US consumer adoption has grown 29.5% in the last four years
96% of global consumers are aware of at least one money transfer and payment FinTech service
One-quarter of small and medium-sized enterprises use FinTech, with a 23% adoption rate in the US
Financial technology (FinTech) adoption among consumers has nearly doubled over the past 18 months, according to the latest EY Global FinTech Adoption Index, and the adoption rate is growing faster than anticipated. Globally, 64% of digitally-active consumers across 27 markets use FinTech, and awareness is even higher.
This year, the EY organization added the first-ever Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) FinTech Adoption Index given FinTech’s expansion beyond consumers. EY member firms surveyed more than 1,000 organizations in five countries and found that one-quarter of organizations have used at least one FinTech across the following four categories in the past six months: banking and payments, financial management, financing and insurance.
“FinTech organizations are no longer fringe disruptors and have grown into sophisticated competitors,” said Matt Hatch, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP and the EY Americas FinTech Leader.
“Now, financial incumbents are taking note and offering FinTech solutions, forming ecosystems that are replacing traditional partnerships. We fully expect this trend to accelerate as nonfinancial companies enter the space and leverage technology and innovation to provide frictionless, transparent and highly-personalized services.”
What’s driving adoption?
EY firms interviewed more than 27,000 people to better understand how consumers are interacting with FinTech, and the results are promising. Based on the survey results, money transfer and payments services continue to be the most popular in both awareness and adoption, as only 4% of global consumers are unaware of at least one money transfer and payment FinTech service. Adoption rates continue to lag in the US, while Europe’s investments in open banking have contributed to higher adoption rates in that region.
SMEs are further behind in their adoption journey compared to consumers. When an SME uses FinTech services, they have essentially selected this company as an approved vendor, so 25% is considered high, and the adoption rate is expected to climb. Over one-fifth (22%) of non-adopters already use FinTech services in three of the four categories defined in the survey methodology, which means they are on the verge of becoming FinTech adopters. By this measure, the global adoption rate could surge from 25% to 64%.
The impact of trust on FinTech adoption
The survey indicates that trust plays a large role in FinTech adoption, as non-adopters choose to remain with traditional financial services because they trust them more than FinTech challengers. Many FinTech propositions rely on data sharing, which can present a barrier for adoption.
Nearly half (46%) of adopters are comfortable with their primary banking institution sharing their financial data with other organizations if it means better offers on products or services, but less than a quarter (23%) would share data with nonfinancial services companies.
This trust gap creates a huge opportunity for financial institutions and FinTech challengers, as 31% of adopters say they are willing to share data with FinTech challengers. Although nonfinancial services companies might lead innovation, they don’t have full confidence when it comes to providing financial services.
Still, 68% of surveyed consumers are willing to consider a financial services product offered by a nonfinancial services company.
The SME FinTech Adoption Index found similar trends. SME FinTech adopters are also more open to sharing data with FinTech companies (89%) and other financial services companies (70%) over nonfinancial services companies (63%).
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
Shivaun Moeran and her husband Adam Raff founded one of the most promising startups you’ve never heard of. Adam managed Europe’s supercomputers used for weather forecasting and Shivaun managed software products for General Motors. While having a cigarette outside his office one day in 2006, Adam was struck with a brilliant idea. What if you could create an online search platform to find the best price for any product? It would aggregate specific information about category verticals, and nothing like it existed at the time.
They quit their jobs, hired a team, and began beta testing. Their site, Foundem.com ranked well on Google and they were receiving a steady flow of traffic. However, a few days after the official site launch, visitors to the site disappeared and never came back.
Upon investigation, they discovered that Google had updated their search ranking algorithm and had demoted the site, so it appeared on page 4 or even 170 of search results. Foundem had effectively disappeared from the internet – blacklisted. They suspected that they had been intentionally knocked out of the market and, after speaking with other entrepreneurs who had similar experiences, filed a complaint with the European Commission. Nearly 13 years later, Google was fined 2.4 billion euros for crushing competitors and steering users to its own product search sites. This was the first of 3 big antitrust fines leveled at the company, the third coming this past March.
The story of these two entrepreneurs is representative of the challenges facing many new entrepreneurs today – they are up against concentrated and centralized power not seen since the first Gilded Age, making it very difficult to compete.
Across many industries in the US and Canada, (and indeed globally), industries have become increasingly concentrated via waves of mergers and acquisitions. Many Canadians are aware of the main oligopolies of telco companies and banking. Banking is controlled by the Big 5 (TD Bank, RBC, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, CIBC) which would have been the Big 3 had the Competition Bureau not blocked merger proposals in 1998. And The Wireless Telecom industry in Canada is heavily concentrated, with the big three capturing an estimated 88.7% of the market between Rogers, Bell, and Telus.
But fewer are aware of how industrial concentration has seeped into nearly all areas of the economy: eyeglasses, pharmacies, grocers, retail, and even funeral services. Park Lawn Corp, Canada’s largest publicly traded funeral service provider, went from owning 9 funeral facilities in 2013 to over 149 locations by the middle of 2018. Investment strategists praise the company’s consolidation efforts because death, though unsexy, is now becoming highly profitable for shareholders.
When companies merge, they announce the great savings from “synergies” that they will share with customers. To give you a sense of how outlandish the estimates are, the accounting firm Deloitte calculated that the announced cost savings of the current mergers boom amounted to $1.9 trillion, which is more than the entirety of Canada’s GDP. Despite the purported ‘efficiency gains’ meant to come from merging, Canadians pay some of the highest rates globally for international travel, cell phone packages, and banking services.
Wall Street earned $21 billion in merger fees last year, so there is an incentive to keep this engine running. And the US has its sights set on Canada: outbound deals into the U.S. increased by 40% from $80.56-billion in 2017 to $112.9-billion in 2018 (USD).
This matters for fintech firms for a variety of reasons. Most crucially, it should serve as a warning. The internet was invented to avoid single points of failure and protect from nuclear attack. Yet, in 2014, nearly 50% of all internet traffic moved through the Google and Facebook universe. Today, it is closer to 70%. What was meant to be the world’s decentralized, democratized exchange of information has become beholden to two choke point companies that extract the majority of revenue value from the internet.
Blockchain-backed cryptocurrencies were invented with a similar premise of decentralization and democratization. However, Bitmain, a Chinese bitcoin mining company, is estimated to have 70 to 80% market share in bitcoin miners, earning $2.8 billion in revenue in 2018. It is unclear, more than 10 years since inception, who has benefitted most from blockchain technology as it has yet failed to significantly deliver on its most lofty claims about equitable distribution.
This is why it is increasingly important to recognize the powerful forces with incentives to re-centralize power, and to set up appropriate checks and balances via regulation and citizen engagement to support the next wave of Canadian entrepreneurs – fintech or otherwise.
For regulators and government: Tax and transfer approaches treat symptoms, not the true disease of concentrated market power and capital ownership. We need to adopt economic policies that support distributed economies that more widely disseminate power. We also need to get serious about bigness. Antitrust and merger review need a return to the forefront of political discourse, as they increasingly are in the United States. Caring about innovation means taking concentrated power seriously and supporting disruptive industries like fintech, crowdfunding, and blockchain.
Funders should change success metrics away from chasing elusive unicorns with billion dollar valuations to fostering thousands of stronger locally grown and supported companies. Yes, we want national champions, but we also want a robust network of medium-sized businesses that are sustainable and adding value to the economy that do not get swallowed by foreign giants.
Lack of competition in markets hurts consumers, workers, innovators and entrepreneurs. It leads to a host of other symptomatic ills like income inequality and, by extension, populism. As the famous US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said,
“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
The time is now to admonish incumbent oligopolists and to support challenger entrepreneurs.
Disruptive technologies will play a key role, but it is incumbent upon regulators to foster markets where everyone has a chance to compete. We all have a responsibility to help create a more equitably distributed economic future.
Denise writes, presents, and consults on economics, systems change, and human flourishing. She has presented to over 50,000 people at venues including: The Oxford Union, Bloomberg, a Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee, and group homes for foster children. Things she find fun: investigating complex social and economic problems and co-creating organizational growth strategies with entrepreneurs and founders. She has done this across diverse fields: impact investing, education, the sharing economy, and macroeconomics.
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
Nov 12, 2026 Buying a Canadian money services business starts with identifying what the buyer will acquire: a legal entity, a registration history, contracts, records and possibly an active operation. The value of that package depends on whether it supports the services the new owner intends to provide. A FINTRAC registration entry is an important starting point. It does not establish the company’s financial condition, the quality of its compliance programme or the availability of banking relationships after an acquisition. A payment business may also need a separate assessment under the Retail Payment Activities Act, or RPAA. For investors evaluating a Canadian MSB company for sale, due diligence should connect registration status, actual activities, transaction structure and financial evidence before the parties agree a completion timetable. Verify the Canadian MSB registration and legal entity Begin with the target’s exact legal name, incorporation details, registration number and current status. Match the entity in the corporate documents to the entity in FINTRAC’s Money Services Business Registry. FINTRAC explicitly states that registration does not mean it endorses or licenses a business. It also states that it does not issue licences or certificates of registration. A sales presentation using the phrase “FINTRAC licence” should ...
November 12, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Wealthtech Investing And Trading Strategy still runs a software business, but Bitcoin now dominates its assets and capital raising. MSCI no longer treats that balance as an index eligible operating company. November 11, 2026, MSCI confirmed Strategy’s removal from the MSCI USA and MSCI World indexes after the November 30 close under its new methodology for non operating companies. MSCI is one of the world’s largest index providers, and its benchmarks are followed by funds investing across global equity markets. Japan’s Metaplanet is also being removed from an MSCI index. MSCI has decided that Strategy no longer qualifies for its equity indexes because Bitcoin now dominates its assets and much of its capital raising. Strategy still sells software and reports operating revenue, but MSCI is drawing a line between a business that holds investment assets and one where those assets have become the main financial story. Why Is MSCI Removing Strategy From Its Indexes? MSCI first looked at a rule aimed specifically at digital asset treasury companies. It later dropped that proposal and change it's methodology to cover companies whose finances ...
Nov 12, 2026 Crypto market cap is calculated by multiplying an asset's reference price by its circulating supply. A token priced at $2 with 50 million units circulating has a market cap of $100 million. The calculation estimates the value of that supply at the reference price; it does not total the money investors deposited. To understand a change in the ranking, examine both inputs and the provider's definitions. A larger number can result from price changes, supply changes, or revised reporting. Establish what the two inputs represent The arithmetic is simple, but neither input is self-explanatory. “Price” may be a reference assembled from selected trading pairs and venues, rather than the last transaction on the exchange you use. A provider may exclude observations or convert quote currencies. Two services can publish different estimates because their source selection and methods differ. Circulating supply is an estimate of units treated as available in the market under a provider's rules. It may differ from the number minted, the total recorded by a contract, or the maximum permitted under a protocol's current design. Locked balances, treasury allocations, burns, and scheduled releases require interpretation. A transparent methodology matters because identical arithmetic can still use ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Risk Compliance And Regtech Financial firms are putting AI agents into production well before giving them broad financial authority. That creates time to set identity, permissions and transaction controls before autonomous execution becomes common. On November 11, 2026, Bank of England Financial Policy Committee external member Jonathan Hall used his final FPC speech to examine what happens when AI agents get more authority inside financial firms. A Bank of England and FCA survey of 196 firms found that 80% already deploy AI agents and another 14% plan to within 12 months. Only 2% reported agents with broad autonomy, and none of those were in trading and payments. Finance is adopting agents quickly, but firms are still keeping people and hard limits around the decisions that can change money, positions or customer outcomes. AI Agents Are In Finance But They Are Not Trading Alone The 2026 Bank of England and FCA survey separates four levels of authority: Decision support lets an agent recommend an action while a person decides and executes it. Constrained execution lets the agent act inside preset rules. Conditional autonomy ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Entrepreneurs Startups Small Businesses, Equity Crowdfunding And Alternative Funding A small group of large rounds is carrying Canadian venture totals while deal count and growth stage financing remain well below recent norms. On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association published its Q3 2026 venture capital report. Canadian companies raised $4.3 billion across 397 deals through September, only 1% less capital than a year earlier. But 23 rounds of $50 million or more represented just 6% of disclosed deals and absorbed 58% of all venture capital invested. Deal count has also fallen every year since 2021. The national total is holding up far better than the number of companies getting financed. Six Big Rounds Carried 59% Of Q3 Venture Capital Q3 produced $1.35 billion across 129 deals. Capital was 1% higher than Q2, but deal count fell 15%. Six rounds above $50 million accounted for $793 million, or 59% of the quarter’s capital. That's a decent quarter for the companies that closed those rounds, but a weak quarter for everyone else. Mega rounds above $50 million totalled $2.5 billion across 23 transactions ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Story Intelligence | Competition And Market Structure, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Regulation And Policy Canada is cutting bank fees and switching barriers after years of weak competition, high concentration and poor productivity. On November 7, 2026, the federal government proposed something Canadian investors have complained about for years. Banks would no longer be allowed to charge most investment account transfer fees, which typically cost about $150 per account. Ottawa also wants clearer transfer information and tighter timelines for moving investments to another financial institution. The fee matters because leaving can already be slow and frustrating. Receiving firms often reimburse the outgoing charge to win the account. That means a fee collected by the institution losing the customer can become part of the acquisition cost for the institution trying to win that customer. Canada's six largest banks hold roughly 93% of banking assets. The Competition Bureau was warning about barriers facing fintech competitors in 2017. Ottawa began reviewing open banking in 2018. A federal advisory committee later recommended an operating system by January 2023 and warned that government should not delay. January 2023 came and went. Real Time Rail also slipped years beyond its first expected ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Regulation And Policy Funds, Collateral And Settlement Lead Canada’s Near Term Tokenization Opportunity On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Securities Administrators published its Project Tokenization Phase 1 findings, setting out where Canadian market participants see the strongest commercial opportunities for tokenization and what regulators plan to test next. The report draws on 233 organizations, 21 bilateral meetings and 80 survey responses, along with workshops attended by 281 people in Calgary and 491 in Toronto. Participants put investment funds, private assets, collateral, treasury and settlement infrastructure ahead of public stocks as the strongest near term opportunities. The report also cuts through one of tokenization’s biggest sales pitches. Blockchain can change how an asset is recorded, transferred or settled, but it doesn't automatically create liquidity, investor demand, broader eligibility or stronger ownership rights. Those outcomes still depend on the product, market, legal structure and infrastructure around it. The CSA now plans to take specific projects into Phase 2 through a 120 day public call for proposals. Firms may be able to use existing regulatory processes, tailored regulatory treatment or bounded testing in a ...
Nov 11, 2026 A positive work environment is key for any team that wants to succeed. Team morale is crucial for productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction. Engaging in activities that lift spirits and strengthen connections can lead to great results. Creating a positive team environment requires creativity, engagement, and some fun. Each activity can strengthen connections, boost motivation, and improve workplace dynamics. When teams focus on strategies to boost morale, they work toward shared success. These activities can lead to lasting memories and help build a stronger team culture. Here are some fun strategies to help improve your team's morale and make the workplace livelier. Fun at the Arcade Visiting an arcade spot is a great way to enjoy time together and build teamwork. Imagine your team facing challenges with various games. Whether it's racing or playing team games, the arcade encourages friendly competition and bonding. These fun experiences can help reduce stress and improve relationships among coworkers. Arcades offer many options to suit diverse interests and skill levels. The lively atmosphere invites everyone to relax and take a break from their daily tasks. Shared laughter and enjoyment can lead to better communication and teamwork when you return to the ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Fundraising, Investing, Trading, Leadership, Competition, Human Capital, Health A Brokerage Race Beyond $0 Commissions On November 10, 2026, Webull Canada added Nasdaq Basic Canada, giving clients free real time Level 1 quote and trade data across Canadian listed equities. The feed provides best bid, best offer and last sale information for stocks listed on the TSX, TSX Venture, CSE and Cboe Canada. Nasdaq says its consolidated feed can reduce Level 1 market data costs by more than 60% compared with traditional Canadian data packages. Webull isn't first to give Canadian investors free real time information. The more interesting story is how quickly another paid feature is becoming part of the basic brokerage account. Wealthsimple helped normalize $0 trading in 2019, Questrade followed in 2025 and Webull dropped its own commissions in April 2026. With the headline trading fee largely gone, brokers now need other reasons for investors to move money and keep it on the platform. Who Led Canada’s Race To $0 Trading And Free Market Data Wealthsimple Trade launched nationally on March 13, 2019 with $0 commissions on Canadian and U.S. stocks and ETFs. Questrade removed commissions on listed stocks and ETFs ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding A Toronto Fintech Riskfuel Analytics Brings AI Pricing Into BBVA’s Global Markets Workflow On November 10, 2026, BBVA deployed Riskfuel Analytics' neural pricing technology inside the pre-trade structuring workflow for autocallable products on its ePricer platform. Riskfuel is a Toronto fintech founded in 2019 that builds AI models for derivatives pricing. BBVA is a global bank with a large corporate and investment banking business. The deployment puts Canadian built AI directly into the calculations used to design complex structured products at a major global bank. Riskfuel's model is trained on BBVA's own pricing engine and uses more than 4,000 market and product inputs. The company says the surrogate was tested against more than 100,000 trades and can evaluate thousands of candidate structures in under a minute. BBVA had already added AI generated investment ideas to ePricer in September. Riskfuel goes further into the workflow by speeding up the numerical pricing work while BBVA's own model remains the reference. How Riskfuel Speeds Up BBVA's Autocallable Pricing Autocallables can depend on volatility, interest rates, dividends, maturity, coupon levels and several barrier conditions. Autocallables are structured investments ...
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
Nov 12, 2026 Buying a Canadian money services business starts with identifying what the buyer will acquire: a legal entity, a registration history, contracts, records and possibly an active operation. The value of that package depends on whether it supports the services the new owner intends to provide. A FINTRAC registration entry is an important starting point. It does not establish the company’s financial condition, the quality of its compliance programme or the availability of banking relationships after an acquisition. A payment business may also need a separate assessment under the Retail Payment Activities Act, or RPAA. For investors evaluating a Canadian MSB company for sale, due diligence should connect registration status, actual activities, transaction structure and financial evidence before the parties agree a completion timetable. Verify the Canadian MSB registration and legal entity Begin with the target’s exact legal name, incorporation details, registration number and current status. Match the entity in the corporate documents to the entity in FINTRAC’s Money Services Business Registry. FINTRAC explicitly states that registration does not mean it endorses or licenses a business. It also states that it does not issue licences or certificates of registration. A sales presentation using the phrase “FINTRAC licence” should ...
November 12, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Wealthtech Investing And Trading Strategy still runs a software business, but Bitcoin now dominates its assets and capital raising. MSCI no longer treats that balance as an index eligible operating company. November 11, 2026, MSCI confirmed Strategy’s removal from the MSCI USA and MSCI World indexes after the November 30 close under its new methodology for non operating companies. MSCI is one of the world’s largest index providers, and its benchmarks are followed by funds investing across global equity markets. Japan’s Metaplanet is also being removed from an MSCI index. MSCI has decided that Strategy no longer qualifies for its equity indexes because Bitcoin now dominates its assets and much of its capital raising. Strategy still sells software and reports operating revenue, but MSCI is drawing a line between a business that holds investment assets and one where those assets have become the main financial story. Why Is MSCI Removing Strategy From Its Indexes? MSCI first looked at a rule aimed specifically at digital asset treasury companies. It later dropped that proposal and change it's methodology to cover companies whose finances ...
Nov 12, 2026 Crypto market cap is calculated by multiplying an asset's reference price by its circulating supply. A token priced at $2 with 50 million units circulating has a market cap of $100 million. The calculation estimates the value of that supply at the reference price; it does not total the money investors deposited. To understand a change in the ranking, examine both inputs and the provider's definitions. A larger number can result from price changes, supply changes, or revised reporting. Establish what the two inputs represent The arithmetic is simple, but neither input is self-explanatory. “Price” may be a reference assembled from selected trading pairs and venues, rather than the last transaction on the exchange you use. A provider may exclude observations or convert quote currencies. Two services can publish different estimates because their source selection and methods differ. Circulating supply is an estimate of units treated as available in the market under a provider's rules. It may differ from the number minted, the total recorded by a contract, or the maximum permitted under a protocol's current design. Locked balances, treasury allocations, burns, and scheduled releases require interpretation. A transparent methodology matters because identical arithmetic can still use ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Risk Compliance And Regtech Financial firms are putting AI agents into production well before giving them broad financial authority. That creates time to set identity, permissions and transaction controls before autonomous execution becomes common. On November 11, 2026, Bank of England Financial Policy Committee external member Jonathan Hall used his final FPC speech to examine what happens when AI agents get more authority inside financial firms. A Bank of England and FCA survey of 196 firms found that 80% already deploy AI agents and another 14% plan to within 12 months. Only 2% reported agents with broad autonomy, and none of those were in trading and payments. Finance is adopting agents quickly, but firms are still keeping people and hard limits around the decisions that can change money, positions or customer outcomes. AI Agents Are In Finance But They Are Not Trading Alone The 2026 Bank of England and FCA survey separates four levels of authority: Decision support lets an agent recommend an action while a person decides and executes it. Constrained execution lets the agent act inside preset rules. Conditional autonomy ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Entrepreneurs Startups Small Businesses, Equity Crowdfunding And Alternative Funding A small group of large rounds is carrying Canadian venture totals while deal count and growth stage financing remain well below recent norms. On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association published its Q3 2026 venture capital report. Canadian companies raised $4.3 billion across 397 deals through September, only 1% less capital than a year earlier. But 23 rounds of $50 million or more represented just 6% of disclosed deals and absorbed 58% of all venture capital invested. Deal count has also fallen every year since 2021. The national total is holding up far better than the number of companies getting financed. Six Big Rounds Carried 59% Of Q3 Venture Capital Q3 produced $1.35 billion across 129 deals. Capital was 1% higher than Q2, but deal count fell 15%. Six rounds above $50 million accounted for $793 million, or 59% of the quarter’s capital. That's a decent quarter for the companies that closed those rounds, but a weak quarter for everyone else. Mega rounds above $50 million totalled $2.5 billion across 23 transactions ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Story Intelligence | Competition And Market Structure, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Regulation And Policy Canada is cutting bank fees and switching barriers after years of weak competition, high concentration and poor productivity. On November 7, 2026, the federal government proposed something Canadian investors have complained about for years. Banks would no longer be allowed to charge most investment account transfer fees, which typically cost about $150 per account. Ottawa also wants clearer transfer information and tighter timelines for moving investments to another financial institution. The fee matters because leaving can already be slow and frustrating. Receiving firms often reimburse the outgoing charge to win the account. That means a fee collected by the institution losing the customer can become part of the acquisition cost for the institution trying to win that customer. Canada's six largest banks hold roughly 93% of banking assets. The Competition Bureau was warning about barriers facing fintech competitors in 2017. Ottawa began reviewing open banking in 2018. A federal advisory committee later recommended an operating system by January 2023 and warned that government should not delay. January 2023 came and went. Real Time Rail also slipped years beyond its first expected ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Regulation And Policy Funds, Collateral And Settlement Lead Canada’s Near Term Tokenization Opportunity On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Securities Administrators published its Project Tokenization Phase 1 findings, setting out where Canadian market participants see the strongest commercial opportunities for tokenization and what regulators plan to test next. The report draws on 233 organizations, 21 bilateral meetings and 80 survey responses, along with workshops attended by 281 people in Calgary and 491 in Toronto. Participants put investment funds, private assets, collateral, treasury and settlement infrastructure ahead of public stocks as the strongest near term opportunities. The report also cuts through one of tokenization’s biggest sales pitches. Blockchain can change how an asset is recorded, transferred or settled, but it doesn't automatically create liquidity, investor demand, broader eligibility or stronger ownership rights. Those outcomes still depend on the product, market, legal structure and infrastructure around it. The CSA now plans to take specific projects into Phase 2 through a 120 day public call for proposals. Firms may be able to use existing regulatory processes, tailored regulatory treatment or bounded testing in a ...
Nov 11, 2026 A positive work environment is key for any team that wants to succeed. Team morale is crucial for productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction. Engaging in activities that lift spirits and strengthen connections can lead to great results. Creating a positive team environment requires creativity, engagement, and some fun. Each activity can strengthen connections, boost motivation, and improve workplace dynamics. When teams focus on strategies to boost morale, they work toward shared success. These activities can lead to lasting memories and help build a stronger team culture. Here are some fun strategies to help improve your team's morale and make the workplace livelier. Fun at the Arcade Visiting an arcade spot is a great way to enjoy time together and build teamwork. Imagine your team facing challenges with various games. Whether it's racing or playing team games, the arcade encourages friendly competition and bonding. These fun experiences can help reduce stress and improve relationships among coworkers. Arcades offer many options to suit diverse interests and skill levels. The lively atmosphere invites everyone to relax and take a break from their daily tasks. Shared laughter and enjoyment can lead to better communication and teamwork when you return to the ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Fundraising, Investing, Trading, Leadership, Competition, Human Capital, Health A Brokerage Race Beyond $0 Commissions On November 10, 2026, Webull Canada added Nasdaq Basic Canada, giving clients free real time Level 1 quote and trade data across Canadian listed equities. The feed provides best bid, best offer and last sale information for stocks listed on the TSX, TSX Venture, CSE and Cboe Canada. Nasdaq says its consolidated feed can reduce Level 1 market data costs by more than 60% compared with traditional Canadian data packages. Webull isn't first to give Canadian investors free real time information. The more interesting story is how quickly another paid feature is becoming part of the basic brokerage account. Wealthsimple helped normalize $0 trading in 2019, Questrade followed in 2025 and Webull dropped its own commissions in April 2026. With the headline trading fee largely gone, brokers now need other reasons for investors to move money and keep it on the platform. Who Led Canada’s Race To $0 Trading And Free Market Data Wealthsimple Trade launched nationally on March 13, 2019 with $0 commissions on Canadian and U.S. stocks and ETFs. Questrade removed commissions on listed stocks and ETFs ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding A Toronto Fintech Riskfuel Analytics Brings AI Pricing Into BBVA’s Global Markets Workflow On November 10, 2026, BBVA deployed Riskfuel Analytics' neural pricing technology inside the pre-trade structuring workflow for autocallable products on its ePricer platform. Riskfuel is a Toronto fintech founded in 2019 that builds AI models for derivatives pricing. BBVA is a global bank with a large corporate and investment banking business. The deployment puts Canadian built AI directly into the calculations used to design complex structured products at a major global bank. Riskfuel's model is trained on BBVA's own pricing engine and uses more than 4,000 market and product inputs. The company says the surrogate was tested against more than 100,000 trades and can evaluate thousands of candidate structures in under a minute. BBVA had already added AI generated investment ideas to ePricer in September. Riskfuel goes further into the workflow by speeding up the numerical pricing work while BBVA's own model remains the reference. How Riskfuel Speeds Up BBVA's Autocallable Pricing Autocallables can depend on volatility, interest rates, dividends, maturity, coupon levels and several barrier conditions. Autocallables are structured investments ...
About this episode: On this episode of the Fintech Friday's Podcast, our host Manseeb Khan sits down with Jason Saltzman partner at Gowlings WLG law firm. They chat about how to make your ICO compliant, Blockchain in law and how to create a business structure. Enjoy!
BIO: Jason Saltzman is a partner in Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP’s Toronto office practising in corporate finance and securities law, with an emphasis on securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions and regulatory compliance matters.Jason assists issuers, investment dealers, investment portals and institutional and private investors on complex equity and debt financing transactions, ranging from start-up investments, venture capital and private equity investments, to larger public offerings and project finance. Jason has taken numerous companies public on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian Securities Exchange by IPO, reverse takeover, capital pool transactions and direct listings. He also advises securities dealers, advisers, investment fund managers and other market participants in connection with their registration and compliance issues. Jason served two terms on the Ontario Securities Commission’s Small and Medium Enterprises Committee and has been very active in building an alternative finance practice by focusing on fin-tech, crowdfinance and other disruptive models such as online investment platforms, peer-to-peer lending and robo-advising. He has become known as a thought leader in this innovative area.
Subscribe and tune in each Friday to check out the latest movers and shakers in fintech.
Intro: Welcome fintech Friday's a weekly podcast brought to you by the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada and partners.Covering all things fintech block chain be AI and alternative finance.
Jason Saltzman: Thanks so much happy to be here Manseeb . Great to be on this amazing podcast that I listen to all the time.
Manseeb Khan: Awesome I mean I love to hear that. So, Jason just for I guess the five or six people that may not know essentially who you are and what Gowlings does could just give us a quick rundown?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. So, my name is Jason Saltzman I'm a partner at the law firm Gowlings WLG Gowlings is a law firm that's global. We have about 14 hundred lawyers around the world where in every major business center in Canada. We're also throughout Europe London Germany a number of other offices in Europe as well as we're in the Middle East and in Asia. Yeah. And my practices on the corporate finance and security side. So, I basically help all kinds of companies raise money access capital from all the early stage entrepreneurs all the way through different investment rounds up through going public transactions and of course in new asset classes such as alternative finance with anything from robo-advising, peer to peer lending and crypto currencies.
Manseeb Khan: We're seeing a lot in the space of pretty much crypto companies going just having crazy evaluations doing amazing things in the space. And I guess my question to you, my main question to you is as a law firm What are you guys kind of looking for to take on a robo-advisory company. A peer to peer company or crypto company. I guess like what is their list of qualifications that to kind of fill out. Like what. I guess like what is your quick little checkmark or checklist of things that you are looking for. If I personally but I guess as a law firm for these companies to have?
Jason Saltzman: Yes. So I mean we're open to working with all kinds of clients at everything from large blue chip companies and we act from any of them here in Canada and globally but we know that a lot of these big companies they started somewhere and they've started from the entrepreneur and they've grown. So, it is not uncommon for us to work with good quality startup companies and entrepreneurs and those that have amazing ideas that we see the growth potential in, and we want to be with them from the ground floor and work with them and whatnot. So, we're open to all kinds of inquiries from entrepreneurs that think they have neat ideas. We're particularly invested in the fintech space which is everything from financial technologies to blockchain technology to alternative finance as I mentioned and entrepreneurs that have these amazing ideas, we want to hear about them and figure out how we can work together.
Manseeb Khan: So, there are a lot of amazing fintech companies here. I guess how I get. Yeah, I guess specifically when it comes to since you are working with so many amazing companies you may you may not have to give specific names, but I guess what excites you about the space. I mean as a law firm as somebody kind of standing a little bit more outside going a little bit but also very much in the details. What are you very much excited about in the space?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah, I mean I love working with innovative companies with great ideas that solve big problems that are disruptive. You know I've been a lawyer for on Bay Street for twenty-two years working with all kinds of traditional industries everything from mining and natural resources and you know early stage technologies as well. But in a different era and life science. But when fintech and alternative finance and blockchain came around it was like wow this is like just a greenfield of so many new disruptive ideas. And it's a great opportunity for a law firm to say OK like you know we're just on the cusp of this new industry and you know law firms you know they have this image of being old and staunch and especially on Bay Street. But you know as we see the world evolve and new technologies go from small companies to very big players and you know we want to be part of it. And you know we found that just by immersing ourselves and myself personally in these ideas going back now four or five years myself personally particularly on known crowdfunding and alternative finance and crowd finance and whatnot that you can vary by it by working with these companies you have more experience than your competitors. You're immediately going up the chain in terms of knowledge and you know I started working with some great organizations like the NCFA and whatnot where I've gone to events, I speak, I write, I participate on the advisory board and I've met so many wonderful people through my involvement with the organization both companies and investors. There's you know those in the ecosystem who support or want to be part of the industry and it just I just keep coming back for more because it is so interesting and exciting.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah no I get it like every day is something very exciting especially like comparing it to traditional Bay Street where everything is a little bit more slower. Today everything's a new adventure and that's probably it's just fun. It's very amazing. So, with I mean I'll hit on blockchain as a legal firm right. I mean there's definitely a lot of blockchain innovation right now. You're seeing a huge I guess we'll call it overhaul in the insurance space. Blockchain definitely has a role in the legal system definitely does it plays a role in government. Play the role in law. What does blockchain in law look like to?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. No, it's that's a great question and as far as how what we're seeing as a law firm we took an early adoption in this industry and back in I'd say 2017. We set up a blockchain group and my partner Usman Sheikh has become a leader in blockchain law, and I worked very closely with him in my practice in the corporate finance and security space. You know we saw in early 2018 and since the emergence of ICOs and initial coin offerings and whatnot and we you know sensed that there would be securities law and regulatory issues. So, our group mobilized to see how we can support the entrepreneurs who wanted to use you know non-dilutive financings like an ICO to access capital and help grow their business. So we worked with many interesting entrepreneurs who had great ideas and tried to navigate the you know the securities law system and you know we took many companies through the Ontario Securities Commission through their launch pad program and through those in the other provinces and tried to advise them on the best way to approach their model in a way that is compliant and whatnot. So, you know we saw a lot of opportunities on the security side but also you know apart from securities I mean our firm does everything from intellectual property whether it's patents or trademarks. And we've also been dealing closely with companies that may not have sold the tokens in a compliant way and helping them now through the through the process on the other end. We've been helping a lot there but. And also, just general technology law when you're you know setting up web sites and making sure you have your terms of use. And when you have a white paper making sure that that's compliant and makes sense and you know a law firm can be a friend and making sure that you know that that that works out well. So, we've become a big believer in blockchain. Our group has grown to about one hundred professionals worldwide and our global platform who have some aspect of blockchain their practice and we stay on top of developments in the industry to ensure that you know we speak, we write and participate at events but also you know we're trying to figure out the best where it's going to go and how blockchain can actually be integrated into the practice of law. And you mentioned insurance and other industries. And so, we're always we're understanding, and the technology and we want to be where it's going.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. No I mean as you it's kind of a relief to hear that and not only do you guys make sure that everybody is kind of covered before their ICO's are not complaint but after as well it's kind of like hey whoa woops we just lost X amount of money like these 15 things weren't compliant. Okay cool. You guys can actually help that's a sigh of relief. For a few audience members.
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. And we can advise you know those who want to get in the business of that as they need to do it in a compliant way whether it's you know some in some companies they want to register as dealers and make sure they're doing it right. Yeah get whatever relief they need from the regulators and whatnot. Yeah. You know we can help.
Manseeb Khan: I agree with you I mean like compliance is really it's a really funny thing especially in this space because since this space is so brand new it's kind of like hey you know we can kind of do whatever we want, well not really though. There are still some terms this does some like rules that you still have to kind of follow. You can't just it's not an open playing field right.
Jason Saltzman: Yeah that's right. we've seen that evolve like a year ago when ICOs are first coming on scene everyone would say well I can do this because somebody else did it but would say no and we were always like the party poopers. Yeah say no. Guys you got to be careful here. And so now we've seen it evolve. to.
Manseeb Khan: No I absolutely agree with you I mean it's very important like you did mentioned on the top the episode that like you guys work with these companies well you guys aren't here to hinder their innovation, you're not here to hinder their technology, you're not here to hinder anything whatsoever. You're just making sure you guys aren't navigating through the right waters make sure like OK there's a storm coming. Your kind of carefully veer left a little bit because you know we want to stay away from that. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And that's very important I mean I don't think like you mentioned. I think I think people and companies are slowly understanding that now. Right. That you guys can work alongside of them that this change is not a radical cut from the old world it's that it's more of a hybrid. Yes, you can work together to kind of create something amazing.
Jason Saltzman: Correct and because we have gained a lot of experience with the challenges that the entrepreneurs have faced with the current regulatory regime and we're able to take our stories that we hear from our clients and together with other industry participants like the NCFA and others be you know be part of a community we can have an open dialogue with the regulators and who very much want to hear from all of us. Absolutely. And they've said many times they want to work and listen to what people have to say and see you know maybe they can do something that's better. So, you know I think we're still in the early innings of where this is going to go from the regulatory point of view. But I think there is definitely a movement toward something that makes more sense yes for the industry.
Manseeb Khan: It's actually it's kind of funny because you think that the regulators are not as open to have a conversation with many of the entrepreneurs. With many of the law firms, with many of the people that are in the space but they're they sure do a lot of events. They come, they speak if you have any questions, I feel free to come by and by all means we'll sit down with you. They'll understand your problem why where you're coming from and then we'll try to work with you and then talk about OK well this is kind of the red tape is or this is why we can't kind of do this. Yeah. Because yeah, we don't know X Y and Z which it’s is hilarious since that was pretty funny. So, I'm going to shift gears a little bit we did very early on in the show we talked about smart contract was probably the very early topic we ever talked about. Since I am speaking to another lawman what would it. What is your take on smart contracts and or what would what do you need to see to for Gowlings to kind of take on a more of a smart contract initiative?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah, I mean we're certainly open to it. We see that that's where the world is going there's going to be more and more smart contracts coming so you know we'd like to try to understand the technologies that are being proposed that would be formed the basis of that smart contracting question. So, we can assess as to you know the validity and the enforceability and how we will execute and where the pitfalls or risks may be with that contract. But we you know we're all over it and we are interested in learning about them and seeing how they'll be adopted in a more mainstream practice. Yeah for sure. Yeah. I mean you know traditionally law firms are like big steamships. They're hard to navigate and you've got to go through lots of bureaucracy. You know I think fortunately we have dedicated teams in this area who and the firm has invested in the area and is a believer in the area that we can move quicker when it comes to these new opportunities. But you know but like anything else we need to understand it but we have good news is we have like such a significant technology and intellectual property group with all kinds of engineers and computer scientists and people who are much smarter than me on technical technology then you know they can they certainly bring a lot of value to these kinds of companies.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah. No I mean I think it is incredible that you guys have actually decided to put actual manpower behind it because it's not just all talk it's kind of like now we actually have a team around it that are everyday there on top of it they're learning they're understanding it so they can come back to us is like hey this is how we're going to navigate this is the game plan for x y and z so you can kind of hit the ground sprinting which is it's pretty awesome.
Jason Saltzman: Yeah. And that's what's exciting about it. Actually, we like the team is just you know you know men and women are absolutely wonderful professionals who you know who really enjoy working with entrepreneurs in the innovation area.
Manseeb Khan: So, you do and at many of the events that you've been to the events that you sponsor, the entrepreneurs you have onboard that you've been talking to. I guess we'll be your best advice to them on how to set up a proper business structure when it comes to setting up partnerships because these are brand new founders right these are these are people that have an idea and they want to build something but they don't know how to build it so that they people like you. What's your best advice to these people?
Jason Saltzman: And that's a great question. Like in many cases you know we come across entrepreneurs who have a great idea and then I'll say OK. Like what. You have a business structure yet and they say no and we say OK well that's great because you know we always want to know who are clients going to be is going to be the individuals are going to be a company that already exists and who's involved and you know we have very strict know your clients procedures under the law society before we take any went on. So, it's always good to know who we're dealing with. And in cases where it's just an individual. The first thing we generally advise the individual when we take them on is OK. Do you want to set up as a partnership or are you doing this alone? Or you're doing want to do this to a corporate vehicle? And there are many different reasons why you would choose one thing over another sometimes it's tax driven sometimes it's jurisdictional be driven and whatnot but you know the simplest form is we generally advise setting up a either you know on Ontario or a federal company put a little you know get a name for the company so you have an account of your identity and whatnot and that company gives the entrepreneurs you know some advantages in terms of you know mostly a lot of entrepreneurs set up through a company so they have personal. So, they don't have personal liability and exactly how they can sort of have you know limited liability through their company and then the company can go ahead and do things and whatnot. Generally, when there is more than one founder or entrepreneur involved in a business then when the company is incorporated, they both become shareholders or could be more than two. But however, many there are some shareholders and then we assist in putting together like a shareholders agreement which basically governs how the shareholders operate amongst themselves and you know basically no one person can sell his or her shares unless the other one has the first opportunity to buy them. And because you need to know who your partners are you can just go ahead and set up a company and then sell your shares and not exactly leaving the others with partners that they didn't desire.
Manseeb Khan: And or not know right. Just like Wait who's Greg.
Jason Saltzman: That's right. Yeah. So, we assist with every aspect of from the incorporation to the organization of the company to setting up the shareholder agreement. But then also you know what's the next step for that company it is raising equity before you do like an ICL or something like that. So it may be you go to some friends and family investors and we assist with the documentation and ensuring that the business when it's selling the equity is complying with securities law has a prospectus exemption and that kind of thing and then you know we'll help with the various rounds and if there is an opportunity to do an ICO then will advise about that as well. And you know as I said how to do it in a compliant way and as the company grows there's different opportunities whether it's a merger and acquisition buying another company, or you know maybe it goes public. And we saw some blockchain technology companies go public. In fact, our firm acted for the first one and quite a few years ago and sometimes we see these structures like in a reverse takeover where they know they don't just go public by an IPO, but they get acquired by a public shell company and a share deal. So, we certainly can advise and all of that stuff too right.
Manseeb Khan: So ideally you want to make sure you from the jump gets set up so you can if you're going to be going to go public get built. So, you can become public.
Manseeb Khan: Yeah absolutely right. Because there's a lot of work that goes into becoming public whether it's and the habits form early right. Yeah like you know entrepreneurs and I work with many of them and you know usually things happen so fast in an entrepreneurial world which is great. But sometimes that's the corporate records and financial statements and things like that lag a bit. So, there's always you know everybody sort of has to you know get their act together quickly to be in a position to go public. But certainly it's never too early to develop those good habits and have records in place and that's everything from you know if you're taken on employees, have in your employment contracts having your IP protected having you know at any if there's any dispute settling all of those in advance and whatnot because if you get if you wait too late to the end of the go public process and things come out of the woodwork and that's going to get in the way of your plans.
Manseeb Khan: So, you did talk about how. OK so now we have a business structure right. We know not we know how we want to get a built. Now the next step is say raising money right. We can take it a traditional way where we can talk to VCs. We can go to the hedge fund guys. We can go to some of your old friends a Bay Street 100 percent but say if take it we want to be on this new wave, we want to raise money through peer to peer through crowdfunding. We'll be your best advice to companies if they're are considering taking that route. So, they are 100 percent compliant?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah that's a great question and I'm sure it's one that's on the top of every entrepreneur's mind is where's the money going to come from. And you know there are only so many you know friends and family members that are you know that you're that you want to take money from.
Manseeb Khan: Mom is only going to give you so much money.
Jason Saltzman: That's right. So. So let's talk about crowdfunding first. Crowdfunding is actually very exciting. I mean it's something that really burst on the scene probably about five years ago or so and you know there are there are some great crowdfunding platforms and portals that that are available that help companies raise money in different ways using you know in a compliant way in Canada using existing exemptions. Some of these platforms are you know I've known for quite a long time there are different exemptions that they use whether it's the accredited investor exemption, where they seek money on their platform from credit accredited investors only which is you know it's a more limited market in the sense that there are only so many accredited investors who are in the world or in Canada who are willing to invest. But you know the benefit of going to those types of investors on a platform is that it's quicker and easier and there's fewer information that you need to provide and less information that you to provide. On the theory that an accredited investor has enough money that he or she can afford to lose it and can take care of him or herself. But you know there are some other exemptions that the platforms use. There's the offering memorandum exemption the offer memorandum exemption unfortunately varies by province because in Canada we don't have a national securities regulator as I'm sure many of your listeners know. So, we're fragmented and have to deal with it on a you know by complying with the patchwork of the different provincial regulations. The good news is there is some harmonization but we're not quite there yet. We're moving in that direction but the offer memorandum exemption like in British Columbia you can give a British Columbia an investor on a platform just an offering memorandum and a risk acknowledgement form and they can invest whereas in Alberta and Ontario and some of the other provinces you give them an offering memorandum and a risk acknowledgement form. But there are limits imposed on the investment based on the net worth of that investor of course. Basically, anybody can invest up to ten thousand dollars in those provinces but then there's a concept of an eligible investor which you don't quite meet the high standard of accreditation that at the credit investor would. But you meet sort of a lower test and then you. But then you can only invest up to 30 thousand dollars or maybe 100 if you get a letter from your broker or whatnot and then the offering memorandum itself. There's some work that goes in in drafting it it's basically got to contain you know full information about your business it can't contain a misrepresentation but one of the big challenges for a small company that wants to use that exemption is that you also have to have audited financial statements put in that offering memorandum which for a small company paying an auditing firm is not a good use of your resources. Not at all no. Yeah. So. So that's sort of a challenge with the current use of that exemption. There's also a crowdfunding exemption that the regulators had come up with specifically dedicated to use on these crowdfunding platforms. It hasn't really been popular because there were you know pretty tough restrictions on the ability to advertise the investment. So, no one has really been using that, but the good news is this is an example of the regulators listening to the industry and they've come back with some new proposals that the industry is now considering and maybe we'll move into something a little bit easier there. So but there are some as I mentioned there are some great platforms that are sort of using all of these exemptions and they've set it up to assist in the drafting of your offering memorandum and assistant navigating the different exemptions and the different provinces and they're registered as dealers to enable to operate. I'd recommend looking into some of these platforms and seeing if that. Would be an option for your company because they exist and some of them are doing quite well. As far as robo and ICOs and what not. I mean robo advising is not a way to raise money but it's a way to. It's a way to get involved and invest your money in it. Certainly, there are some great sites out there that too. It's certainly marketed a lot and whatnot and they have all the registrations they need, and they seem very interesting and whatnot and then on the ICO side I mean ICOs. What's interesting about that for a company is as I mentioned earlier it's non-dilutive. You're not selling equity in your company you're selling a token. Token might have some kind of functionality could be used on the platform. Could you know value could go into that token which could later be sold on an exchange and what not. But there are challenges because there aren't any recognized exchanges right now. So, I think we're past the point of debating whether to token itself as a security or not. I think the regulators have become quite clear that a lot of people think that the regulation isn't clear. But I would tell you it is that the regulators take the position that that in most cases these tokens are securities under established common law tests and therefore you need to sort of comply with the same exemptions that I mentioned earlier. Yeah or do a public offering under a prospectus but where no one's quite taken that leap as of yet in a successful way. But the idea would be that if you navigate the exemptions then you can do it and there are some token companies that have received that do use exemptions and have seen have received relief and they're operating in a compliant way. But then what do you do with your tokens How do you trade them on an exchange that's not recognized yet. So, I think we're early days and, in the industry, still I think there'll be a time when all that gets flushed out . Yeah. When there will be exchanges that rate whether it's existing exchanges that have added crypto to their business or new crypto exchanges that have gone through the regulatory process I think we are going to get there because there's no stopping the desire on the part of the industry to move in that direction.
Manseeb Khan: No, I absolutely agree with you. So, before we wrap this up. My last question to you would be aside from all the amazing as we talked about write robo advising, smart contracts, blockchain in a law. Bay street. What are you most excited about in the space?
Jason Saltzman: Yeah, I mean I personally just love the ideas and working with the people and the entrepreneurs and you know let's face it. You know I'm getting a little bit older and it's fun to me you know some real bright entrepreneurs that have amazing ideas that you know open up a new world and you know for us it's you know for me personally it's working with people and learning new things. So, to be in an industry where it's all about innovation and new things and you know moving from the old ways of doing things and things that are disruptive, I mean that's to me that's exciting.
Manseeb Khan: That's I mean that's awesome. So, Jason thank you so much for sitting down with me today. And super excited to have you back on.
Jason Saltzman: Pleasure this was this was great. And yeah. Again, thanks again for the opportunity. Cheers.
Outro : you've been listening to fintech Fridays brought to you by NCFA and partners. Tune in weekly for the latest fintech Friday podcast by subscribing to this channel. The National crowdfunding and FinTech Association of Canada is a non-profit actively engaged with social and investment fintech sectors around the globe and provide education research industry stewardship services and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers. For more information please visit and see if a Canada dot org. Oh yea.
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November 11, 2026 | NCFA Story Intelligence | Competition And Market Structure, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Regulation And Policy Canada is cutting bank fees and switching barriers after years of weak competition, high concentration and poor productivity. On November 7, 2026, the federal government proposed something Canadian investors have complained about for years. Banks would no longer be allowed to charge most investment account transfer fees, which typically cost about $150 per account. Ottawa also wants clearer transfer information and tighter timelines for moving investments to another financial institution. The fee matters because leaving can already be slow and frustrating. Receiving firms often reimburse the outgoing charge to win the account. That means a fee collected by the institution losing the customer can become part of the acquisition cost for the institution trying to win that customer. Canada's six largest banks hold roughly 93% of banking assets. The Competition Bureau was warning about barriers facing fintech competitors in 2017. Ottawa began reviewing open banking in 2018. A federal advisory committee later recommended an operating system by January 2023 and warned that government should not delay. January 2023 came and went. Real Time Rail also slipped years beyond its first expected ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Regulation And Policy Funds, Collateral And Settlement Lead Canada’s Near Term Tokenization Opportunity On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Securities Administrators published its Project Tokenization Phase 1 findings, setting out where Canadian market participants see the strongest commercial opportunities for tokenization and what regulators plan to test next. The report draws on 233 organizations, 21 bilateral meetings and 80 survey responses, along with workshops attended by 281 people in Calgary and 491 in Toronto. Participants put investment funds, private assets, collateral, treasury and settlement infrastructure ahead of public stocks as the strongest near term opportunities. The report also cuts through one of tokenization’s biggest sales pitches. Blockchain can change how an asset is recorded, transferred or settled, but it doesn't automatically create liquidity, investor demand, broader eligibility or stronger ownership rights. Those outcomes still depend on the product, market, legal structure and infrastructure around it. The CSA now plans to take specific projects into Phase 2 through a 120 day public call for proposals. Firms may be able to use existing regulatory processes, tailored regulatory treatment or bounded testing in a ...
Nov 11, 2026 A positive work environment is key for any team that wants to succeed. Team morale is crucial for productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction. Engaging in activities that lift spirits and strengthen connections can lead to great results. Creating a positive team environment requires creativity, engagement, and some fun. Each activity can strengthen connections, boost motivation, and improve workplace dynamics. When teams focus on strategies to boost morale, they work toward shared success. These activities can lead to lasting memories and help build a stronger team culture. Here are some fun strategies to help improve your team's morale and make the workplace livelier. Fun at the Arcade Visiting an arcade spot is a great way to enjoy time together and build teamwork. Imagine your team facing challenges with various games. Whether it's racing or playing team games, the arcade encourages friendly competition and bonding. These fun experiences can help reduce stress and improve relationships among coworkers. Arcades offer many options to suit diverse interests and skill levels. The lively atmosphere invites everyone to relax and take a break from their daily tasks. Shared laughter and enjoyment can lead to better communication and teamwork when you return to the ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Fundraising, Investing, Trading, Leadership, Competition, Human Capital, Health A Brokerage Race Beyond $0 Commissions On November 10, 2026, Webull Canada added Nasdaq Basic Canada, giving clients free real time Level 1 quote and trade data across Canadian listed equities. The feed provides best bid, best offer and last sale information for stocks listed on the TSX, TSX Venture, CSE and Cboe Canada. Nasdaq says its consolidated feed can reduce Level 1 market data costs by more than 60% compared with traditional Canadian data packages. Webull isn't first to give Canadian investors free real time information. The more interesting story is how quickly another paid feature is becoming part of the basic brokerage account. Wealthsimple helped normalize $0 trading in 2019, Questrade followed in 2025 and Webull dropped its own commissions in April 2026. With the headline trading fee largely gone, brokers now need other reasons for investors to move money and keep it on the platform. Who Led Canada’s Race To $0 Trading And Free Market Data Wealthsimple Trade launched nationally on March 13, 2019 with $0 commissions on Canadian and U.S. stocks and ETFs. Questrade removed commissions on listed stocks and ETFs ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding A Toronto Fintech Riskfuel Analytics Brings AI Pricing Into BBVA’s Global Markets Workflow On November 10, 2026, BBVA deployed Riskfuel Analytics' neural pricing technology inside the pre-trade structuring workflow for autocallable products on its ePricer platform. Riskfuel is a Toronto fintech founded in 2019 that builds AI models for derivatives pricing. BBVA is a global bank with a large corporate and investment banking business. The deployment puts Canadian built AI directly into the calculations used to design complex structured products at a major global bank. Riskfuel's model is trained on BBVA's own pricing engine and uses more than 4,000 market and product inputs. The company says the surrogate was tested against more than 100,000 trades and can evaluate thousands of candidate structures in under a minute. BBVA had already added AI generated investment ideas to ePricer in September. Riskfuel goes further into the workflow by speeding up the numerical pricing work while BBVA's own model remains the reference. How Riskfuel Speeds Up BBVA's Autocallable Pricing Autocallables can depend on volatility, interest rates, dividends, maturity, coupon levels and several barrier conditions. Autocallables are structured investments ...
Canada may be a smaller market but it has a robust, highly sophisticated economy and a vibrant Fintech sector. Toronto, the financial center of the country, is home to dozens of Fintechs including payment firms, online lending, AI, wealth management, blockchain and more. Yet while there are promising indications of financial innovation and a good number risk-taking Fintech entrepreneurs, a recent Canadian report noted a “need for a clear Fintech strategy by the federal and provincial governments with the intent of supporting innovation and growth for the Canadian financial services sector.”
Like most other industries, competition in financial services is intense. As it is a highly regulated sector of industry, participants must continuously manage compliance demands while interacting with diverse public officials and regulatory requirements. These same rules, if duplicative or misaligned, can act as a barrier to positive innovation and change that challenges established firms and entrenched orthodoxies.
The emergence of Fintech and the digitization of financial services, from banking and beyond, has seen multiple Fintech centers of prominence emerge. The UK has long been known for its Fintech friendly regulatory environment. Regulators frequently engage with emerging new business models as it is mandated for these officials to foster competition.
In Hong Kong, an important global financial center, public officials have not only talked about fostering Fintech innovation, but much money and resources have been dedicated to encouraging innovation. Fintech is viewed as strategically important to maintain a dominant position in the global financial industry.
So can Canada do more?
Crowdfund Insider recently reached out to Michael King for his perspective on the status of Fintech in Canada. King is co-Director of the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab at Ivey Business School and an advisor to the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada. He spent multiple years in the private sector working in the global banking industry so he has plenty of hands-on experience.
King recently created a helpful database of Fintechs operating in Canada which provides a good overview of these new firms. King believes Canadian officials, both regulatory and elected, must do more to catch up in the international race to remain relevant and competitive in the global financial sector.
So will Canadian policymakers listen? Our conversation is shared below.
Which international jurisdictions do you believe are doing the best in fostering Fintech innovation?
Michael King: The leading jurisdictions for Fintech are the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Each of these countries has outlined a national strategy to be a leader in Fintech and is coordinating both public sector and private sector bodies towards achieving this goal. These small open economies understand that financial services are a global industry that has been opened up to foreign competition by the internet, cloud computing, smartphones and other technologies.
Canada is lagging, with no coordination nationally and harmful competition between Fintech centres across Canada.
The leading jurisdictions for #Fintech are the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Each of these countries has outlined a national strategy to be a leader in Fintech
Which sectors of Fintech do you believe hold the most promise?
Michael King: The payments sector is the front line of the battle between Fintechs and incumbents. This trillion-dollar industry is complex, with many players collaborating and competing in overlapping networks. Consumers and businesses face many pain points, such as high costs, slow transfers, poor service and little to no transparency. Payments is where the largest and most successful Fintech companies have made their mark, led by PayPal, Square, Stripe and Adyen.
Canada’s Lightspeed POS is the leader in this space, although there are dozens of smaller start-ups targeting lucrative segments of this value chain.
Payments is also the space where global technology companies are able to compete most effectively by bundling payments with their other customer offerings: Alipay (Alibaba), Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and WePay (Tencent).
These “Techfins” have put technology first and financial services second when developing their ecosystems. But access to customer payments will bring data and insights to drive future financial product offerings.
On relative terms, how does Canada size up when it comes to Fintech innovation?
Michael King: Canada remains in the top 10 for Fintech innovation with investment by both start-ups and incumbent banks, insurance companies and asset managers.
Canada has been gaining ground in key areas of Fintech, namely payments, cryptoassets and blockchain, online lending, and wealth management.
On a public policy basis, what has been done so far?
Michael King: Federal politicians in Canada are pursuing a policy of benign neglect towards the Fintech sector, preferring to leave policy to provincial governments and regulators while focusing on other innovation priorities. Canada has not published a national strategy on Fintech, none of the funding for superclusters was directed to Fintech, and no politicians are offering speeches to support this sector. The only recent indication of support is the public consultations on open banking, which has already been adopted in the European Union, United Kingdom and Australia.
Canada prefers to be a follower on open banking, balancing the need for more openness with the desire to maintain a sound and stable financial system.
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
Nov 12, 2026 Buying a Canadian money services business starts with identifying what the buyer will acquire: a legal entity, a registration history, contracts, records and possibly an active operation. The value of that package depends on whether it supports the services the new owner intends to provide. A FINTRAC registration entry is an important starting point. It does not establish the company’s financial condition, the quality of its compliance programme or the availability of banking relationships after an acquisition. A payment business may also need a separate assessment under the Retail Payment Activities Act, or RPAA. For investors evaluating a Canadian MSB company for sale, due diligence should connect registration status, actual activities, transaction structure and financial evidence before the parties agree a completion timetable. Verify the Canadian MSB registration and legal entity Begin with the target’s exact legal name, incorporation details, registration number and current status. Match the entity in the corporate documents to the entity in FINTRAC’s Money Services Business Registry. FINTRAC explicitly states that registration does not mean it endorses or licenses a business. It also states that it does not issue licences or certificates of registration. A sales presentation using the phrase “FINTRAC licence” should ...
November 12, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Wealthtech Investing And Trading Strategy still runs a software business, but Bitcoin now dominates its assets and capital raising. MSCI no longer treats that balance as an index eligible operating company. November 11, 2026, MSCI confirmed Strategy’s removal from the MSCI USA and MSCI World indexes after the November 30 close under its new methodology for non operating companies. MSCI is one of the world’s largest index providers, and its benchmarks are followed by funds investing across global equity markets. Japan’s Metaplanet is also being removed from an MSCI index. MSCI has decided that Strategy no longer qualifies for its equity indexes because Bitcoin now dominates its assets and much of its capital raising. Strategy still sells software and reports operating revenue, but MSCI is drawing a line between a business that holds investment assets and one where those assets have become the main financial story. Why Is MSCI Removing Strategy From Its Indexes? MSCI first looked at a rule aimed specifically at digital asset treasury companies. It later dropped that proposal and change it's methodology to cover companies whose finances ...
Nov 12, 2026 Crypto market cap is calculated by multiplying an asset's reference price by its circulating supply. A token priced at $2 with 50 million units circulating has a market cap of $100 million. The calculation estimates the value of that supply at the reference price; it does not total the money investors deposited. To understand a change in the ranking, examine both inputs and the provider's definitions. A larger number can result from price changes, supply changes, or revised reporting. Establish what the two inputs represent The arithmetic is simple, but neither input is self-explanatory. “Price” may be a reference assembled from selected trading pairs and venues, rather than the last transaction on the exchange you use. A provider may exclude observations or convert quote currencies. Two services can publish different estimates because their source selection and methods differ. Circulating supply is an estimate of units treated as available in the market under a provider's rules. It may differ from the number minted, the total recorded by a contract, or the maximum permitted under a protocol's current design. Locked balances, treasury allocations, burns, and scheduled releases require interpretation. A transparent methodology matters because identical arithmetic can still use ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Risk Compliance And Regtech Financial firms are putting AI agents into production well before giving them broad financial authority. That creates time to set identity, permissions and transaction controls before autonomous execution becomes common. On November 11, 2026, Bank of England Financial Policy Committee external member Jonathan Hall used his final FPC speech to examine what happens when AI agents get more authority inside financial firms. A Bank of England and FCA survey of 196 firms found that 80% already deploy AI agents and another 14% plan to within 12 months. Only 2% reported agents with broad autonomy, and none of those were in trading and payments. Finance is adopting agents quickly, but firms are still keeping people and hard limits around the decisions that can change money, positions or customer outcomes. AI Agents Are In Finance But They Are Not Trading Alone The 2026 Bank of England and FCA survey separates four levels of authority: Decision support lets an agent recommend an action while a person decides and executes it. Constrained execution lets the agent act inside preset rules. Conditional autonomy ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Entrepreneurs Startups Small Businesses, Equity Crowdfunding And Alternative Funding A small group of large rounds is carrying Canadian venture totals while deal count and growth stage financing remain well below recent norms. On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association published its Q3 2026 venture capital report. Canadian companies raised $4.3 billion across 397 deals through September, only 1% less capital than a year earlier. But 23 rounds of $50 million or more represented just 6% of disclosed deals and absorbed 58% of all venture capital invested. Deal count has also fallen every year since 2021. The national total is holding up far better than the number of companies getting financed. Six Big Rounds Carried 59% Of Q3 Venture Capital Q3 produced $1.35 billion across 129 deals. Capital was 1% higher than Q2, but deal count fell 15%. Six rounds above $50 million accounted for $793 million, or 59% of the quarter’s capital. That's a decent quarter for the companies that closed those rounds, but a weak quarter for everyone else. Mega rounds above $50 million totalled $2.5 billion across 23 transactions ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Story Intelligence | Competition And Market Structure, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Regulation And Policy Canada is cutting bank fees and switching barriers after years of weak competition, high concentration and poor productivity. On November 7, 2026, the federal government proposed something Canadian investors have complained about for years. Banks would no longer be allowed to charge most investment account transfer fees, which typically cost about $150 per account. Ottawa also wants clearer transfer information and tighter timelines for moving investments to another financial institution. The fee matters because leaving can already be slow and frustrating. Receiving firms often reimburse the outgoing charge to win the account. That means a fee collected by the institution losing the customer can become part of the acquisition cost for the institution trying to win that customer. Canada's six largest banks hold roughly 93% of banking assets. The Competition Bureau was warning about barriers facing fintech competitors in 2017. Ottawa began reviewing open banking in 2018. A federal advisory committee later recommended an operating system by January 2023 and warned that government should not delay. January 2023 came and went. Real Time Rail also slipped years beyond its first expected ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Regulation And Policy Funds, Collateral And Settlement Lead Canada’s Near Term Tokenization Opportunity On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Securities Administrators published its Project Tokenization Phase 1 findings, setting out where Canadian market participants see the strongest commercial opportunities for tokenization and what regulators plan to test next. The report draws on 233 organizations, 21 bilateral meetings and 80 survey responses, along with workshops attended by 281 people in Calgary and 491 in Toronto. Participants put investment funds, private assets, collateral, treasury and settlement infrastructure ahead of public stocks as the strongest near term opportunities. The report also cuts through one of tokenization’s biggest sales pitches. Blockchain can change how an asset is recorded, transferred or settled, but it doesn't automatically create liquidity, investor demand, broader eligibility or stronger ownership rights. Those outcomes still depend on the product, market, legal structure and infrastructure around it. The CSA now plans to take specific projects into Phase 2 through a 120 day public call for proposals. Firms may be able to use existing regulatory processes, tailored regulatory treatment or bounded testing in a ...
Nov 11, 2026 A positive work environment is key for any team that wants to succeed. Team morale is crucial for productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction. Engaging in activities that lift spirits and strengthen connections can lead to great results. Creating a positive team environment requires creativity, engagement, and some fun. Each activity can strengthen connections, boost motivation, and improve workplace dynamics. When teams focus on strategies to boost morale, they work toward shared success. These activities can lead to lasting memories and help build a stronger team culture. Here are some fun strategies to help improve your team's morale and make the workplace livelier. Fun at the Arcade Visiting an arcade spot is a great way to enjoy time together and build teamwork. Imagine your team facing challenges with various games. Whether it's racing or playing team games, the arcade encourages friendly competition and bonding. These fun experiences can help reduce stress and improve relationships among coworkers. Arcades offer many options to suit diverse interests and skill levels. The lively atmosphere invites everyone to relax and take a break from their daily tasks. Shared laughter and enjoyment can lead to better communication and teamwork when you return to the ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Fundraising, Investing, Trading, Leadership, Competition, Human Capital, Health A Brokerage Race Beyond $0 Commissions On November 10, 2026, Webull Canada added Nasdaq Basic Canada, giving clients free real time Level 1 quote and trade data across Canadian listed equities. The feed provides best bid, best offer and last sale information for stocks listed on the TSX, TSX Venture, CSE and Cboe Canada. Nasdaq says its consolidated feed can reduce Level 1 market data costs by more than 60% compared with traditional Canadian data packages. Webull isn't first to give Canadian investors free real time information. The more interesting story is how quickly another paid feature is becoming part of the basic brokerage account. Wealthsimple helped normalize $0 trading in 2019, Questrade followed in 2025 and Webull dropped its own commissions in April 2026. With the headline trading fee largely gone, brokers now need other reasons for investors to move money and keep it on the platform. Who Led Canada’s Race To $0 Trading And Free Market Data Wealthsimple Trade launched nationally on March 13, 2019 with $0 commissions on Canadian and U.S. stocks and ETFs. Questrade removed commissions on listed stocks and ETFs ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding A Toronto Fintech Riskfuel Analytics Brings AI Pricing Into BBVA’s Global Markets Workflow On November 10, 2026, BBVA deployed Riskfuel Analytics' neural pricing technology inside the pre-trade structuring workflow for autocallable products on its ePricer platform. Riskfuel is a Toronto fintech founded in 2019 that builds AI models for derivatives pricing. BBVA is a global bank with a large corporate and investment banking business. The deployment puts Canadian built AI directly into the calculations used to design complex structured products at a major global bank. Riskfuel's model is trained on BBVA's own pricing engine and uses more than 4,000 market and product inputs. The company says the surrogate was tested against more than 100,000 trades and can evaluate thousands of candidate structures in under a minute. BBVA had already added AI generated investment ideas to ePricer in September. Riskfuel goes further into the workflow by speeding up the numerical pricing work while BBVA's own model remains the reference. How Riskfuel Speeds Up BBVA's Autocallable Pricing Autocallables can depend on volatility, interest rates, dividends, maturity, coupon levels and several barrier conditions. Autocallables are structured investments ...
In the era of globalization and new technology, crowdfunding is becoming an essential tool for fundraising for both charitable and commercial goals.
Main Features of Crowdfunding in 2019
Crowdfunding presents a legal and working model for funds raising. Its success has been proven and reflected in practice. The thing is that very few entrepreneurs have the means to finance their projects at the start. A businessperson may have a profitable idea, but they cannot implement it due to the lack of money. Also, other kinds of expensive projects, such as raising funds for urgent treatment when it is a matter of life or death, can also require such a model. Using crowdfunding, everyone has an opportunity to tell people about their goals, the ways to achieve them, and the required budget.
According to the World Bank report, it is expected that this industry will attract more than $95 billion this year. Through that, the need to finance a promising project and solve a specific problem can be addressed to a broader public. The main advantage here is that everyone can get what they want — a recipient can raise money for their business, and a sponsor can donate the allowable amount to the project upon their will and then use the resultant product or service.
Despite the presence of a direct connection between the one who needs money and those who provide it, crowdfunding usually requires a page on social networks or a website dedicated to the project through which funds are being withdrawn. Also, if you need to write about this topic, you can consider specialized online resources to buy essay papers online.
What Is Crowdfunding?
As we can judge by two words composing this concept, crowdfunding is a method of raising funds to finance a specific project by anyone who wants to do it. With the help of this approach, money can be collected for multi-purpose charity, volunteer projects, political campaigns, social investments, seed capital for business, startups, etc.
To varying degrees, each of us used to participate in such ventures. For instance, you might have taken part in collecting money for a gift to a friend, sprucing up the territory near your place of residence, and so on. These are examples of one-time projects. At the same time, many major crowdfunding platforms are persistent. They are designed to streamline the process of collecting donations because, in this way, a specific idea can be presented to many people interested.
Crowdfunding Models
Donation
The first one is the donation model. It is suitable for raising funds for carrying out socially significant projects. For example, it can be constructing or repairing works of orphanages or retirement homes, provision of medicine and financing the treatment of socially disadvantaged people, and so on. This model provides no compensation — contributors are only thanked for the funds given.
Rewards and Pre-sales
The second option is a reward-based mode providing a non-monetary form of compensation. It may be a printed copy of a literary or scientific work, a CD with a movie or documentary film after releases, a ticket to a theater performance or a show, which was financed by the funds raised. It is based on pre-sales when the collected funds are used to produce a specific product. Before it gets on the market, it is distributed among all those people who were involved in its financing. The amount of financial support determines the sale price. In some cases, a particular discount is also applied, which serves as an additional incentive.
Crowdlending
The fourth form is related to the provision of funds for getting interests or crowdlending fees. Despite many differences, this model is similar to a bank loan.
Crowd-investing
The fifth type is a crowd-investing model, based on participating or getting income formed after the implementation of the funded project or selling a company’s property.
What Projects Are Relevant for Crowdfunding in 2019?
Today, crowdfunding has radically evolved from the practice of attracting limited contributions mainly for charitable purposes to a large industry offering major sponsors and investors to get access to new profit opportunities. Hence, the fourth and fifth models of crowdfunding will be mostly used this year.
Legal Regulation of Crowdfunding Platforms
Many web-based crowdfunding companies have been registered in exotic countries to avoid paying taxes. Today, the time for non-regulated platforms is gone. Contemporary crowdfunding services for collecting charity donations have a few limitations — only bans on fraud and false advertising are applied to them.
However, services based on investment compensations must be regulated by the relevant authorities of the countries in which they operate. For their transactions, customers will unlikely use platforms that are not regulated at all. 2019 will be the year when most platforms will become compatible with a large number of crowdfunding options that exist today. In this way, the European Union has already established rules of general access that help crowdfunding resources overcome the obstacles they face in their activity and provide more opportunities for international investors.
Funds Protection Using Smart Contracts
With a significant number of scams in 2018, like the iBackPack project that collected nearly $800,000 via both Indiegogo and Kickstarter platforms, the adoption of additional security means is vital.
Indeed, people who do not have sufficient knowledge of how this market works risk losing their investments. The studies of many crowdfunding projects have shown the need for using an escrow mechanism for the funds to be released. Also, the use of smart contracts can make funds even more secured. In this case, the profit is distributed automatically among teams of investors upon the project termination.
The implementation of such proven technologies as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and robo-consulting in crowdfunding should provide additional protection for financial resources along with maximum investment efficiency.
Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
This year, we must consider more cryptocurrency projects in crowdfunding. Given the interest of people to virtual currencies over the past few years, crowdfunding has reached new horizons.
Despite some slowdown in ICO growth, token transactions, i.e., shares of crypto projects in the secondary market will provide new opportunities for modern crowdfunding. The launch of Security Token Offerings (STOs) is going to be the next step in the development of open-source technology.
Also, crowdfunding platforms usually charge significant fees. The use of blockchain technology can significantly reduce these payments and make the funding process more transparent.
Investments in Startups
Today, more than 70% of the world's population is considered as potential investors. People are actively seeking investment options, although they have limited resources. Online platforms such as Roobee provide new microfinancing ventures starting at $10, which enables people to participate in Initial Public Offers (IPO), real estate projects, different investment programs, and many startups.
Taking part in the joint financing of startups became more comfortable thanks to equity crowdfunding. While wealthy investors are hesitating to consider small and medium projects in the early stages of their development, a significant number of ordinary individuals can provide substantive support to any startup project.
So, despite the possible risks, crowdfunding presents one of the most promising types of funds raising for both technological and social ventures. This method has already helped millions of innovators present their ideas to the general public. Without a doubt, crowdfunding will continue to thrive in this and the following years.
Source: Guest post
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
Nov 12, 2026 Buying a Canadian money services business starts with identifying what the buyer will acquire: a legal entity, a registration history, contracts, records and possibly an active operation. The value of that package depends on whether it supports the services the new owner intends to provide. A FINTRAC registration entry is an important starting point. It does not establish the company’s financial condition, the quality of its compliance programme or the availability of banking relationships after an acquisition. A payment business may also need a separate assessment under the Retail Payment Activities Act, or RPAA. For investors evaluating a Canadian MSB company for sale, due diligence should connect registration status, actual activities, transaction structure and financial evidence before the parties agree a completion timetable. Verify the Canadian MSB registration and legal entity Begin with the target’s exact legal name, incorporation details, registration number and current status. Match the entity in the corporate documents to the entity in FINTRAC’s Money Services Business Registry. FINTRAC explicitly states that registration does not mean it endorses or licenses a business. It also states that it does not issue licences or certificates of registration. A sales presentation using the phrase “FINTRAC licence” should ...
November 12, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Wealthtech Investing And Trading Strategy still runs a software business, but Bitcoin now dominates its assets and capital raising. MSCI no longer treats that balance as an index eligible operating company. November 11, 2026, MSCI confirmed Strategy’s removal from the MSCI USA and MSCI World indexes after the November 30 close under its new methodology for non operating companies. MSCI is one of the world’s largest index providers, and its benchmarks are followed by funds investing across global equity markets. Japan’s Metaplanet is also being removed from an MSCI index. MSCI has decided that Strategy no longer qualifies for its equity indexes because Bitcoin now dominates its assets and much of its capital raising. Strategy still sells software and reports operating revenue, but MSCI is drawing a line between a business that holds investment assets and one where those assets have become the main financial story. Why Is MSCI Removing Strategy From Its Indexes? MSCI first looked at a rule aimed specifically at digital asset treasury companies. It later dropped that proposal and change it's methodology to cover companies whose finances ...
Nov 12, 2026 Crypto market cap is calculated by multiplying an asset's reference price by its circulating supply. A token priced at $2 with 50 million units circulating has a market cap of $100 million. The calculation estimates the value of that supply at the reference price; it does not total the money investors deposited. To understand a change in the ranking, examine both inputs and the provider's definitions. A larger number can result from price changes, supply changes, or revised reporting. Establish what the two inputs represent The arithmetic is simple, but neither input is self-explanatory. “Price” may be a reference assembled from selected trading pairs and venues, rather than the last transaction on the exchange you use. A provider may exclude observations or convert quote currencies. Two services can publish different estimates because their source selection and methods differ. Circulating supply is an estimate of units treated as available in the market under a provider's rules. It may differ from the number minted, the total recorded by a contract, or the maximum permitted under a protocol's current design. Locked balances, treasury allocations, burns, and scheduled releases require interpretation. A transparent methodology matters because identical arithmetic can still use ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Risk Compliance And Regtech Financial firms are putting AI agents into production well before giving them broad financial authority. That creates time to set identity, permissions and transaction controls before autonomous execution becomes common. On November 11, 2026, Bank of England Financial Policy Committee external member Jonathan Hall used his final FPC speech to examine what happens when AI agents get more authority inside financial firms. A Bank of England and FCA survey of 196 firms found that 80% already deploy AI agents and another 14% plan to within 12 months. Only 2% reported agents with broad autonomy, and none of those were in trading and payments. Finance is adopting agents quickly, but firms are still keeping people and hard limits around the decisions that can change money, positions or customer outcomes. AI Agents Are In Finance But They Are Not Trading Alone The 2026 Bank of England and FCA survey separates four levels of authority: Decision support lets an agent recommend an action while a person decides and executes it. Constrained execution lets the agent act inside preset rules. Conditional autonomy ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Entrepreneurs Startups Small Businesses, Equity Crowdfunding And Alternative Funding A small group of large rounds is carrying Canadian venture totals while deal count and growth stage financing remain well below recent norms. On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association published its Q3 2026 venture capital report. Canadian companies raised $4.3 billion across 397 deals through September, only 1% less capital than a year earlier. But 23 rounds of $50 million or more represented just 6% of disclosed deals and absorbed 58% of all venture capital invested. Deal count has also fallen every year since 2021. The national total is holding up far better than the number of companies getting financed. Six Big Rounds Carried 59% Of Q3 Venture Capital Q3 produced $1.35 billion across 129 deals. Capital was 1% higher than Q2, but deal count fell 15%. Six rounds above $50 million accounted for $793 million, or 59% of the quarter’s capital. That's a decent quarter for the companies that closed those rounds, but a weak quarter for everyone else. Mega rounds above $50 million totalled $2.5 billion across 23 transactions ...
November 11, 2026 | NCFA Story Intelligence | Competition And Market Structure, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Regulation And Policy Canada is cutting bank fees and switching barriers after years of weak competition, high concentration and poor productivity. On November 7, 2026, the federal government proposed something Canadian investors have complained about for years. Banks would no longer be allowed to charge most investment account transfer fees, which typically cost about $150 per account. Ottawa also wants clearer transfer information and tighter timelines for moving investments to another financial institution. The fee matters because leaving can already be slow and frustrating. Receiving firms often reimburse the outgoing charge to win the account. That means a fee collected by the institution losing the customer can become part of the acquisition cost for the institution trying to win that customer. Canada's six largest banks hold roughly 93% of banking assets. The Competition Bureau was warning about barriers facing fintech competitors in 2017. Ottawa began reviewing open banking in 2018. A federal advisory committee later recommended an operating system by January 2023 and warned that government should not delay. January 2023 came and went. Real Time Rail also slipped years beyond its first expected ...
November 10, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Regulation And Policy Funds, Collateral And Settlement Lead Canada’s Near Term Tokenization Opportunity On November 10, 2026, the Canadian Securities Administrators published its Project Tokenization Phase 1 findings, setting out where Canadian market participants see the strongest commercial opportunities for tokenization and what regulators plan to test next. The report draws on 233 organizations, 21 bilateral meetings and 80 survey responses, along with workshops attended by 281 people in Calgary and 491 in Toronto. Participants put investment funds, private assets, collateral, treasury and settlement infrastructure ahead of public stocks as the strongest near term opportunities. The report also cuts through one of tokenization’s biggest sales pitches. Blockchain can change how an asset is recorded, transferred or settled, but it doesn't automatically create liquidity, investor demand, broader eligibility or stronger ownership rights. Those outcomes still depend on the product, market, legal structure and infrastructure around it. The CSA now plans to take specific projects into Phase 2 through a 120 day public call for proposals. Firms may be able to use existing regulatory processes, tailored regulatory treatment or bounded testing in a ...
Nov 11, 2026 A positive work environment is key for any team that wants to succeed. Team morale is crucial for productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction. Engaging in activities that lift spirits and strengthen connections can lead to great results. Creating a positive team environment requires creativity, engagement, and some fun. Each activity can strengthen connections, boost motivation, and improve workplace dynamics. When teams focus on strategies to boost morale, they work toward shared success. These activities can lead to lasting memories and help build a stronger team culture. Here are some fun strategies to help improve your team's morale and make the workplace livelier. Fun at the Arcade Visiting an arcade spot is a great way to enjoy time together and build teamwork. Imagine your team facing challenges with various games. Whether it's racing or playing team games, the arcade encourages friendly competition and bonding. These fun experiences can help reduce stress and improve relationships among coworkers. Arcades offer many options to suit diverse interests and skill levels. The lively atmosphere invites everyone to relax and take a break from their daily tasks. Shared laughter and enjoyment can lead to better communication and teamwork when you return to the ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Fundraising, Investing, Trading, Leadership, Competition, Human Capital, Health A Brokerage Race Beyond $0 Commissions On November 10, 2026, Webull Canada added Nasdaq Basic Canada, giving clients free real time Level 1 quote and trade data across Canadian listed equities. The feed provides best bid, best offer and last sale information for stocks listed on the TSX, TSX Venture, CSE and Cboe Canada. Nasdaq says its consolidated feed can reduce Level 1 market data costs by more than 60% compared with traditional Canadian data packages. Webull isn't first to give Canadian investors free real time information. The more interesting story is how quickly another paid feature is becoming part of the basic brokerage account. Wealthsimple helped normalize $0 trading in 2019, Questrade followed in 2025 and Webull dropped its own commissions in April 2026. With the headline trading fee largely gone, brokers now need other reasons for investors to move money and keep it on the platform. Who Led Canada’s Race To $0 Trading And Free Market Data Wealthsimple Trade launched nationally on March 13, 2019 with $0 commissions on Canadian and U.S. stocks and ETFs. Questrade removed commissions on listed stocks and ETFs ...
November 10, 2026 | Market Activity | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding A Toronto Fintech Riskfuel Analytics Brings AI Pricing Into BBVA’s Global Markets Workflow On November 10, 2026, BBVA deployed Riskfuel Analytics' neural pricing technology inside the pre-trade structuring workflow for autocallable products on its ePricer platform. Riskfuel is a Toronto fintech founded in 2019 that builds AI models for derivatives pricing. BBVA is a global bank with a large corporate and investment banking business. The deployment puts Canadian built AI directly into the calculations used to design complex structured products at a major global bank. Riskfuel's model is trained on BBVA's own pricing engine and uses more than 4,000 market and product inputs. The company says the surrogate was tested against more than 100,000 trades and can evaluate thousands of candidate structures in under a minute. BBVA had already added AI generated investment ideas to ePricer in September. Riskfuel goes further into the workflow by speeding up the numerical pricing work while BBVA's own model remains the reference. How Riskfuel Speeds Up BBVA's Autocallable Pricing Autocallables can depend on volatility, interest rates, dividends, maturity, coupon levels and several barrier conditions. Autocallables are structured investments ...
Ryan Aceman, special to BNN Bloomberg | March 15, 2019
#FFCON19 is set to showcase the importance of being fearless to succeed in Fintech
12 cutting-edge companies will compete in a ground-breaking pitch competition
Key emerging trends from tech and investment realms will be highlighted
Where finance and technology meet, lies one of the most fascinating sectors of the modern world. From its inception, the financial technology (Fintech) space has been built on inventive thinking and unconventional concepts. This crucial intersection has the power to transform global banking, investing, and many other sectors that people and businesses interact with on a daily basis.
"The Canadian Fintech industry is leading the way in revolutionizing financial services and events such as FFCON19 to help create a strong ecosystem that cultivates innovation and growth. Excited to be a part of it!"
From April 3rd–4th in Toronto, Ontario, FFCON2019: Fearless will aim to embody this innovative essence, hosting a variety of influential thought leaders, industry experts, and 750 attendees. The event will function as a comprehensive and daring expo showcasing innovators and disrupters that are having significant impacts within Fintech. Attendees will learn vital content delivered from fearless experts and will explore more about the economic progress, regulations, and insights from the industry.
“This year’s annual conference will feature risk takers that are challenging orthodoxy, and overcoming obstacles to commercialize fintech innovations that unlock value and impact people’s lives”
Further, the NCFA will launch its inaugural Global Fintech Education program at the conference, created for entrepreneurs to explore the foundational aspects of Fintech and learn about the current state of the industry. The program will also cover the key drivers of Fintech success, as well as explore the building blocks and framework of this sector.
“Transforming the financial industry requires going against convention with fresh insights, innovative thinking, and robust frameworks.”
With more than $39 billion invested in the global Fintech realm in 2018 alone, this event is not to be missed. The expenditure in this industry signals the significant potential for Fintech to become a
multi-trillion-dollar market in the near future.
Get your tickets for FFCON 2019 Fearless before they’re gone here: fintechandfunding.com
5th ANNUAL 2019 FINTECH & FINANCING CONFERENCE HOSTED BY NCFA AND PARTNERS
FEARLESS
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APR 3-4 TORONTO
FINTECH 360. BLOCKCHAIN. AI CONFIDENTIAL. FUNDING INNOVATION. ALTERNATIVE FINANCE. GLOBAL EDUCATION. INDUSTRY WORKSHOPS. PITCHING. PRIME NETWORKING. AWARDS
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. 
Shivaun Moeran and her husband Adam Raff founded one of the most promising startups you’ve never heard of. Adam managed Europe’s supercomputers used for weather forecasting and Shivaun managed software products for General Motors. While having a cigarette outside his office one day in 2006, Adam was struck with a brilliant idea. What if you could create an online search platform to find the best price for any product? It would aggregate specific information about category verticals, and nothing like it existed at the time.
Blockchain-backed cryptocurrencies were invented with a similar premise of decentralization and democratization. However, Bitmain, a Chinese bitcoin mining company, is estimated to have 70 to 80% market share in bitcoin miners, earning $2.8 billion in revenue in 2018. It is unclear, more than 10 years since inception, who has benefitted most from blockchain technology as it has yet failed to significantly deliver on its most lofty claims about equitable distribution.
Denise writes, presents, and consults on economics, systems change, and human flourishing. She has presented to over 50,000 people at venues including: The Oxford Union, Bloomberg, a Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee, and group homes for foster children. Things she find fun: investigating complex social and economic problems and co-creating organizational growth strategies with entrepreneurs and founders. She has done this across diverse fields: impact investing, education, the sharing economy, and macroeconomics.
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. 
Canada may be a smaller market but it has a robust, highly sophisticated economy and a vibrant Fintech sector. Toronto, the financial center of the country, is home to dozens of Fintechs including payment firms, online lending, AI, wealth management, blockchain and more. Yet while there are promising indications of financial innovation and a good number risk-taking Fintech entrepreneurs, a recent Canadian report noted a “need for a clear Fintech strategy by the federal and provincial governments with the intent of supporting innovation and growth for the Canadian financial services sector.”
In the era of globalization and new technology, crowdfunding is becoming an essential tool for fundraising for both charitable and commercial goals.
