Rojin Nair, Advisor
June 1st, 2021
At Incyub8 Inc, Rojin is focusing on nurturing and guiding various national and international start-[...]
Category Archives: Fintech Services
Gmail Creator Says AI Could Replace Google’s Search Engine Results Page Within 2 Years
IFLScience | James Felton | Dec 6, 2022
Image: Pexels/Kindel Media
The creator of Gmail has made a prediction: the new chatbot ChatGPT will completely disrupt Google's business within a year or two, eliminating the search engine result page in the process.
- ChatGPT: By now, you have probably come across a number of creations from ChatGPT: an artificial intelligence (AI) based chatbot that can do everything from rewrite "Baby Got Back" in the style of Canterbury Tales to simulating its own chatbot within a chatbot.
- The chatbot, made open to the public last week, is surprisingly good. Even if it hasn't yet convinced anyone that it's sentient – unlike Google's AI .
- The bot has a number of uses, including writing useable code and looking for errors in code created by amateur humans.
- The chatbot uses something called "reinforcement learning from human feedback" to achieve the impressive natural language processing it does. "As the model receives more and more feedback, it uses this information to adjust its internal parameters and improve its performance. This iterative process continues until the model reaches a satisfactory level of performance on the task," the bot continued.
- Disrupt Google? As well as providing more detailed results than Google, and explaining answers in a more natural way (as seen above), the problem for Google is ChatGPT could eliminate the need for its moneymaker: the search results page.
See: Newfoundland’s AI Unicorn Helps Predict AIs Near-term Business Opportunity
Buchheit wrote on Twitter:
The way I imagine this happening is that the URL/Search bar of the browser gets replaced with AI that autocompletes my thought/question as I type it while also providing the best answer (which may be a link to a website or product).
Google may be only a year or two away from total disruption. AI will eliminate the Search Engine Result Page, which is where they make most of their money.
Even if they catch up on AI, they can't fully deploy it without destroying the most valuable part of their business! https://t.co/jtq25LXdkj
— Paul Buchheit (@paultoo) December 1, 2022
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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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How to Invest in Cryptocurrency Index Funds
Dec 8, 2022
Image: Pexels/Anna Nekrashevich
Cryptocurrency index funds are an excellent way to invest in crypto. Index funds are excellent investments because of their accessibility, simplicity, and return rates. Cryptocurrency index funds offer the benefits of traditional investment vehicles like mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
But there is a problem with cryptocurrency: it's very risky to invest in an individual coin because of the volatile price fluctuations and lack of regulation. You can make investments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana.
Investors can avoid the hassle and expense of buying a large number of individual stocks by purchasing an index fund.
Diversifying your cryptocurrency assets is difficult to do in regular brokerage accounts, let alone retirement plans. This causes some friction if you're new to the crypto world. Because to be an expert in trading, you have to learn how to indentify like a pro trader.
Therefore, the reason investing in indexes makes it easy to buy into crypto is because they make it easy to buy indexes. If you're unsure about how crypto index funds work, don't worry! We'll cover everything we need to know about how to invest in Cryptocurrency Index Funds. So let’s get started!
What are Cryptocurrency Index funds?
Cryptocurrency index funds are a new investment vehicle that has been making waves in the industry. These funds are a great way to introduce the concept of index investing. An index fund is a type of mutual fund that buys securities based on the value of an underlying asset.
The idea behind an index fund is to track the performance of a given market by holding a basket of securities that represents it. Typically, an index fund will hold all the securities listed in a particular market.
How to invest in cryptocurrency index funds?
Currently, there are few possibilities for investing in bitcoin through money market accounts or retirement pensions. The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund is one of the only funds that meet these criteria. Anyone who owns a trading account can purchase it because it is openly traded. There are several ways to invest in cryptocurrency index funds:
- CRYPTO20 is a cryptocurrency that tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies in terms of market size.
- The DeFi Pulse Index was created to monitor the performance of the most significant tokens in the DeFi sector.
- The NFT Index is a tracking tool for digital assets used in the non-fungible token (NFT) market.
After that, they visit a larger exchange with more varied offerings. For the index fund, they exchanged a larger cryptocurrency that they had purchased previously. Experienced traders are usually the ones who perform hard operations successfully.
Purchasing cryptocurrency ETFs and mutual funds
Investors can now buy exchange-traded funds and mutual funds that invest in cryptocurrencies. In 2022, these funds are not a diverse index-style investment opportunity because they concentrate almost entirely on Bitcoin.
Many investors think that hedge funds will play an increasingly important role in the economy as more of them receive regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Directly purchasing cryptocurrencies on an exchange
By purchasing coins from a reputable cryptocurrency exchange, you can take advantage of both direct ownership and easy access to many different types of tokens.
Current exchanges offer the greatest potential for diversification. They let you invest in a large number of tokens and build your own cryptocurrency portfolio that resembles an index fund.
Top cryptocurrency exchanges entail:
- Crypto.com
- Gemini
- Binance.US
- Coinbase Pro
Exchanges serve as a middleman for buying, selling, and swapping cryptocurrencies. They can also hold your coins for you or move them to a wallet of your choice. While there may be fees for purchasing and selling on exchanges, the management or custodial services have no associated costs.
Purchasing stocks with exposure to cryptocurrencies
Do you favor direct investment in publicly traded companies? With this approach, you can benefit from stricter regulation without exposing your portfolio directly to the volatile digital coin market.
See: Should You Be Hedging Your Crypto Trading?
Investors could invest in Bitcoin miners, cryptocurrency exchanges (like Coinbase), or other companies involved with cryptocurrencies. There are also a few cryptocurrency-focused ETFs, such as BITQ and BLOK.
Conclusion
Currently, the best way to invest in cryptocurrency index funds is by using a cryptocurrency ETF or mutual fund or creating your own diversified portfolio. Margex trading platform provides access to a cutting-edge trading infrastructure around the world for digital assets trading and investing. Its goal is to offer a fair, safe, and user-friendly platform using the best financial technologies available worldwide. If you want to trade your digital asset , it will help you to reach your goal.
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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Fund Tokenization: Fractional Issuance, Streamlined Redemption, and Servicing Benefits
Quant | Rebecca Hackworth | Nov 28, 2022
Alternative fund managers are starting to recognise the benefits of tokenised funds - a new dawn for alternatives
- For fund managers, the potential to tap into an even wider cohort of investors is a significant opportunity.
- A recent study of 100 European fund managers by Madrid-based tokenisation platform, Token City, found that 52% are looking at tokenisation and 73% plan to invest in the next three years.
- “Regarding adoption, more than 85% of fund managers think if they don’t consider tokenisation, they risk being left behind,” says Yael Oaknin, Founder and CEO of Token City.
- “Tokenisation could improve several areas within asset management such as issuance, exchange and servicing. Potential benefits include improved access to, and personalisation of, investment solutions,” she adds.
- It gives managers the option to provide fractional ownership of their funds in an evergreen structure and offers accredited investors the chance to invest more easily. Evergreen funds have no termination date. They allow managers to re-invest capital in companies with the most attractive growth prospects, while avoiding missing the additional upside when they IPO.
- Simpler redemption: additional benefit is that the underlying smart contracts controlling economic ownership ensure that exit liquidity on the secondary market is more orderly, transparent and streamlined.
See: Singapore Announces Project Guardian to the Value Created in Leveraging Asset Tokenization
- In private credit, Linx Capital Investments tokenised a portfolio of senior-secured loans on Token City with Oaknin stating: “credit managers like Linx are using our system as a substitute for securitisation — tokenising credit rights as opposed to selling bonds. We are also speaking to fund managers and SMEs operating in the real estate and renewable energy space.
- Another private credit manager to leap forward is Singapore-based SeaTown. Last November, it onboarded the SeaTown Private Credit Feeder Fund onto the private market exchange, ADDX. In doing so, it reduced the investment minimum for accredited investors from $5m to $20k, opening the fund to a new set of investors.
- Hamilton Lane, the US-based private markets investment manager, jumped quickly on tokenised fund solutions. In May 2022, it announced it was offering fractional access to its Global Private Assets Fund on ADDX to tap into a broader set of Asian investors.
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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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Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada |
Reg A+ Offering Platform Announces Expansion into Canada: Issuance
Crowdfund Insider | | Dec 6, 2022
Image: Pixabay/TheDigitalWay
Issuance, a platform that specializes in aiding issuers raising capital under Reg A+, has announced its expansion into Canada.
- According to a company statement, Issuance is now an “endorsed service-provider partner” of the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE). The arrangement allows Issuance to offer preferred rates for CSE-listed companies, including reduced onboarding fees.
- Issuance said that it sees Canadian digital markets as underserved, representing an opportunity for firms enabling online capital formation. That being said, Issuance will have multiple competitors that facilitate private securities sales for a market that tends to punch above its weight class.
Darren Marble, co-founder and CEO of Issuance, said they are excited to partner with CSE, an exchange known for supporting Canadian entrepreneurs.
See: Listed Issuer Financing Exemption: Canadian Securities Regulators Adopt Streamlined Capital-raising Option
“As one of the limited number of platforms approved by the CSE as a recommended service provider for issuers, we believe this supports our position as one of the top platforms in the space.
“With equity crowdfunding limited in Canada as compared to the United States, we continue to see a growing number of Canadian issuers looking south to raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors,” said Marble. “The CSE has served these entrepreneurs well, and we at Issuance look forward to doing the same.”
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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Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada |
Imminent Litigation Challenges of the Metaverse
Blakes | Karine Russell and Christopher DiMatteo | Nov 23, 2022
Image: Unsplash/Javier Peñas
While a virtual-reality parallel universe is likely several years away, entirely new areas of law have developed to address the online world. Cyberattack or data breach class actions have become common.
- Privacy litigation: If the metaverse develops as anticipated, it will involve the collection of an unprecedented amount of data about users. Platforms could (as they do now) collect data about what users buy in the metaverse, what they look at, and their conversations with other users. However, because a user’s access to the metaverse would be through a headset, much more data could be collected – for example, relating to user movements, physiological responses and perhaps even brainwaves – that will give platforms a deeper understanding of their users’ thought patterns and behaviours.
- Tort of intrusion upon seclusion where a defendant intentionally intrudes into the plaintiff’s private affairs in a manner that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person. In addition to a data breach scenario, it is possible to envision other metaverse cases of intrusion upon seclusion. If it is possible to buy virtual real estate in the metaverse, for example, a defendant could be liable for snooping in a plaintiff’s virtual home.
- Could a metaverse operator be liable for negligently failing to prevent a cyberattack that resulted in the compromise of user data?
- If a metaverse user breaches the privacy of another user, could the platform be liable for failing to prevent the breach?
See: Proof of Humanity: Aftermath Islands Metaverse Launches Blockchain-based Facial Recognition
- Product liability: The metaverse is projected to result in a vast market for virtual and physical products available for purchase and use by customers. Accordingly, developers, manufacturers, licensors, vendors and others in the industry may be at risk of metaverse-related product liability claims brought by metaverse participants and users of these products.
- claims could result from scenarios where individuals sustain personal injuries while immersed in the virtual or augmented reality of the metaverse world
- property damage or economic loss claims could arise where participation in the metaverse or use of related hardware gives rise to an incident that destroys property. Metaverse users may also be sued by other users for their conduct in the metaverse as it relates to another person or avatar.
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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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Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada |
Biggest Education Technology Trends for 2023
Guest Post | Dec 6, 2022
Education is what makes us humans capable of thinking and personal growth. All the processes that take place in our society influence how people perceive information. The major recent impact has been made by the Internet and its accessibility. It opened the gates to the world of knowledge in all the possible spheres, people got the chance to discover everything they ever wondered about. School and university education, backed up by Internet sources created the generation of smart citizens. However, until the pandemic times, no one could imagine that the whole education system would be transferred into the virtual world, creating new challenges, as well as unexpected possibilities.
The new reality created new social demands, which stimulate new educational trends to spring up and develop. What can we expect in the forthcoming year and how to accept these changes?
1. Lifelong learning
The education organized in a traditional way doesn’t work anymore, as it’s fully oriented on kids, teenagers, and adolescents. It seems that people after graduation can stop learning, as they have just enough knowledge and hard skills to perform their work well.
Besides, schooling was always organized on the physical premises, narrowing down the number of people who could access educational services due to various reasons. Such an approach limited educational opportunities for a big part of our society.
With online learning, everything changed dramatically. People of any age in any place in the world can reach for new knowledge, new techniques, and new professions just by accessing the web space. There are numerous platforms that share lectures and courses for everyone willing to listen - Udemy, Coursera, Moodle, Future Learn, etc.
Nowadays the accents have changed. It is not what you already know that makes you an efficient worker, but how fast you can acquire new skills and competencies. The business industry grows quickly, and people must keep up the pace.
2. Extended reality
Learners nowadays are quite selective, and sometimes fussy. They won’t just take what you give. The main message that educators are trying to deliver must be presented in an appealing style so that the students showed the desire to listen.
Extended reality includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) - these are great tools to grab and hold learners’ attention. Just by using special devices and a laptop, the learner can get into the atmosphere of something he is trying to learn.
There’s no interest in just listening to the teacher talking about the wonders of the world, yet it’s quite catching if you can see these wonders around you, in VR glasses. Chemistry, History, Physics, Geography, etc. - all the subjects reach new heights. Instead of being passive listeners, students become observers and active participants.
3. Nano-lessons
A journey of thousand miles starts with a small step. The same is applicable to education trends. We try to make students learn basically everything from every subject. However, the attention span gets shorter and shorter (and not only kids undergo such changes, but adults as well) and they can’t embrace the whole avalanche of information. They are used to portions of knowledge given on social platforms, i.e., long paragraphs from History are replaced with short and clear timelines or video explanations, which make the information easier to memorize.
Instead of complaining about detrimental changes caused by the Internet, we just need to accept the new ways of living and work on new approaches, creating nano-lessons, or mini-lessons that are focused on one learning goal. They will be beneficial for the students, as they will be able to hear what the teacher says and to accept this information. Step by step the students will learn everything that was planned, however, with smaller iterations.
4. Focus on individual needs and talents
The traditional approach to education aims to make all the students good at the same subjects, so they all have decent levels in all the competencies. Luckily, nowadays this trend loses its strength. Children can develop their talents and not waste time on unnecessary things, that will never be used in their life.
A very common example is a student who performs brilliantly with numbers, plans to become a part of a huge IT world, and can write code for the simplest program. However, he is forced to write endless essays, which looks like a local disaster for him, making him feel annoyed and miserable at the same time. Fortunately, there are services that can help a student with a “do my essay cheap” request, helping to overcome the writing challenges, while the educational institutions change their vision of an intelligent person.
5. Soft-skills training
“Soft” and “hard” skills are relatively new in our society, as terms, however, they represent the two important sides of every worker.
Hard skills help to perform the work well; these are practical, technical, and task-based skills. Soft skills are social in nature, as they represent the qualities of the person - critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and adaptability.
These are the attributes that help people perform in the company and in society as well. Some may think that these skills are like innate abilities, however, they can be trained and practiced.
See: Entrepreneurial Spirit: How Does Business Education Affect Personality?
Hard skills will never be enough if there are no soft skills for proper communication, and vice versa. A brilliant level of soft skills will not make up for the lack of knowledge. It’s all about balance.
Education is undergoing lots of challenges and changes. They may seem painful, as people are used to a specific way of educational behavior and thinking. However, flexibility matters. It’s important to let the new trends into the educational world to make people feel comfortable in the new reality.
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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Time Document Management For Conversion Of PDF Files Online
Dec 6, 2022
The Portable Document Format, also known as PDF, is widely used. A PDF is an excellent format for distributing documents all over the world. The Portable Document Format (PDF) is extremely useful, allowing papers to be accessed from any device. Furthermore, it mixes written papers, images, and technological elements such as links, scales, graphs, and other critical components into a unified format. When there are photographs in a document, however, making changes becomes more time-consuming for the user, which is where TIFF comes in.
TIFF, or Tag Image File Format, is an archaic bitmap image format. Aldus Corporation developed it as an unofficial standard for scanned documents in the 1980s. These photos are viewable and usable on all platforms. Many people are opting to convert PDF to TIFF for free online, and you can click to convert your files with a few simple steps. Technology has made things more uncomplicated than ever, and your files will experience the most satisfactory conversion procedure.
Why Choose An Online Tool For Conversion?
The quantity of file conversion applications available on the market nowadays is mind-boggling. Because of the increased interest, the availability of these instruments has been brought to light, broadening their range of potential applications. However, there are numerous more benefits to utilizing a PDF to TIFF converter. Without further ado, let's take a quick look at a couple of them.
- As discussed earlier, PDF converters are quite a viable source of getting TIFF files. Multiple files can be converted with just three simple clicks: upload, select an option, and finally, download.
- Many PDFs to TIFF converters have the option to download offline version applications, which could easily convert the files without the internet. Additionally, this makes the process even more secure, and your files remain safe and sound.
The Goodness Of TIFF Files
Popular among graphic designers and photographers, TIFF files are prevalent for their high quality, flexibility, and compatibility with almost all devices. Many documents or photographs are usually saved as PDFs, but it becomes essential to convert them into TIFF files for various professional reasons. The formats are kept intact to avoid the originality of the files. TIFF can be used for the following purposes:
High-Resolution Photographs
Most people convert PDFs into TIFF files to keep the originality of the file intact which means detailed images without the fear of losing quality due to compression. Some examples of these files are word processing, scanning, image manipulation, character recognition, and much more.
High-Quality Scans
As the process of conversion takes place from PDF to TIFF, it creates the pathway for high-resolution scanned images and other documents. As the converted files have high resolution, the scanned images come out crisper and sharper.
As A Container For Files
Not only does the converter helps in converting PDF into TIFF high-resolution images, but it acts as a container that can store several low-resolution JPEGs together. Additionally, they can be used for storing high-resolution images for editing later.
Explore The Ways To Convert PDFs Into TIFF
The conversion of PDF files into TIFF does not take much time. All you need is to know the right tool and way to do the process. If we sit and explore the possibilities, there will be innumerable ways to convert files; however, we will look at some easier ones.
Export PDF To TIFF With Online Tools On Mac
A dedicated program like PDF converter OCR for Mac is available to convert PDF files into TIFF on Mac. The user simply needs to drag and drop the file, choose the output method as TIFF or any desirable format, click on convert, and the converted files are on their way.
Export PDF To TIFF With Online Tools On Windows
Like any other operating system, Windows has a dedicated batch converter for files. If you need to convert PDF to TIFF, you can download the PDF converter which can be used for multiple purposes.
Security With Quality
It is highly essential to have a thorough study of the available converters before choosing one. Safety and security are necessary along with quality.
See: The 4 Tech Tools You Can Use to Save Your Business Money
Popular PDF to TIFF converter tools maintain credibility and your data remains safe. Whether Mac, Windows, or Android, keep an eye on the safety aspect and choose wisely.
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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