Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Digital Identity, Privacy, KYC, AML/ATF
Vitalik Proposes Web3 Credentials of the Future: ‘Soulbound Tokens’
The Defiant | Jason Levin | May 25, 2022
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin recently proposed a new kind of token standard that will help users gain insights into others’ real-world activities, accomplishments, likes and dislikes – something like a glimpse into their soul.
Buterin’s soulbound tokens (SBTs) are non-transferrable NFTs held by unique crypto wallets called Souls. In the paper Buterin co-authored to introduce the concept, he described multiple ways SBTs could be used – as university degrees, education credentials, and as web3 credit scores.
See: Interview with Idris Mootee of urbancoolab: Creative collaborations between Humans and AI Machines
Instead of a web3 hiring manager calling up your alma mater or checking LinkedIn, he could check your on-chain resume for a transaction showing the university’s Soul transferring you an SBT. SBTs have the ability to decentralize power away from major institutions and companies and towards the users – instead of a private database owning your credentials, you would own the keys to your credentials.
Vitalik Buterin: Souls can encode the trust networks of the real economy to establish provenance and reputation.
On-chain credentials are already being used by companies like 101 and RabbitHole. Ben Yu told The Defiant that his team at Curious Addys will soon be using SBTs for their web3 Q&A platform Curious.xyz to help users build on-chain reputations for answering questions.
Privacy and Free Speech
Beyond issues with spam and private key protection, having key aspects of people’s identity exposed in a public blockchain sounds like a privacy nightmare, said Richie Bonilla, founder of DAO dashboard Clarity.
See: Modernizing Privacy Law in Canada – Striking the Right Balance
Some went as far as to suggest that SBTs sound like the social credit system adopted in China where all citizens get a score that fluctuates based on their behavior. The dystopian scenario could emerge in a far-flung situation where SBTs are used for every aspect of online life, and not just for web3 credentialing.
“You don’t want everyone to see every facet of your identity,” Bonilla said in an interview. “What about persecuted groups?” Bonilla asked. If you go to a religious conference that gives out SBTs, could you never hide your religion?
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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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67% of top 1000 US Websites Violate EU’s General Data Protection Law (GDPR)
PYMNTS | Mar 31, 2022
The European Union has passed several laws aimed at providing digital identity protection, among them the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect in 2018.
Among the biggest violators of these protocols? American websites. According to one study, 67% of the top 1,000 websites in the United States were in violation of the GDPR.
The violations at work here vary, with 43% of websites not offering users the ability to opt out of selling data, 55% failing to notify users of cookies when they visit the site for the first time, and 32% of sites containing ad trackers.
See: How Verifiable Digital Identity Will Protect Your Post-Pandemic Privacy
The study pointed out that while GDPR exclusively concerns Europe, websites originating in the U.S. still sell goods and services to EU customers. Fines for violations of the GDPR range from $80,000 to $120,000.
To help smaller app developers make sure they’re complying with the GDPR — and thus avoiding penalties they may not be able to afford — Google has launched a new platform called Checks that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to scan code bases and evaluate them for privacy and other areas in which they may fall short of GDPR’s standards. In addition, the platform performs scans for compliance in the U.S. and Brazil, ensuring a significant portion of the world’s app developers are avoiding regulatory penalties.
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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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7 Essential Ingredients of an (Open) Metaverse Framework
a16z | Liz Harkavy, Eddy Lazzarin, Arianna Simpson | May 10, 2022
There has been a lot of buzz about “the metaverse” since its coinage in the ‘90s, but especially during the pandemic (given the surge in online activity), and even more so after Facebook changed its name to Meta.
In many ways, the metaverse is just another name for evolving the internet: to be more social, immersive, and far more economically sophisticated than what exists today. There are, broadly speaking, two competing visions for how to bring this about:
- One is decentralized, generous with property rights and new frontiers, interoperable, open, and owned by the communities that build and maintain it.
- The other vision is centralized, closed, subject to the whims of corporations; and often extracts painful economic rents from its creators, contributors, and inhabitants.
An open metaverse is decentralized, allows users to control identity, enforces property rights, aligns incentives, and ensures value accrues to users (not platforms).
See: CB Insights: Metaverse stack and companies making it a reality
An open metaverse is also transparent, permissionless, interoperable, and composable (others can freely build within and across metaverses), among other criteria.
Achieving a “true” metaverse — one that’s open versus closed — requires seven essential ingredients intrinsic to this sought-after state. We argue that these are necessary to meet the minimum requirement to be called a metaverse. Our goal is to clear the fog of misinformation about what is and isn’t a true metaverse for builders and would-be participants, and to provide a framework for evaluating early metaverse attempts.
- Decentralization
- Property Rights
- Self-sovereign identity
- Composability
- Openness/open source
- Community ownership
- Social immersion
We believe — as is evident in this framework — that a metaverse cannot exist without the fundamental foundations of web3 tech.
See: Blockchain-based replacement for traditional crowdfunding: DAOs
Openness and decentralization are the pillars upon which the whole edifice rests. Property rights rely on decentralization — they must endure despite the influence of powerful adversaries. Community ownership prevents unilateral control of the system. The approach also bolsters open standards, which are helpful for decentralizing and composability, a closely related property downstream of interoperability.
The development of an ideal multi-dimensional virtual world will come about gradually. Many problems remain to be solved.
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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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CB Insights: Metaverse stack and companies making it a reality
CB Insights | Apr 13, 2022
The business world is obsessed with “the metaverse”: the concept of shared worlds driven by virtual products and digital experiences that are highly immersive and interactive. While the space is still in early days, the longer-term implications may not be trivial. Some users — especially younger ones — may eventually earn, spend, and invest most of their money in digital worlds. The metaverse could represent a $1T market by the end of the decade
See: Metaverse Continuum: Digital experiences and interconnected future
The metaverse is a vision, not a specific technology. For enterprises, this ambiguity can make it challenging to figure out how to tap into the emerging trends the metaverse represents. Below, we provide a framework to navigate this evolving topic by breaking down the metaverse into distinct technological layers and highlighting the key vendors set on making the metaverse a reality.
Infrastructure (network & computing)
The metaverse requires compute and processing infrastructure that can support both big data flows and low latency. Tech emerging within categories such as chips & processors, 5G, cloud infrastructure, and edge infrastructure, will prove vital to creating a seamless, lag-free experience in the metaverse.
- Chips & processors
- 5G & low latency networks
- Cloud infrastructure
- Edge infrastructure
See: How the Metaverse Could Change the Nature of Work
Access/interface (hardware)
This layer includes hardware devices that allow people to experience the metaverse. While this category encompasses connected devices like mobile phones, PCs, and gaming consoles, it is predominantly centered around emerging technologies designed to enhance immersion in a virtual setting.
- Haptics
- Headsets (VR)
- Holographics
- Smart glasses (AR)
Virtualization tools
- 3D design engines
- 3D modeling & capture
- AR developer kits
- Avatar development
- Volumetric video
See: Hong Kong’s Web3 ‘Mr. Metaverse’ vs. Mark Zuckerberg
Virtual worlds
- Centralized worlds
- Decentralized worlds
Economic infrastructure
- Payments
- Crypto exchanges
- Crypto wallets
- NFT marketplaces
See: Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. Launches First-Ever Payment Card and Loyalty Program for the Metaverse
Experiences
- AR/VR games
- Decentralized games
- Virtual concerts
- Virtual fashion
- Virtual real estate
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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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Hong Kong’s Web3 ‘Mr. Metaverse’ vs. Mark Zuckerberg
CNBC | Rebecca Fannin | Apr 14, 2022
In the evolving metaverse economy, Yat Siu, the founder of a once little-known mobile gaming startup, is becoming known by a nickname: Mr. Metaverse. He's pivoting his Hong Kong-based company Animoca Brands to help shape Web3 in a way that he says will offer an alternative to the tech giants — from Meta to Microsoft, Tencent and Snap — as consumers enter a new immersive market but are wary of a technology that could still be tightly controlled by the biggest corporations.
Since metaverse-like elements began popping up in video games in 2018, the Hong Kong-based upstart has scrambled to invest, acquire and build a next iteration of the internet.
See: Facebook-like metaverse potential disaster says Second Life creator Philip Rosedale
"We are investing aggressively and broadly to facilitate the growth of the open metaverse," said Siu, Animoca Brands' executive chairman.
"We're in a bit of a hurry because we think the biggest threat isn't regulation, but it is groups like Facebook or Tencent. This model of an open metaverse is very much in contradiction to the way that they've currently constructed their business," he said. "Right now all the data you give to Facebook doesn't belong to you. It belongs exclusively to Facebook. We believe in a shared network, giving digital property rights to all, and giving creators equity in the space."
Making money in Web2, moving to Web3
As the metaverse evolves, revenue models could be drawn away from advertising, subscriptions and in-app purchases of traditional models to sales of digital assets and transaction fees among participants or individual owners. But how the revenue is allocated is a big point in ongoing debate, and tension, within the metaverse community, highlighted again this week when early adopters balked at Meta Platforms' plans to take as much as 50% of the fees on virtual asset sales.
See: Are DAO’s gaining traction in the business world? The new corporate paradigm?
Animoca Brands, now a unicorn, has been preparing for a battle over control of Web3 virtual world data by luring more than $810 million in funding over the past two years from metaverse VC specialist Liberty City Ventures in New York, as well as high-profile names including Winkelvoss Capital, Soros Fund Management and Sequoia China. Singapore-based Temasek and China-connected Boyu Capital are adding $150 million this month, according to sources familiar with the funding, on top of nearly $360 million raised in January at a valuation over $5 billion.
James Lang, managing director at Liberty City Ventures:
"Web3 represents an incredible opportunity and a threat," said early Uber investor and serial tech entrepreneur Shervin Pishevar. "The talent, energy and money that is going into it will create a perfect storm, a classic cycle of value creation and destruction," he said. "There's potential for companies to trip in this major transition as a new lattice of the Net develops with decentralized distribution and finance that allows users to be liberated from digital fiefdoms."
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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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Metaverse Continuum: Digital experiences and interconnected future
Forbes | Bernard Marr | Mar 31, 2022
Technologists at Accenture have unveiled their Tech Vision 2022 “metaverse continuum” – an overview that lays out how they believe businesses and individuals will interact across interconnected digital environments and services in the near future. The document – titled ‘Meet Me In The Metaverse’ – also highlights the four key technology trends they believe will impact our lives in 2022. It comes as the company announces the formation of a new business unit that will focus on making the metaverse work for its customers.
WebMe: Putting The Me in Metaverse. The Reimagining Of The Internet.
This encapsulates several ideas connected with the concept of identity in the digital domain and in the immersive digital realities that will one day become the metaverse. These ideas include the concept of “presence” – that we will have the experience of being present, through avatars or other representations of ourself, within the domain, rather than just observing it, as we do today when we browse a web page or use an app.
See: The Evolving Digital Identity Landscape
It also illustrates the idea that our data will be portable between different domains or metaverse lands, and our sense of identity and digital presence will move with it. This works towards creating the far more immersive experience that we believe will be a defining characteristic of the "metaverse experience."
The Programmable World: Our Planet, Personalized. The Next Version Of The Physical World
As the world becomes increasingly virtual, digitized, and computerized, our ability to control and manipulate it increases.
Daugherty tells me, "All those things are becoming reality, and it really extends what businesses can do and has a lot of benefits including sustainability … you can think about new ways to conceptualize and build products … things like this are really about how the whole world becomes programmable and the digital technology … is really going to change the whole world, not just the way that technology is used in companies.”
The Unreal: Making Synthetic, Authentic. Making AI Both More Fair & Secure.
Synthetic data is any data that is generated by computers rather than captured from the real world. In particular, it is created using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and digital twins that are able to model real-world objects, systems, and processes with increasing accuracy and therefore create data that has all of the value of real-world data.
See: Synthetic Media and Deepfakes: An insurance industry threat
In these situations, the important distinctions become less about what is "real" or "unreal" and more about whether the data is realistic or not realistic – or authentic or inauthentic. The technology known as “deep fakes” has made news headlines often for the wrong reasons in recent years, but it also has very positive potential uses where it can save companies time and money by creating synthetic content which, though not “real”, can still be considered authentic.
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Go to the Accenture Technology Vision 2022 page --> here
Download the 97 page PDF 'Meet Me in the Metaverse' 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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[Cato Institute Event: Apr 21]: Online Policy Forum: Financial Privacy in a Digital Era
Cato Institute | Apr 6, 2022
The digitalization of financial services has made banking and trading more convenient than ever. But laws that were written before the digital era now collect untold amounts of consumer data to which the government has easy—and often unfettered—access. Recent legislative attempts have sought to expand that access even more. Does financial convenience have to come at the cost of financial privacy?
Can cryptocurrency provide better privacy protection? Is it time to rethink how financial privacy is treated in a digital era? Join us for an outstanding virtual program featuring Marta Belcher, Paul Belonick, Michael Mosier, and Jennifer Schulp to discuss financial privacy in the digital era.
Date and Time
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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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