moving activity to jurisdictions with easier requirements.
Crypto’s cross-sector and cross-border remit limits the effectiveness of national approaches. Countries are taking very different strategies, and existing laws and regulations may not allow for national approaches that comprehensively cover all elements of these assets. Importantly, many crypto service providers operate across borders, making the task for supervision and enforcement more difficult. Uncoordinated regulatory measures may facilitate potentially destabilizing capital flows.
See: Regulators race to catch-up with digital asset boom
Standard-setting bodies responsible for different products and markets have provided varying levels of guidance. For example, the Financial Action Task Force has issued guidance for a risk-based approach to mitigating financial integrity risks from virtual assets and their service providers. Actions by other standard-setting bodies range from broad principles for some types of crypto assets to rules for mitigating exposure risks of regulated entities and setting up information exchange networks. While useful, these efforts aren’t sufficiently coordinated towards a global framework for managing the risks to financial and market integrity, financial stability, and consumer and investor protection.
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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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US House Committee on Financial Services Provides Insight into Regulatory Needs of Crypto Industry
Crowdfund Insider | | De 8, 2021
Earlier today (December 8, 2021), the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on digital assets. As was previously reported, the witnesses included top crypto executives and thus provided the opportunity for a unique discussion between House members and crypto entrepreneurs.
Chairwoman of the Committee, Representative Maxine Waters started her questioning with a critical question about Facebook/Meta and its Novi wallet, asking Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla how Meta’s attempt to create a digital currency will not challenge the US dollar. Paxos said that Meta came to them because they have the most regulated product referencing its dollar-based stablecoin. Cascarilla noted that the pilot was quite limited in size (US and Guatemala) and suggested a discussion with Novi would reveal more information as to the company’s intent to expand the digital wallet.
See: 9 digital assets powering the DeFi revolution?
Ranking Republican Patrick McHenry used his time to focus on the need to enable Fintech innovation in the US instead of chasing crypto startups to other, more welcoming jurisdictions. “Policymakers need to understand the nature of Web 3,” said McHenry. Bitfury Group CEO Brian Brooks explained that Web 3 enables users the ability to own the network, and this is what crypto assets represent.
Regarding prepared remarks, Alesia Jeanne Haas, CEO of Coinbase Inc., and CFO, Coinbase Global Inc, said that crypto is opening up a new financial system. “[The] foundational benefit of crypto is that it allows for innovation of new financial and non-financial applications, like non-fungible art tokens (NFTs), that are controlled by the individual.”
Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and CEO of FTX, one of the top crypto exchanges in the world, shared that FTX is designed to empower the individual investor and consumer:
“…because we offer products that are easily accessible and inexpensive, so investors and consumers can make simplified choices to achieve their economic goals. Easy access to financial products all in one place, in many cases on a mobile phone, without multiple gatekeepers assessing rents and posing risks to the investor along the way, is how the digital asset ecosystem is impacting the real everyday lives of those involved, and helping them achieve economic security along the journey.”
He said that a supportive and accommodating policy environment will “only empower the individual investor even further.” Bankman-Fried added that he fully supports a regulatory framework that protects investors and ensures an orderly market to “maintain US leadership.”
See: Industry warns Congress the U.S. risks ‘chilling’ regulations on crypto
For most of the hearing, many members were supportive of digital assets in general, with many advocating for clear-cut rules that do not exist today.
The platforms shared how they currently adhere to strict AML/KYC rules while working closely with authorities to uncover or halt any nefarious activity. Blockchain is a public ledger making it easy to trace transactions that may be illicit in nature – unlike cash.
Brooks said that the US needs to compete on features and utility, globally.
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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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Kickstarter plans to move its crowdfunding platform to the blockchain
TechCrunch via Yahoo Finance | | Dec 8, 2021
Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter is making a big bet on the blockchain, announcing plans to create an open source protocol "that will essentially create a decentralized version of Kickstarter’s core functionality." The company says the goal is for multiple platforms to embrace the protocol, including, eventually, Kickstarter.com.
Kickstarter is launching a new organization called Kickstarter PBC, which will begin development of the protocol. Kickstarter is funding the project, appointing an initial board for the organization and committing to be one of the first platforms on the protocol, though no specific timelines were offered for when such a transition might take place.
See: FreeRossDAO: Another blueprint for peer to peer Crypto Crowdfunding
The company also announced that they're establishing an "independent governance lab," which will publish research and engage with the community on the topic of protocol governance.
It's an interesting path for Kickstarter, which already shares some philosophical DNA with blockchain products allowing consumers to support projects and build up a community around them while taking a stake in the success of those products. While the "stake" in Kickstarter's model has been a completed physical or digital product, newer blockchain crowdfunding platforms are upending that model by giving users tokens tied to the projects which can accrue in value as the product matures. Some of these efforts are questionably legal, but there are endless ways to obfuscate what exactly is being bought and sold by users.
See: 3 Trends in 2022 Predicted to Shape Investment Crowdfunding
For the time being it seems Kickstarter is aiming to proceed slowly in terms of how the protocol will impact the user experience.
"As a user, the Kickstarter experience you’re familiar with will stay the same. You won’t 'see' the protocol, but you will benefit from its improvements," a blog post from the company reads.
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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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Industry warns Congress the U.S. risks ‘chilling’ regulations on crypto
Reuters | Pete Schroeder and Katanga Johnson | Dec 8, 2021
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Top executives from six cryptocurrency firms told Congress on Wednesday to tread lightly in imposing new rules on digital assets - or risk sending activity underground or outside the United States.
At the hearing at the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, executives leading some of the world's biggest crypto companies indicated in prepared testimony they generally support clearer rules. But they emphasized that overly restrictive ones would not stifle the activity, but merely push it away from U.S. reach.
See: Biden’s report on Stablecoins Misses the Mark
"Without tailored legislative solutions that are openly debated with public participation, the United States risks unnecessarily onerous and chilling laws and regulations," warned Alesia Haas, chief executive of Coinbase Inc, in testimony released on Tuesday. "This could effectively push crypto activity underground or to offshore exchanges that have little or no compliance programs."
Representative Maxine Waters, the Democrat who chairs the panel, said there are "several questions" about the need for new rules for crypto, and also highlighted concerns about significant energy usage to mine and trade cryptocurrency.
"Cryptocurrency markets have no overarching or centralized regulatory framework, leading investments in the digital assets space vulnerable to fraud, manipulation and abuse," she said.
To the contrary, Representative Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the panel, urged lawmakers to seek ways to boost cryptocurrency with sufficient safeguards. "We should embrace it, we should understand it, and we should be international leaders in this space," he said.
See: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Attack on Crypto
Executives said they would welcome regulatory clarity, but that overly restrictive rules could prove counterproductive.
"Stablecoins and internet-native capital markets are not too big to fail, but they are now too big to ignore," said Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle Internet Financial. "Policy frameworks need to support an open and competitive playing field, and allow new technologies to flourish."
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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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Bank of Canada holds on rates, warns of elevated inflation
BNN Bloomberg | | De 8, 2021
The Bank of Canada kept borrowing costs unchanged, but highlighted strength in the labor market and worries about the persistence of inflation that will likely keep expectations of imminent interest rate hikes intact.
See: Interested in a High Interest Bitcoin Saving’s Account? Interview with Ledn CEO, Adam Reeds
In a statement-only decision Wednesday, policy makers led by Governor Tiff Macklem left the benchmark overnight rate unchanged at 0.25 per cent and reiterated the economy continues to require considerable monetary policy support.
Still, officials dropped a reference to inflationary pressures being temporary, and noted recent job gains have been broad-based with the employment rate returning to pre-pandemic levels.
While the language changes from the previous decision were incremental, there’s nothing in the statement that’s likely to derail investor expectations that the Bank of Canada is about to embark on an aggressive campaign of rate hikes.
“Inflation is elevated and the impact of global supply constraints is feeding through to a broader range of goods prices,” according to the statement, which added that “recent economic indicators suggest the economy had considerable momentum into the fourth quarter.”
The Bank of Canada is at the forefront among Group of Seven central banks in slowing its stimulus efforts.
See: Is Staking Crypto The Same As Interest?
In October, it ended its bond-buying stimulus program and accelerated the potential timing of future rate increases amid worries that supply disruptions are driving up inflation. Markets are pricing in rate hikes in Canada next year at a faster pace than the Federal Reserve, which has yet to end its quantitative easing program.
“Slightly hawkish, but non-committal,” Simon Harvey, senior FX market analyst at Monex Europe Ltd., said by email.
“We continue to expect a go-slow approach as the pandemic fades, subject to inflation developments. Our baseline remains liftoff in April and a total of three hikes next year, each of 25 basis points.” -- Andrew Husby, economist
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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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Crypto lobbying is going off the charts
The Economist | Dec 7, 2021
BETWEEN 2017 and mid-2021 the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was one of the American government agencies that discussed crypto the most. Brian Quintenz, who ran its Technology Committee, was responsible for much of that, organising presentations on everything from the integrity of bitcoin spot markets to the subject of decentralised finance.
“I developed a reputation as being...an advocate of innovation,” he says.
See: Cryptocurrency executives called to testify in Congress Dec 8
In September Mr Quintenz joined Andreessen Horowitz, a venture-capital firm and an investor in crypto startups, as an adviser. He is only one of many former American officials to have flocked to the cryptoverse. Others include Jay Clayton, the previous head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Brian Brooks, who until January was the acting Comptroller of the Currency; and Chris Giancarlo, head of the CFTC between 2017 and 2019. In Britain, Philip Hammond, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, joined Copper, a crypto startup, in October.
One prong of it has been to lure government officials and compliance experts from banks with big pay packets. Deepali Vyas of Korn Ferry, a headhunting firm, says senior risk managers are typically promised a salary of $600,000-2m; former high-ranking regulators are also locked in with share bonuses worth tens of millions of dollars, which vest over years. The former head of an American regulator, now at a crypto group, says he spends a lot of time meeting lawmakers and civil servants.
See: Over 400 SEC new enforcements in 2021 including Crypto, Dark Web, DeFi targets
The industry is also hiring lobbyists. Based on public disclosures The Economist calculates that crypto firms spent around $5m lobbying the American Senate in the first nine months of 2021. About $2.5m of that was spent between July and September—a quadrupling over the same period last year. Such activities employ the equivalent of 86 full-time staff, up from just one in 2016. Coinbase, a big crypto exchange, doled out $625,000 on lobbyists in the third quarter alone. Block, a crypto-friendly payments firm, has spent more than $1.7m since April 2020. The campaign is also ramping up in Brussels, the EU’s de facto capital, where the industry has deployed the equivalent of 52 full-time lobbyists.
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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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Craig Wright wins dispute over 1.1 million BTC: Not Liable Kleiman Business Partnership Breach
CTV News | AP Business Writer Ken Sweet | Dec 6, 2021
NEW YORK - Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, prevailed in a civil trial verdict Monday against the family of a deceased business partner that claimed it was owed half of a cryptocurrency fortune worth tens of billions.
A Florida jury found that Wright did not owe half of 1.1 million Bitcoin to the family of David Kleiman. The jury did award $100 million in intellectual property rights to a joint venture between the two men, a fraction of what Kleiman's lawyers were asking for at trial.
“This was a tremendous victory for our side,” said Andres Rivero of Rivero Mestre LLP, the lead lawyer representing Wright.
See: Did Satoshi Nakamoto’s Plan a Blockchain BTC Treasure Hunt?
David Kleiman died in April 2013 at the age of 46. Led by his brother Ira Kleiman, his family has claimed David Kleiman and Wright were close friends and co-created Bitcoin through a partnership.
At the center of the trial were 1.1 million Bitcoin, worth approximately $50 billion based on Monday's prices. These were among the first Bitcoin to be created through mining and could only be owned by a person or entity involved with the digital currency from its beginning - such as Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Now the cryptocurrency community will be looking to see if Wright follows through on his promise to prove he is the owner of the Bitcoin. Doing so would lend credence to Wright's claim, first made in 2016, that he is Nakamoto.
The case tried in federal court in Miami was highly technical, with the jury listening to explanations of the intricate workings of cryptocurrencies as well as the murky origins of how Bitcoin came to be. Jurors took a full week to deliberate, repeatedly asking questions of lawyers on both sides as well as the judge on how cryptocurrencies work as well as the business relationship between the two men. At one point the jurors signaled to the judge that they were deadlocked.
See: Bitcoin’s mystery man turns up in the law courts
Wright's claim that he is Nakamoto has been met with skepticism from a sizeable portion of the cryptocurrency community. Due to its structure, all transactions of Bitcoin are public and the 1.1 million Bitcoin in question have remained untouched since their creation. Members of the Bitcoin community have regularly called for Wright to move just a fraction of the coins into a separate account to prove ownership and show that he truly is as wealthy as he claims.
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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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