Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Fundraising, Investing, Trading
NCFA Weekly Fintech Intelligence Dec 13-19, 2025
December 19, 2025 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer Weekly Intelligence | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Payments And Money Movement, Regulation And Policy, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Digital Assets, Blockchain And Tokenization
Image: Freepik
This NCFA intelligence for the period Dec 13-19 tracks financial technology developments that significantly affect how fintechs build, sell, raise capital, and operate under scrutiny. Coverage prioritizes Canada and includes global events that directly influence competitive conditions, market access, and execution realities across fintech sectors. (Missed the prior week's Fintech Whisperer? Fintech December 6-12)
Weekly Fintech Market Intelligence Dec 13-19, 2025
Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing
Bank of Ghana Publishes Draft Open Banking Directive
December 20, 2024, Ghana
- The Bank of Ghana published a Draft Open Banking Directive for regulated financial institutions to support secure customer-consented financial data sharing across Ghana's financial system.
- The draft establishes rules covering data protection, security protocols and operating standards for participating institutions, with the Bank linking open banking to competition, product choice and digital financial service innovation.
- Stakeholders were given 30 days to submit comments. The Bank said it would engage participants on operationalizing the directive after an implementation date is announced.
Ghana moved open banking from policy ambition into a formal regulatory design with explicit requirements around consent, security and participant operations. The next operating trigger is implementation: regulated institutions need clarity on technical standards, liability, accreditation, API access and the timetable for moving from consultation into live data sharing.
Market Infrastructure
DTCC And Digital Asset Partner To Tokenize DTC Custodied US Treasury Securities
Dec 17, United States
- DTCC and Digital Asset announce a partnership to tokenize a subset of US Treasury securities custodied at DTC using the Canton Network.
- The initiative targets an MVP in a controlled production environment in the first half of 2026, with expansion based on institutional demand.
- The effort ties tokenization directly to existing post trade custody and settlement infrastructure rather than standalone pilots.
This moves tokenization into regulated market plumbing where adoption decisions sit with custody, risk, and operations teams. For fintechs selling into capital markets workflows, the opportunity shifts toward integration and tooling that fits institutional settlement and collateral processes.
Payments And Money Movement
Visa Brings USDC Settlement To US Issuers And Acquirers
Dec 16, United States
- Visa launches USDC settlement in the United States and lets US issuer and acquirer partners settle with Visa in Circle’s USDC.
- Visa discloses more than $3.5B in annualized stablecoin settlement volume and names Cross River Bank and Lead Bank as initial participants settling over Solana.
- Visa plans broader US availability through 2026, which pressures treasury teams to treat always on settlement as a competitive baseline.
This matters because stablecoin settlement moves from a pilot talking point to a bank ready treasury workflow. Fintechs that ride existing card and bank rails now face a higher bar on weekend liquidity, reconciliation, and cost of funds, especially for cross border payouts and merchant settlement.
PayPal Files To Establish PayPal Bank As A Utah Chartered Industrial Bank
Dec 15, United States
- PayPal submits applications to the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the FDIC to form an industrial bank called PayPal Bank.
- PayPal says PayPal Bank aims to expand access to financial services for US small businesses, including business lending and potentially interest bearing savings accounts.
- PayPal says it seeks direct connections to card networks for processing and settlement, which can reduce reliance on partner banks and reshape unit economics.
This pushes fintech toward vertical integration under supervision. Canadian fintechs that compete in SMB lending, merchant credit, or cross border commerce should assume tighter competition on price and speed from platforms that control both distribution and the balance sheet wrapper.
Digital Assets, Blockchain And Tokenization
Tetra Completes First Smart Contract Deployment And Partner Testing For CADD
Dec 16, Canada
- Tetra Digital Group announces its first smart contract deployment and initial partner testing for CADD ahead of a planned Q1 launch.
- The release positions partner testing as a step toward production readiness rather than a concept demo, with a defined near term timeline.
- Production grade Canadian dollar stablecoin infrastructure can change treasury, settlement, and cash management playbooks for Canadian fintechs that operate across borders.
This signals a practical path from Canadian stablecoin design to bank and platform execution. Fintechs should focus on operational readiness like ledger integration, compliance controls, and payout design, not only token mechanics, because distribution wins the market.
Regulation, Policy And Market Structure
Bank Of Canada Sets A Hard Bar For Trust In Digital Money
Dec 16, Canada
- Governor Tiff Macklem describes new responsibilities that include regulating stablecoins and implementing consumer driven banking.
- The speech states close to 1,600 payment service providers sit registered with the Bank of Canada or sit in the registration pipeline.
- The speech describes Real Time Rail as a system that clears and settles instantly, 24 7, 365 days a year, with direct access for payment service providers.
This puts real constraints around which stablecoin models earn institutional distribution in Canada and which ones remain niche. It also tightens the competitive loop because Real Time Rail and consumer driven banking push more switching and more product bundling pressure into everyday financial services. Fintechs win when they build for regulatory grade trust and operational resilience instead of treating compliance as an afterthought.
CIRO Launches Review To Improve Access To Affordable Tailored Online Investment Advice
Dec 17, Canada
- CIRO posts a news release for a review that targets access to affordable, tailored online investment advice.
- The framing points to investor access and suitability expectations intersecting with online advice models.
- The review signals more scrutiny on how digital advice products deliver outcomes, not just onboarding and UX.
This matters for wealthtechs because distribution now depends on how clearly a firm shows fit, guardrails, and investor outcomes in digital channels. Firms that rely on generic risk questionnaires or one size models face more friction as CIRO tightens expectations. The advantage goes to teams that harden advice governance and product suitability evidence early.
FCA Opens Consultation On Proposed UK Crypto Rules
Dec 16, United Kingdom
- The FCA opens consultations on proposed UK crypto rules and sets a consultation close date of Feb 12, 2026.
- The FCA publishes consultation papers that cover regulated cryptoasset activities, admissions and disclosures, market abuse, and a prudential regime for cryptoasset firms.
- These proposals raise the compliance and capital planning bar for exchanges, brokers, lending and staking models that want UK market access.
For Canadian firms that sell into the UK or route liquidity through UK counterparties, this consultation defines the future cost of compliance. Fintechs that build custody, lending, staking, or brokerage should model authorization pathways and operational controls early, because late compliance adds both time and valuation risk.
Conclusion
This week highlighted where fintech momentum is real and where it remains aspirational. Capital continues to concentrate around trusted platforms, infrastructure is scaling inside regulated environments, and experimentation increasingly gives way to execution. For fintechs and investors alike, the gap between announcement and adoption remains the defining test. NCFA offers various curated resources to help founders and investors stay current on developments that impact fintech markets, subscribe to NCFA’s weekly newsletter, view a rundown of current fintech news and insights, or dive into the latest fintech industry research.
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, artificial intelligence, 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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Nuvei MiCAR CASP License For EU Crypto Services
Dec 19, 2025 | NCFA Fintech Market Activity | Payments and Digital Assets
Image: Freepik/frimufilms
Nuvei Secures MiCAR License For EU Crypto Asset Services
On December 17 2025, Nuvei, a payments technology company founded in Montreal and later taken private through a $6.3bn buyout led by Advent International alongside Canadian investors, secured a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation MiCAR. The authorization enables Nuvei to deliver regulated crypto asset services and passport them across EU member states under a single regime.
Nuvei says the authorization lets it offer regulated services that include cryptocurrency storage and administration, transfers, and the exchange of crypto assets into funds, integrated into its payments infrastructure. For founders and operators, this matters because licensing turns crypto capability into something procurement, risk, and compliance teams can actually support across multiple EU markets without rebuilding the framework country by country.
MiCAR also creates a common baseline for authorization and oversight across Europe. ESMA outlines the framework and the register concept for authorized providers in its overview of Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation MiCA.
Nuvei also says it obtains a Payment Institution license that supports services related to electronic money tokens. Together, Nuvei positions these approvals as a way to run crypto asset flows, electronic money token flows, and fiat based payment and settlement flows through one regulated platform.
Talking Point
This license moves Nuvei from crypto enablement to regulated crypto execution across Europe, which changes how enterprise clients evaluate risk, continuity, and scale. Will more Canadian payments leaders pursue regulated crypto permissions in major global jurisdictions to win enterprise trust and defend cross border growth?
Phil Fayer, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Nuvei:
“This authorization marks an important milestone in the convergence of payments and digital assets. MiCAR brings long-needed regulatory clarity to Europe. Operating under this framework allows us to help customers move value across crypto and traditional payment rails with confidence, consistency, and scale.”
Nuvei also describes the customer impact in practical terms, including simplified access to crypto payments across Europe, compliant fiat to crypto and crypto to fiat flows, faster and more transparent settlement options, and reduced regulatory and operational complexity when scaling across EU markets.
Read: Nuvei Shareholders Approve $6.3B Advent International Buyout
For Canadian founders and investors, regulatory clarity is a growth lever. While a CASP license doesn't guarantee adoption, it removes a major blocker for enterprise decision makers who need clear accountability, clear supervision, and predictable operating rules before they integrate crypto settlement into production payment stacks.
This development is part of a wider move towards tokenized financial infrastructure, where digital versions of cash and assets are starting to connect directly with payment and settlement systems. NCFA’s recent piece on how tokenized infrastructure is changing how markets operate explains why regulated access to these systems matters as institutions look to move value faster, cheaper, and with stronger controls.
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, artificial intelligence, 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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Beyond Recycling: Why Circular Asset Management Is the New Frontier for Canadian Industrial Finance
December 19, 2025
Image: Pixabay/TheDigitalArtist
Introduction: Circular Economy as a Financial Imperative
In the Canadian Industrial Sector, sustainability is no longer just a matter of image; it has become a financial metric that can be measured. That is, resource management along the entire asset lifecycle has to be demonstrated by companies to be efficient, as it is getting more and more expected by investors, lenders, and regulators. The move to a Circular Economy has been manifested the most in capital-heavy industries like pharmaceuticals and Food & Beverage, where the selection of equipment has a direct impact on balance sheets, ESG performance, and future competitiveness.
Instead of only investing in new machines, Canadian companies are now looking for high-quality secondary markets for industrial assets. The availability of dependable, used machines—like a rotary lobe pump from Carter-Wilson—shows that circular asset approaches can provide not just operational performance but also verifiable sustainability benefits. For CFOs and finance leaders, circular asset management is no longer “nice to have”; it is rapidly evolving into a strategic lever in Sustainable Finance Canada.
The ESG Shift in Industrial Financing
Asset Lifecycle as a Credit Metric
In the current financial ecosystem, the ESG factors are taking a primary role in deciding the fate of investments. Asset-Based Lending has included the questions regarding reuse, refurbishment, and decommissioning planning of the equipment. Fintech, as well as venture capitalists, are more and more focusing on the duration of the productivity of the assets and on the efficacy of the companies in "embodied carbon" reduction.
Pharma and food processing machines' reuse brings down the carbon footprint considerably when compared to their new counterparts. From the ESG perspective, the reuse of specialized industrial assets is a good way to reduce Scope 3 emissions and comply with stringent regulations as well as sanitary standards. Consequently, companies that are actively engaged in circular economy markets tend to have lower risk profiles to lenders over the long run.
CAPEX Optimization for Canadian SMEs
Scaling Without Overextending Balance Sheets
For the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada, one of the major constraints still remains to be the capital expenditure. However, circular asset management presents a very practical solution by changing what would usually be a heavy initial CAPEX into a more flexible investment strategy.
Among the major financial advantages are:
* Better cash flow, which makes it possible to invest more in R&D and digital transformation
* Shorter time to market since secondary equipment is usually right available
* Higher leverage ratios, which helps to get better access to Asset-Based Lending
Through the collaboration with reliable and circular asset providers, companies will be able to import top quality industrial machines, which will, in turn, double the production, while the capital for innovation will still be there.
Risk Mitigation & Quality in Regulated Industries
Compliance Without Compromise
One common concern around second-hand pharmaceutical machinery is risk. However, modern industrial marketplaces have addressed this through rigorous inspection, documentation, and traceability. In regulated sectors, equipment is verified for sanitary compliance, maintenance history, and operational performance before resale.
This level of due diligence reduces operational risk and supports lender confidence, making circular assets increasingly acceptable within formal financing structures.
Strategic Procurement Meets Sustainable Finance
As procurement teams align more closely with finance and sustainability functions, equipment sourcing has become a strategic decision rather than purely operational one. Platforms offering refurbished industrial mills are increasingly positioned as sustainable industrial solutions—bridging procurement efficiency with ESG accountability.
For fintech-driven financing models, this alignment creates new opportunities to structure loans and leasing products around circular assets, reinforcing the connection between industrial operations and Sustainable Finance Canada.
Conclusion: A Win-Win for Finance and Sustainability Leaders
Circular asset management is an unusual but highly positive combination of both financial discipline and environmental responsibility. It grants CFOs not only to increase capital efficiency, but also to make their balance sheets stronger and get more covered by asset-based financing as well. On the other hand, it gives Chief Sustainability Officers the very concrete ESG outcomes through waste and carbon intensity reduction which they have long been striving for.
Read: The Role of Fintech in the Circular Economy
Among the rapidly changing industrial and fintech landscape in Canada, the secondary market for Pharma equipment as well as Food processing machinery is no longer a second thought; it is a strategic advantage. While the Circular Economy is continuously changing the landscape of value creation, circular asset management is right at the crossroads of innovation,finance and sustainable growth.
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, artificial intelligence, 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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CapIntel And KPMG Canada Enterprise Wealth Execution
Dec 17, 2025 | NCFA Fintech Market Activity | Scale and Partnerships
Image: Freepik/rawpixel.com
CapIntel And KPMG Canada Formalize Wealth Tech Collaboration
On December 11 2025, CapIntel announced a formal collaboration with KPMG Canada to support wealth management firms rolling out digital advisor and client tools, according to the company’s announcement. CapIntel says more than 20,000 wealth professionals across North America currently use its platform.
Buying technology rarely causes problems. Adoption does. Most of the friction shows up after procurement, when integration work begins and compliance teams step in. Tools that function well on their own often slow down once they enter legacy environments with uneven advisor workflows and strict oversight requirements.
Talking Point
CapIntel is pairing its advisor platform with delivery support to reduce adoption risk inside large wealth firms, while KPMG Canada continues to lean further into execution and integration work for digital wealth initiatives. Will this collaboration shorten rollout timelines enough to influence how enterprise wealth firms evaluate advisor technology vendors?
That pressure has been building inside large wealth management firms. Digital modernization still sits high on the agenda, but tolerance for long pilots and stalled rollouts has dropped. Senior teams want tools in daily use, not just sitting between approval and deployment. In enterprise and hybrid advisor models, inconsistent adoption creates operational and regulatory risk firms don’t want to carry.
See: Market Forces Pressuring Fintech Plans For 2026
Both organizations have been active elsewhere in fintech and wealth technology over the past year. CapIntel has continued to expand partnerships and publish advisor focused research tied to client communication and trust, while KPMG Canada has emphasized its role in digital modernization and implementation support for wealth firms navigating complex operating environments.
This collaboration brings delivery into the commercial discussion instead of leaving it for later. CapIntel is pairing its platform with implementation and change management support rather than assuming firms will solve execution internally. That matters when advisor tools touch regulated client communications and firm wide processes.
James Rockwood, Chief Executive Officer, CapIntel:
“Joining forces with KPMG strengthens our ability to deliver at scale for the enterprise wealth market. By combining KPMG’s integration and transformation capabilities with our platform’s powerful advisor tools, we’re helping clients realize the full value of their digital strategy faster.”
As wealth technology matures, differentiation increasingly shows up in execution rather than interface design. Feature sets tend to converge. Integration effort, advisor training, and governance alignment don’t. For large firms, disruption risk often outweighs incremental product improvements.
The real test is practical. Firms will be watching for named deployments, clear rollout timelines, and repeatable implementation results across advisor teams. If those surface, the collaboration will carry weight inside buying committees. If they don’t, it’s likely to stay a partnership on paper.
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, artificial intelligence, 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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CIRO And CSA Signal Reset For Digital Investment Advice
Regulation | December 17, 2025
Image: Freepik AI
Regulators Tighten Finfluencer Rules as CIRO Opens Online Advice Review
On December 17 2025, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization CIRO launched a review to improve access to affordable tailored online investment advice, including automated and hybrid models. The announcement includes a link to the consultation Access to Online Advice in the Advisory and Managed Channels, which remains open for feedback until January 31, 2026.
The review follows closely after the Canadian Securities Administrators CSA and CIRO jointly issued new guidance establishing clear rules for finfluencers on December 11 2025. Taken together these actions address two connected parts of the same challenge as investing activity continues to move online. The joint CSA CIRO guidance clarifies that opinions about specific securities or investment recommendations can trigger registration and compliance obligations regardless of format or platform. Disclaimers alone do not remove these obligations. Firms and issuers that work with finfluencers are still responsible for marketing conduct, disclosures, and investor protection requirements.
See: Good Money Trust Innovation And Canada’s Payments Future
This clarification responds to the reality that many retail investors rely on social media and digital platforms as primary sources of investing information. Regulators also stress that followers may reasonably rely on this content even when creators may not view themselves as providing advice. The guidance reduces ambiguity around unregistered influence and reinforces that investor protection expectations apply equally in digital and traditional environments.
Finfluencer Rules, Online Advice Reform, And DIY Strategy Converge
By tightening the boundary between information and advice, the finfluencer guidance strengthens the regulatory perimeter around investment advice.
That perimeter matters because when informal online advice becomes more constrained, pressure increases on the regulated system to deliver practical alternatives for investors who still need guidance.
CIRO’s consultation addresses that pressure directly. It acknowledges that the current policy framework was built for traditional in person advisory services and that there is no dedicated regulatory framework for online or hybrid advisory models. Dealers instead rely on exemptive relief and special terms and conditions. CIRO notes this structure is a source of higher costs, regulatory uncertainty, and limited scalability for technology enabled advice.
Enabling greater access to advice is in CIRO's Strategic Plan FY 2025–2027. The online advice consultation makes clear that this work builds on earlier reforms focused on the Order Execution Only channel and do it yourself investors. CIRO recognizes that OEO dealers play a critical role by providing low cost market access and educational resources, but also acknowledges that a fully self directed approach does not work for every investor.
See: Conquest Planning $80M USD to Expand AI Financial Advice
NCFA previously explored this progression in CIRO proposal could expand DIY investor education tools, which looks at how regulators have been strengthening information and decision support for self-directed investors. The current review complements those reforms, aimed at helping investors who need more than education tools but cannot access traditional full service advice.
Alexandra Williams, SVP, Strategy, Innovation, and Stakeholder Protection:
“Our policy framework was designed for traditional advisory services, and we hope the review will identify any regulatory barriers in CIRO’s current policy. This review will help identify whether any aspects of our current framework may be creating barriers, particularly for Canadians seeking affordable tailored online advice.”
The consultation asks whether regulatory requirements can be met using technology and whether the current framework creates unintended consequences for investors seeking affordable tailored advice.
What This Means For Fintechs And Dealers
For fintechs and digital wealth platforms, business models that rely on influence without registration now face greater regulatory risk. Firms that operate inside the regulatory perimeter may benefit if CIRO develops clearer and more workable expectations for online and hybrid advice delivery.
Manual processes and high cost service models can and do limit reach. Technology powered suitability assessments, disclosures, supervision, and record keeping could lower costs and expand access if regulators allow greater flexibility in how compliant outcomes are achieved.
The consultation is open until the end of January 2026, and CIRO is inviting stakeholders to submit written feedback on online advice.
Why It Matters
Canadian investors increasingly make financial decisions in digital environments, however policymakers are realizing two competing forces. Unregulated online influence can expose investors to harm, and yet regulated frameworks must adapt so affordable tailored advice can reach more people (typically powered by tech). This consultation gives industry participants a great opportunity to help inform evidence based perspectives and solutions. The feedback received will influence whether Canada can narrow the advice gap while maintaining trust in capital markets.
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, artificial intelligence, 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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Good Money Trust Innovation And Canada’s Payments Future
Bank of Canada | Speech | December 17, 2025
Image: Freepik/rawpixel.com
Why Tiff Macklem Puts Trust At The Center Of Canada’s Money System
On December 16, 2025, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem delivered a year end speech at the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal called, “Good money and your central bank.” This time instead of focusing on rates or short term market conditions, Macklem spoke about something more foundational. Trust. As money becomes faster, more digital, and more complex, the Bank of Canada is expanding its role to make sure every form of money Canadians use remains safe, convertible, and stable in value.
Trust Is The Operating System For Money
“At its core, the role of the Bank of Canada is to maintain trust in our monetary system.”
Macklem is clear about where everything starts. Money only works when people trust it to behave the same way tomorrow as it does today. He defines good money as money that trades at par, moves reliably, and holds its purchasing power.
See: Consumer Trust and Trends in US Digital Banking
For founders and investors, it explains how the Bank evaluates new ideas. Innovation that makes money easier to use while keeping it predictable fits inside this system. Innovation that introduces uncertainty around access, value, or redemption runs into resistance. Trust is the gate that determines which ideas scale and which ones stall.
Why Cash Still Matters In A Digital Economy
“Cash has undeniable benefits. It’s simple, widely accepted, inexpensive to use and reliable.”
Macklem talks about cash because it sets the standard. It works during outages, power failures, and cyber incidents. It does not depend on networks or intermediaries behaving perfectly.
By committing to new bank notes and upgraded security features, the Bank is reinforcing a simple idea. Money must keep working when systems fail. For builders, this is a reminder that how a system behaves under stress matters. For investors, it highlights why resilience is still the core cash test, even as products move further into the digital realm.
Payments Are Now Treated As Core Infrastructure
“This year, the Bank began overseeing retail payments.”
This changes who sets the rules for payments. Payment service providers now operate inside the same trust framework as banks and other core financial infrastructure. Digital wallets, point of sale platforms, and cross border payment services are no longer treated as peripheral technology layers.
The scale and growth of payments makes the change unavoidable. Canadian payments reached $12.2 trillion in 2024, with digital methods representing the majority of how Canadians move money day to day. Payments are not a niche function. They are the system.
Nearly 1,500 payment service providers must now register under the Retail Payment Activities Act. This aligns with NCFA’s analysis in Canada’s payments innovation push gains speed, which explains how broader access to payment rails comes with higher expectations around safeguarding funds and managing operational risk.
Real Time Rail sits at the center of this change. Instant settlement creates opportunity, but it also removes buffers. When money moves faster, mistakes and failures propagate faster too. That is why oversight and discipline rise alongside speed.
Stablecoins And Open Banking Are Moving to Core
“It is important for Canada to have its own regulatory framework for stablecoins.”
Macklem treats stablecoins as money that must earn trust before it earns scale. Any stablecoin used in Canada must trade at par, be backed by high quality liquid assets, and provide clear redemption terms. It's not about blocking innovation but about making sure innovation behaves like money.
This approach builds on Canadian dollar stablecoin testing with institutional partners, where testing is actively taking place in live environments. All sounds exciting but adoption remains limited. Stablecoin insights from FCAC’s 2025 national survey show that only a small share of Canadians currently hold or use stablecoins. The Bank is clearly designing rules before use expands, not after problems emerge (plus they are playing catch-up on a number of files that have spanned years of industry advocacy).
Open banking follows the same logic. Today, millions of Canadians still share banking credentials through insecure screen scraping. That creates real exposure to fraud and misuse. The consumer-driven open banking framework aims to replace this with secure, permission based data sharing.
See: CSA and CIRO Set Clear Rules for Finfluencers
Consumer understanding remains uneven. An FCAC survey on Canadian consumer perspectives on open banking shows many Canadians are unclear about how their financial data is accessed and protected. NCFA’s open banking commercialization roadmap for Canada outlines how trust, education, and competition need to advance together for the model to work.
Stablecoins and open banking are treated the same as payment modernization. Innovation is welcome, but only when it strengthens confidence instead than testing it.
Innovation In A World That Breaks More Often
“Structural shifts… make global economies increasingly vulnerable to shocks and uncertainty.”
Macklem is describing a reality founders and investors already recognize. Trade relationships change quickly. Technology fails in unexpected ways. Geopolitical risk shows up in supply chains, costs, and access overnight.
In this environment, faster payments and digital money create upside, but they also raise the cost of failure. Systems need to work under pressure, not just in steady conditions. That's why the Bank keeps returning to trust and why it continues to treat inflation control as foundational.
Purchasing Power Still Decides Everything
“Good money in all its forms is only as good as its purchasing power.”
Macklem closes with a reminder that no amount of innovation matters if money loses value. Payments, data sharing, and digital instruments all sit downstream from price stability. The Bank remains committed to the 2% inflation target and will review its framework in 2026 to make sure it still works in a more volatile environment. For reference, the Bank of Canada held interest rates steady at 2.25% last Wednesday with no timeline for increases.
Read: Market Forces Pressuring Fintech Plans For 2026
For consumers, builders and investors alike, Canada's inflation rate sets the outer boundary. Per Macklem's speech, innovation is scaled inside stability, not outside of it.
Closing Perspective
What emerges from Macklem’s speech is a Bank of Canada that is now impacting the conditions under which change can scale. By pulling payments, digital money, and data access into a single trust framework, the Bank is defining how money must behave before innovation reaches mass adoption. For Canada’s fintech ecosystem, the most durable opportunities will belong to those who build inside that reality rather than trying to outrun it.
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, artificial intelligence, 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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Canada’s Stablecoin Test Crosses a Real Line
Stablecoins | December 16, 2025
Image: Freepik/DC Studio
Live Institutional And Fintech Testing Begins For A Canadian Dollar Stablecoin
On December 16 2025, Tetra Digital Group completed live smart contract testing of its Canadian dollar stablecoin CADD between regulated financial institutions. Tetra describes this as the first time a Canadian dollar backed stablecoin moves between two financial institutions inside a controlled environment governed by Canadian oversight. The test takes place ahead of an expected Q1 2026 launch.
Payments modernization isn’t finished but making headway, federal stablecoin legislation has just entered its first draft stage, and businesses already rely on digital money in real workflows. While Canada is still building the rules and infrastructure that will define how stablecoins work in practice, it's an important moment that marks execution of digital Canadian dollars operating inside the financial system, not outside of it.
Didier Lavallée, Founder and CEO of Tetra Digital Group:
“These tests highlight the potential for CADD to streamline payments and settlement while preserving the safeguards that underpin Canada’s financial system,”
What Was Tested And Who Was Involved
Tetra says the testing includes transfers between National Bank and Wealthsimple, along with transaction flows involving ATB Financial and Purpose. The company positions these tests as an early look at how a Canadian dollar stablecoin could support payments and settlement across banks and fintechs while staying inside the regulated perimeter.
See: Tetra and Figment Unite to Introduce Staking Services in Canada
Didier Lavallée Founder and CEO of Tetra Digital Group frames the milestone as a way to introduce digital efficiency without weakening trust or safeguards. This isn’t pitched as disruption for its own sake. It’s pitched as continuity under new tooling.
CADD is designed to be backed one to one by Canadian dollars held domestically under Canadian law. Tetra says the token runs on institutional grade custody, settlement, and compliance infrastructure through Tetra Trust and Tetra Unity.
Where Regulation Stands Right Now
Canada doesn’t yet have a finalized federal stablecoin regime. What exists today is a first draft of Canada’s Stablecoin Act, which would place fiat referenced stablecoins under national oversight led by the Bank of Canada. The proposal outlines expectations around reserve quality, redemption rights, governance, custody, and reporting.
Legal analysis of the draft framework notes that issuers would need to register, maintain full backing with high quality assets, and meet operational standards similar to payment system oversight. It also highlights open questions around scope and how federal rules would interact with existing provincial securities regulation.
With the Stablecoin Act consultation now live, active testing matters. Real transaction data and operational behaviour will give policymakers practical input on what works, what breaks, and where rules may need tightening or flexibility, rather than relying on theory alone.
Payments Infrastructure Is Still Catching Up
Canada doesn’t yet have Real Time Rail. The long planned system remains under development, with Payments Canada confirming in its Q4 2025 Real Time Rail update that work is ongoing. While Interac eTransfer and Lynx are live, a full always on real time clearing and settlement rail for broad use does not exist today.
That gap matters. Payments modernization and stablecoin testing are advancing in parallel, highlighting that different approaches to money movement are developing on the same timeline.
See: Stablecoin Insights From FCAC’s 2025 National Survey
When Real Time Rail launches, it’s designed to move money quickly and support richer payment data. Based on what has been publicly outlined so far, it focuses on payment clearing and settlement rather than embedding logic directly into money itself. By contrast, stablecoins are being tested for use cases that combine settlement with programmable rules across institutions and platforms.
USD Stablecoin Adoption That Canadian Fintechs Live With
Canadian fintechs don’t operate in a vacuum. Many already rely on US dollar stablecoins such as Circle's USDC for cross border payments, treasury operations, and liquidity management. That reality doesn’t disappear because a Canadian option exists.
The question is where can a CAD stablecoin actually win?
The answer isn’t global reach. It’s domestic certainty. Payroll, tax payments, supplier settlement, regulated treasury operations, and inter institutional transfers all benefit from money that behaves predictably under Canadian law. In those workflows, reserve location, redemption rights, and regulatory accountability matter more than global liquidity.
Outlook
Canadian stablecoins are now informing policy in real time. With the first draft of the Stablecoin Act on the table, live institutional testing gives regulators practical test data on design, risk, and operability that consultation papers alone can't provide in the same way.
See: Loon Raises $3M and Acquires CADC Stablecoin | Stablecorp Raises $5M+ to Accelerate QCAD Adoption
The next phase will favour systems that perform under real constraints. Adoption will hinge less on speed or reach and more on whether programmable Canadian dollars integrate cleanly with existing institutions, controls, and legal accountability. From here, regulation and execution converge for balance.
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