Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Marketing, Strategy, Growth, Design
CIX Trading Launches Canada’s First New Equity ATS in Over a Decade
September 21, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Competition And Market Structure, Wealth Investing And Trading
CIX Trading Brings Calibrated Matching, Fractional Shares And Longer Hours
On September 21, 2026, CIX Trading launched its Canadian equity marketplace with approximately 25 actively traded securities. CIX expects about 100 securities to be available September 23 and full production symbol coverage September 28. It is the first new Canadian alternative trading system to launch in more than a decade and gives brokers another execution venue inside a market already offering substantial routing choice. CIX Trading is unrelated to CIX Summit, the Canadian startup awards and investment conference acquired by Elevate in 2023.
CIX competes for broker order flow rather than company listings. Its proposition combines symbol specific matching technology with three separate order books, followed by planned native fractional trading and longer trading hours later in 2026. CIX describes those later capabilities as part of an effort to close an innovation gap between Canadian and U.S. equity markets. Their commercial value will depend on whether brokers see better execution, useful access or both.
CIX Calibrates When Each Stock Matches
CIX uses IntelligentCross technology developed by Imperative Execution. Instead of matching every eligible order immediately, its books process trades at short intervals calibrated by security. ASPEN and ASPEN VERT use intervals measured in microseconds. MIDPOINT operates on millisecond intervals. The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization describes all three as near continuous markets.
The three books serve different execution needs. Orders resting in one CIX book don't interact with orders in another.
- ASPEN combines displayed and undisplayed liquidity with maker taker pricing.
- ASPEN VERT uses inverted taker maker pricing.
- MIDPOINT is a dark book where eligible orders interact at the midpoint of the national best bid and offer.
CIX's most distinct feature is the calibration of those matching intervals. The company says its system adjusts timing by security to support larger displayed size, tighter spreads or lower price impact after a trade, depending on the book. CIRO's marketplace descriptions confirm those intended designs. Canadian trading data will show how consistently CIX delivers them.
Delayed matching already exists in Canada. Tradelogiq's Lynx also groups orders into frequent matching events, using randomized collection periods followed by matches every three to five milliseconds. CIX calibrates timing for individual securities and applies different timing models across its lit and dark books. Its differentiation comes from using that adaptive matching approach across three execution models within one ATS.
CIX Brings Market Infrastructure Innovation
CIX is a financial technology company whose product operates in the background. It changes how Canadian equity orders can be matched, priced, routed and eventually traded outside conventional hours. That places CIX directly within alternative trading systems in the Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure taxonomy, where technology changes the mechanics supporting brokerage and securities trading.
Only registered Canadian broker dealers can subscribe directly to CIX, and they must remain in good standing with CIRO. Institutional trading desks, retail brokers, market makers and other investors reach the marketplace through those dealers. Institutional users may focus on market impact, fill quality and liquidity economics. Retail investors may encounter CIX indirectly through brokers offering fractional investing or access outside regular market hours.
CIX also connects to infrastructure brokers already use. Trades clear through CDS, while the TMX Information Processor integrates CIX data into Canada's consolidated quote, depth and last sale products. Instinet Canada has completed connectivity through its technology infrastructure and Newport execution management system. Iress completed platform certification in July ahead of a planned production integration. Those connections let brokers evaluate CIX through established trading and data workflows.
See: Canada Delays Access Fee And Tick Size Changes
Access fees, rebates, tick sizes, available liquidity and fill probability all influence where brokers send orders. Canada's June delay to planned access fee and tick size amendments leaves that part of the competitive environment unchanged as CIX begins trading.
Canada Has Seen A New Market Entrant Before
Aequitas NEO provides the closest recent Canadian history, although its structure differs from CIX. The Ontario Securities Commission recognized NEO as an exchange effective March 1, 2015. NEO entered with its own market structure model and later developed trading, listings and market data businesses. Cboe agreed to acquire NEO in 2021 with the deal closing the following year, and its trading books now operate within Cboe Canada.
CIX enters as an ATS rather than an exchange. It doesn't need issuers to switch listing venues. Brokers can add CIX to their routing choices and use a particular book when its execution model fits an order. That makes execution quality, pricing and available liquidity central to whether CIX earns repeat use.
Fractional Shares And Longer Hours Target Q4
The launch version of CIX doesn't include every feature associated with the platform. ASPEN and ASPEN VERT currently trade from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, while MIDPOINT operates during regular Canadian market hours. Fractional trading and extended hours are targeted for Q4 2026, subject to operational readiness.
Fractional trading is planned for ASPEN VERT. Native fractional support can let brokers execute dollar based investment orders without limiting customers to whole shares. ASPEN and ASPEN VERT are also expected to extend trading from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, giving participating brokers more time to handle Canadian equity orders around earnings releases, economic announcements and activity in other markets.
The matching engine and the Q4 features address different needs. Calibrated matching targets execution quality. Fractional shares and longer hours expand access. Combining both gives CIX more than one route to broker adoption, although neither Q4 feature is part of today's commercial launch.
CIX has also submitted a 23 hour trading proposal to the Ontario Securities Commission. The proposal includes an earlier 4:00 a.m. opening before a later phase running from Sunday evening through Friday evening with a daily operational pause. The schedule remains proposed functionality and would require regulatory approval and industry readiness.
Trading Data Will Show Whether CIX Fills A Real Niche
CIX first needs to complete its symbol rollout and attract brokers to its three trading books. Once full coverage begins September 28, there will be a much larger group of Canadian stocks available to compare with established venues.
Are brokers sending meaningful volume to CIX? Are orders getting filled at competitive prices and sizes? Does MIDPOINT reduce the price impact of larger trades? Do brokers keep using ASPEN and ASPEN VERT after the initial launch period? Those results will say much more about CIX's place in the market than the number of firms technically connected to it.
Fractional shares and longer trading hours give CIX another way to prove their value later in 2026. Broker adoption will validate whether there's real demand for those features in Canadian equities, while activity outside regular hours will show whether enough buyers and sellers are available to make longer sessions useful. CIX doesn't have to become one of Canada's largest trading venues. A consistent advantage for certain stocks or types of orders could be enough to give it a useful place in Canadian capital markets.
Talking Point
Where will CIX produce enough execution or access advantage to change how Canadian brokers route equity orders?
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Valour Launches AI Crypto Hedge Fund Beyond 100+ ETPs
September 21, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Blockchain, Crypto, Digital Assets, Tokens, CBDCs, Stablecoins, Metaverse, NFTs, Fintech AI/ML, Data-driven, Automation, Generative AI, Fundraising, Investing, Trading, Innovation and Resources
Smart Crypto Fund Expands Valour Beyond Exchange Traded Products
On September 21, 2026, DeFi Technologies subsidiary Valour launched Valour Funds SPC, adding actively managed digital asset funds to its exchange traded product business. Its first fund, Smart Crypto Fund SP, uses an investment strategy developed and managed by Swiss portfolio manager Neuronomics AG.
Valour already lists 101 digital asset ETPs across eight exchanges, building on products such as its yield bearing Bitcoin ETP. Its range includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, other crypto assets, baskets, staking strategies and leveraged products. Smart Crypto Fund adds active portfolio management, giving Neuronomics discretion to change holdings, position sizes and total market exposure as market conditions change.
The fund is aimed at professional and qualified investors. Smart Crypto Fund is the first segregated portfolio of Valour Funds SPC, a Cayman Islands company registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. DeFi Technologies is based in Toronto, but Smart Crypto Fund isn't a Canadian fund and Valour hasn't announced Canadian distribution or retail availability.
Several details investors would normally use to compare funds remain undisclosed, including the minimum investment, management or performance fees, subscription and redemption terms, base currency and capital raised.
Neuronomics AI Sets Crypto Allocation and Risk
Neuronomics says its models analyze price, volume and other market data across short and medium periods. They estimate expected returns and risk, then guide asset selection and position sizes. The fund can reduce market exposure when the models find fewer attractive opportunities or higher risk, so it doesn't have to remain fully invested in crypto. Valour says the strategy also uses risk budgets, limits on individual assets and concentration controls, while execution algorithms consider liquidity and expected trading costs.
Michael Kometer, Founder Neuronomics on how the system influences the portfolio:
“Guides what we hold, how much risk we take and when we reduce exposure.”
Neuronomics is a FINMA authorized Swiss portfolio manager with an existing corporate relationship to DeFi Technologies. DeFi acquired control of the company in 2025, although its ownership later fell to 44.68%. DeFi now accounts for Neuronomics as an associate rather than a controlled subsidiary. Smart Crypto Fund launches without a published live performance record, so the AI strategy will ultimately be judged on its results after fees and risk.
Valour Enters Active Crypto Asset Management
Valour enters active management with an established distribution business. During the second quarter of 2026, its ETP operation reported average assets under management of US$471.5 million and US$22.8 million in net inflows. Management fees plus staking and lending income generated US$3.0 million for the quarter.
Smart Crypto Fund lets Valour sell portfolio decisions as well as market access. Its ETPs package digital asset exposure into securities traded on exchanges, while the new fund gives professional investors an actively managed portfolio. Valour hasn't disclosed the fund's fees, so its economics can't yet be compared with the ETP business.
See: DeFi Technologies Begins Nasdaq Trading in Global Expansion
Galaxy Asset Management runs active and passive digital asset strategies and reported US$4.4 billion in asset management AUM at June 30. CoinShares offers quantitative market neutral and directional strategies, while Bitwise manages ETFs, private funds and a crypto carry fund for qualified purchasers. Smart Crypto Fund will compete for professional capital against managers with longer active fund records.
The launch also connects businesses already inside DeFi Technologies. Valour supplies digital asset products and distribution, Neuronomics manages the portfolio, Stillman Digital provides institutional trading and liquidity services, and DeFi Alpha trades for the parent company's own account. Smart Crypto Fund brings outside investor capital into that group of businesses.
Talking Point
Valour built its ETP business by packaging digital assets for exchange investors. Smart Crypto Fund now asks professional investors to pay for active portfolio decisions. Will its live results show that the AI strategy adds enough value after fees and risk to justify active management?
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Mastercard, Flybits Complete AI Purchase With Rogers Bank
September 21, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Banking And Credit Infrastructure, Risk Compliance And Regtech
Flybits AI Agent Buys With Rogers Card Using Agent Pay
On September 21, 2026, Mastercard Canada, Toronto based Flybits and Rogers Bank announced a Mastercard Agent Pay purchase completed by an AI shopping assistant using a Rogers Red Mastercard. Mastercard describes it as Canada's first successful deployment connecting an AI commerce platform, card issuer and payment network.
The customer gave the Flybits powered assistant instructions and a spending limit. The agent found an eligible product within those conditions and completed the purchase using Mastercard Agent Pay. Flybits supplied the AI shopping experience and explainability around the selection, Rogers Bank supplied the card relationship, and Mastercard handled the payment through its network.
The AI went beyond recommending a product. It entered the payment process after the customer had already set the buying instructions and budget. Mastercard says the purchase was completed, although they didn't mention the merchant, transaction amount, exact payment credential or settlement details.
It's a Rogers Bank service that is still being tested and is not yet available to customers. Having said that, the companies describe a successful deployment and say further phases are planned. One completed transaction shows the workflow can function with a real issuer and payment network, but not yet if it can handle thousands of customers and merchants at scale including handling disputes.
Mastercard Agent Pay Limits What the AI Can Spend
Card networks already know how to authorize card payments. Agentic commerce adds a new control problem because the issuer and merchant need to know that the software had permission to make the purchase and stayed within the customer's instructions. Mastercard says the consumer's instructions were validated in this transaction and the agent operated within a predefined spending limit.
The agent wasn't given an open right to spend against the card. Mastercard hasn't disclosed whether the customer approved the exact product again before checkout, how long the authority remained active, whether permission could be revoked after the instruction was issued or how much detail the customer could inspect before payment. Those details become important once consumers allow software to make more of the buying decision for them.
Mastercard Agent Pay is built to keep the consumer, software agent and payment credential identifiable inside the transaction. That can give issuers and merchants a record of which customer granted authority, which agent acted and whether the payment stayed within the customer's conditions. Once software starts buying instead of only recommending, those records become part of the payment control.
See: AI Agents Gain Identity and Wallet Access WCGW
Flybits handled the AI shopping experience. Its software interpreted the customer's request, selected a product and provided an explanation for that choice. If the purchase is disputed later, the bank may need to see what the customer asked for, why the agent chose that item and whether it stayed within the approved budget.
Mastercard also offers Agent Connect to link AI agents with merchants and payment providers. The Rogers Bank and Flybits transaction goes a step further by showing an AI agent using a Canadian issued card to complete a purchase.
Flybits also plans to use Mastercard Insight Tokens in later phases. These are designed to let an AI agent use approved customer information without giving it unrestricted access to raw data. They were not part of the September 21 transaction.
Rogers Purchase Prioritizes AI Payment Liability
Existing card protections still apply to the payment underneath the AI experience. Rogers Bank and Mastercard continue to operate within fraud, dispute and network rules.
What happens when a customer genuinely authorizes software to spend but later argues that the agent misunderstood the request, chose the wrong product or bought something outside what the customer intended.
A customer might tell an agent to buy an eligible product for less than C$100 and receive a C$95 item that fits the budget but misses an important preference. The card credential may have been used legitimately and the amount may stay inside the approved ceiling, yet the customer can still dispute what the software decided to buy. That is very different from resolving a stolen card number or account takeover.
Today's announcement doesn't establish new liability rules for that situation. It also doesn't explain how responsibility would be divided among the consumer, Flybits, Rogers Bank, Mastercard and the merchant if valid payment credentials were used but the agent acted outside the customer's intended instructions. Earlier NCFA analysis of AI payment consent reached the same operating issue from the regulatory side: delegated software needs clear limits around what the user has actually authorized.
That makes transaction records commercially important. An issuer may need evidence showing who authenticated the request, which agent acted, what instructions were active, what spending ceiling applied and what the software ultimately purchased. Merchants need similar visibility to separate legitimate shopping agents from fraud bots and automated abuse. Mastercard Canada's Craig Reiff summarized the commercial constraint directly when he said “trust will determine how quickly these experiences scale.”
See: Nuvei and Visa Complete Agent Payment
Mastercard isn't working on this problem alone. Visa is developing agent payment controls, while Stripe and Google are building infrastructure that lets software agents transact within defined permissions. Canada already has another live reference point. In July, Nuvei completed a Visa agentic commerce proof of concept using a tokenized Visa credential and live payment rails, with planned controls including Know Your Agent checks and agent risk scoring. That transaction involved a merchant AI agent, so it isn't the same consumer shopping use case as today's Rogers Bank purchase.
For Canadian banks and fintechs, the Rogers transaction brings agent authority into an operating card flow. A regulated issuer has now participated in a purchase where software interpreted customer instructions, selected a product and proceeded to payment within a spending ceiling. That gives banks something concrete to assess across fraud controls, audit records, customer consent and dispute handling.
Mastercard's August survey found that 41% of 2,000 Canadian adults were open to using AI assistants for online shopping. Among respondents who already felt positively about AI shopping assistants, 53% were open to AI assisted purchasing within preset preferences and budgets. That second figure applies to the favourable subgroup rather than all Canadians, and the research was commissioned by Mastercard.
Talking Point
The Rogers Bank transaction shows that an AI agent can select a product and complete a card purchase inside a customer defined spending limit. However, when an agent buys something the customer didn't expect, can the payment record prove what the customer actually authorized and who is responsible for the decision?
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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SEC Grants 5 Year Exemption for Tokenized Stocks
September 18, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Blockchain, Crypto, Digital Assets, Tokens, CBDCs, Stablecoins, Metaverse, NFTs, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Regulation And Policy, Trading And Market Structure
Real U.S. Shares Can Trade Onchain Under Strict Limits
On September 17, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission granted a tokenized stock exemption for five years, allowing eligible tokenized U.S. listed stocks to trade through a new category of Tokenized Securities Venue, such as permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools without registering as national securities exchanges, provided they meet the SEC's conditions. Certain firms supplying their own capital to those pools also receive limited relief from the Exchange Act definition of dealer.
The exemption applies to tokenized National Market System (NMS) stocks that carry the same rights and privileges as the conventional shares they represent, including dividends and voting rights. A token that only follows a company's share price does not qualify, and synthetic products that provide price exposure without the same shareholder rights are excluded.
See: BGC Launches Compute Infrastructure Markets
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the exemption is intended to help “bring America's capital markets into the digital age,” while the agency considers whether permanent rules are needed for onchain securities trading.
The relief doesn't remove existing securities law protections. Anti fraud and anti manipulation rules still apply, and tokenized trading remains connected to the underlying listed market. Investors may use different trading and settlement technology, but the security itself remains the same legal share.
The SEC Is Limiting How Far the Test Can Go
The SEC has placed firm limits on how large tokenized trading can become during the five year test.
- Tier 1 venues can offer up to 75 stocks, with trading limited to 0.25% of each stock's prior month average daily share volume
- Tier 2 expands that to 250 stocks, with tokenized trading capped at 2.5% of each stock’s normal daily trading volume
For example, if a stock normally trades 10 million shares a day, those limits would equal about 25,000 shares under Tier 1 and 250,000 under Tier 2. Repeated breaches can force a tokenized stock off the venue for three months, while trading must stop whenever the underlying listed stock is halted or suspended.
The technology also has to remain visible to regulators. Smart contracts must be publicly auditable and deployed on a public permissionless distributed ledger, even though access to the trading pool itself remains permissioned. If an unaffiliated third party wants to tokenize a company's shares, the issuer must receive at least 30 days notice before trading begins and can object to the stock being offered on the venue.
The SEC is also working on the ownership and recordkeeping side of digital securities. On September 1, it proposed updated transfer agent rules that address blockchain based records and uncertificated securities. Trading therefore forms only one part of the regulatory work. Transfer records, shareholder ownership and settlement still have to remain accurate when securities move onto distributed ledger infrastructure.
The tokenized stock market is still small compared with conventional U.S. equities. Reuters Breakingviews estimated the market at roughly US$3 billion in value and less than US$30 billion in monthly trading volume earlier this week.
The SEC says tokenization may support longer trading hours, faster settlement, fractional ownership and self custody, but those benefits still have to be demonstrated in practice. On the same day it issued the exemption, the agency also held a roundtable on 24 hour equities trading covering settlement, liquidity, cyber resilience, staffing and market data. Traditional exchanges are extending trading hours while tokenized venues are testing different trading and settlement infrastructure around the same underlying securities.
Canada Is Testing Tokenization From a Different Direction
Canada is already testing tokenized capital markets through a different mix of projects. The Canadian Securities Administrators say more than 240 organizations have participated in Project Tokenization, including issuers, fintechs, custodians, marketplaces and clearing agencies. The work is examining practical use cases, regulatory barriers and whether temporary exemptions may be needed for live testing.
Canada is also testing tokenized debt and settlement through Project Samara. RBC, TD Securities, the Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada tested a C$100 million tokenized EDC bond, secondary trading, coupon payments, redemption and settlement using wholesale central bank deposits. The U.S. is now testing tokenized secondary trading in listed equities, while Canada is testing bonds, settlement and other parts of market infrastructure.
See: Canada Tests Tokenization Across Capital Markets
For Canadian exchanges, dealers and fintechs, the SEC exemption provides a live example of how tokenized trading can be introduced without removing issuer rights or existing market controls. The five year test will generate evidence on liquidity, settlement, custody, investor demand and operating risk that Canadian regulators and market participants can compare with results from domestic projects.
The competitive risk for Canada is less about an immediate loss of stock trading volume and more about where tokenized market infrastructure develops first (not to mention retail attention, capital & talent and issuer & exchange competition). The U.S. now gives firms a five year window to build venues, liquidity, custody and investor products around real listed shares. If that attracts developers, capital and users, Canadian exchanges and fintechs could end up adopting models proven elsewhere rather than building them first at home.
Talking Point
If tokenized shares can keep the same shareholder rights while using different trading, custody and settlement infrastructure, which parts of today's capital markets stack will still earn their place in the future?
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Scotiabank Joins US$22B AI Chip Financing
September 18, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Banking And Financial Institutions
Ten Banks Finance Google TPUs and Customer Contracts
On September 16, 2026, a group of ten banks including Scotiabank agreed to provide a US$22 billion AI infrastructure loan to Crux AI, a new U.S. based cloud venture backed by Blackstone and Alphabet. Goldman Sachs, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Barclays and BNP Paribas are also among the lenders, according to Reuters. The US$22 billion applies to the full lending group rather than Scotiabank individually. Scotiabank's own commitment and economics haven't been disclosed, and the bank didn't comment publicly on the transaction.
The financing will fund purchases of Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) specialized processors used to train and run AI models. The debt is backed by the processors and Crux AI customer contracts, giving lenders support from both the hardware and revenue tied to demand for its computing capacity. Both can change quickly as newer processors enter the market and customers reassess how much compute they need.
See: BGC Launches Compute Infrastructure Markets
The lenders are also working to bring additional banks into the loan through syndication, which would spread the exposure across a larger group. Several banks are reportedly providing a separate US$1 billion revolving credit facility, while the main debt could later be refinanced through the investment grade bond market. That would allow more of the financing to move from bank balance sheets to institutional investors.
AI Chips Are Becoming Financeable Infrastructure
Crux AI combines large amounts of equity, debt and specialized hardware in one infrastructure business. When Blackstone and Google announced the venture in May, Blackstone committed an initial US$5 billion in equity. Google is supplying TPUs, software and services, while Crux expects to bring its first 500 MW of capacity online in 2027. Customers will be able to buy data centre capacity, networking, operations and access to Google TPUs without building the facilities or buying large quantities of processors themselves.
The US$22 billion loan shows that banks are willing to finance AI processors against both the equipment and contracted demand for the computing capacity they provide. Expensive chips can therefore support large infrastructure loans when lenders are comfortable with the hardware, customer contracts and expected demand. In June, BGC launched compute infrastructure markets for trading, price discovery and risk management around compute and memory capacity. The Crux deal adds bank credit to a market that is already developing ways to trade and price computing capacity.
The Collateral Comes With Technology Risk
Traditional infrastructure lenders can estimate the useful life and resale value of assets such as buildings, power equipment or transportation fleets. AI processors are harder to value over long periods because a chip can remain technically useful while losing economic value quickly when a newer generation delivers more computing power at a lower operating cost. Customer contracts can reduce that risk because lenders aren't relying on hardware value alone, but those contracts still depend on customer quality, pricing, duration and continued demand for the underlying compute.
See: Goldman Sachs Buys Québec AI Compute Platform QScale
Bringing more banks into the facility spreads the exposure across a larger lending group. If some of the debt is later refinanced in the investment grade bond market, pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors could also gain exposure to AI infrastructure. That would widen the pool of capital available for new data centres and processors while spreading technology and credit risk across more investors.
Scotiabank's participation puts a Canadian bank inside one of the largest reported financings built around AI compute. It does show that global banks are prepared to finance AI hardware and contracted compute demand at a scale once associated with traditional infrastructure projects.
Talking Point
If AI processors and compute contracts can support tens of billions of dollars in bank debt, what happens to that financing model when a new generation of chips changes the value and economics of the collateral before the loans mature?
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Canada, Germany Back LawZero With Up to C$300M for Sovereign AI
September 18, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy, Risk Compliance And Regtech
Canada Invests C$150M in AI Research, Talent and Compute
On September 16, 2026, Canada and Germany announced plans to fund Montréal based LawZero sovereign AI, with Canada committing C$150 million and Germany planning €100 million. Canada's funding comes from the Strategic Response Fund, while Germany's contribution remains subject to notification by the European Commission.
LawZero is a not for profit AI research organization founded in 2025 by Yoshua Bengio after incubation at Mila. The new funding supports research and engineering talent, computing capacity and its Scientist AI program, with an expected 360 full time jobs in Canada. LawZero also plans dedicated Canadian computing infrastructure with Hypertec and 5C, giving its researchers domestic capacity for model development and data processing.
See: Canada AI Strategy Confronts Capital Flight
Scientist AI is designed differently from autonomous AI agents that pursue goals and take actions. LawZero is developing a system that evaluates evidence and produces probabilistic predictions without pursuing objectives of its own. Researchers also want to use it to assess the behaviour of other AI systems and support scientific research. The technology remains under development, and LawZero hasn't announced a commercial product or customer base.
The LawZero funding follows months of Canada Germany AI cooperation. In February, the two countries launched the Sovereign Technology Alliance and identified LawZero as a possible area for joint work. Canada and Germany continued those discussions through the summer as they negotiated a wider strategic partnership covering AI, technology and investment. The first formal meeting of the alliance's co chairs took place in Montréal on September 17, one day after the LawZero funding announcement.
Canada Adds Compute, Models and Safety Research
Sovereign AI is about keeping more control over the technology a country depends on, including where models run, where data is processed and who owns the underlying systems and intellectual property. The aim is to make sure Canadian companies and governments have secure AI options that aren't controlled entirely by foreign providers.
Canada's AI for All strategy already commits federal support to sovereign compute, domestic cloud infrastructure, Canadian AI companies and government procurement. Ottawa is also planning a public AI supercomputer, another C$700 million Compute Access Fund and a C$500 million Canadian Tech Growth Fund while targeting an increase in business AI adoption from just over 12% to 60% by 2034.
Other announcements this week show different parts of that build taking form. Bell and Saskatchewan announced plans on September 14 for up to 1.2 GW of AI capacity and as much as C$52.5 billion in total capital investment, with Canadian ownership and data sovereignty built into the provincial agreement. Bell addresses compute and physical infrastructure, while LawZero directs capital toward models, research and AI safety.
On September 16, Cohere and Aleph Alpha finalized a deal to create an enterprise AI business based in Canada and Germany. Schwarz Group is investing €500 million and provides European cloud infrastructure through StackIT. Cohere also announced an OpenText partnership for privately deployable agentic AI aimed at governments and regulated industries.
Canada is funding more of the AI system itself, from compute capacity to model development and safety research. Bell is building infrastructure, Cohere is expanding enterprise AI with European partners, and LawZero is adding publicly funded research and domestic compute. Canada still relies on foreign chips, cloud technology and global capital, but more of the core capability is being built and financed at home.
For regulated industries, the value of this investment is less about LawZero producing a banking product and more about having more choice over where AI systems are developed, tested and run. Banks, insurers and fintechs still have to judge AI on performance, security, auditability, cost and liability, while Ottawa is also developing its approach to AI transparency and agent governance. Canadian and allied infrastructure can give regulated firms more options for handling sensitive data and deploying models under their own controls.
Talking Point
Canada doesn't need to reproduce the entire global AI supply chain to gain more control over critical technology. Public funding can help build domestic capacity, but the return depends on whether that capacity develops into technology, companies and expertise that remain anchored in Canada.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Canada Welcomes EU Associate Member Proposal
September 17, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Public Sector Policy And Industrial Strategy, Cross Border Payments And FX, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Competition And Market Structure
Financial Services, Technology and Trade Could Deepen Canada EU Ties
On September 17, 2026, Canada welcomes deeper EU ties after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposes opening the door for Canada to become the European Union's first "associate member." The phrase has no defined status in EU treaties today, and neither side has set out the legal structure, rights or obligations that would come with it. Prime Minister Mark Carney says the substance of the relationship will matter more than its name and that any final agreement will face debate and a vote in Canada's Parliament.
The proposal comes as Canada U.S. trade tensions rise again. President Donald Trump separately directs U.S. officials to identify Canadian goods that could be excluded from federal government purchasing, then later threatens tariffs against Europe if he decides the proposed Canada EU relationship is hostile to U.S. interests. The procurement order comes first, and a White House official reportedly says it isn't retaliation for von der Leyen's proposal, so the two developments shouldn't be treated as cause and effect.
Canada and Europe Put a Deeper Economic Relationship on the Table
On September 16, von der Leyen delivered a State of the Union address proposing to move beyond the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Canada has with the EU toward what she calls an "Alliance for the Future." She identified advanced manufacturing, defence production, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, quantum, cyber security and economic security as areas for closer cooperation. She also said she wants to work with Canada on becoming the EU's first associate member.
Associate membership remains a proposal rather than an established EU status. EU treaties allow association agreements with non member countries, but they don't create a category called associate member with a standard package of rights and obligations. Canada and the EU therefore have to decide what market access, program participation, regulatory cooperation, mobility and institutional arrangements they actually want before the term has practical meaning.
Carney isn't presenting the idea as Canada joining the European Union. Nothing announced so far requires Canada to adopt the euro, join Schengen, accept automatic free movement, transfer taxation authority to Brussels or become subject to all EU law. Canadian political debate is already testing those boundaries, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre supporting closer trade and defence cooperation while raising concerns about taxation, EU law and immigration rules. Carney says the final arrangement will preserve Canadian sovereignty.
Canada and Europe already have much of the institutional infrastructure needed to negotiate something deeper. CETA has applied provisionally since 2017, the two sides operate a Strategic Partnership, Canada participates in the EU's SAFE defence financing initiative as its first non European member, and governments are working on digital trade, critical minerals, energy, research and advanced technology. The proposal builds on existing agreements and institutions that already connect the two markets.
Global Affairs Canada puts combined Canada EU goods and services trade at C$178.6 billion in 2025. EU foreign direct investment stock in Canada reaches an estimated C$194 billion in 2024, while Canadian direct investment in the EU reaches C$297 billion. European companies employ about 447,000 people in Canada and Canadian companies employ roughly 275,000 people across EU member states.
Canada still depends heavily on the United States. The U.S. receives 71.7% of Canadian merchandise exports in 2025, so even a much larger European relationship won't reproduce the geography, supply chains and customer concentration that connect Canada and the American economy. Deeper European ties can still give Canadian companies more customers, capital sources, technology partners and procurement options outside a single dominant market.
See: Can Canadian Fintechs Diversify Beyond The U.S. Faster?
The next major negotiating checkpoint is the Canada EU Summit in Montreal on October 29 and 30. Canada and the EU still need to define the proposed relationship, determine which existing agreements can be expanded and identify areas that require new legal authority. EU member states will have a role in approving whatever structure emerges, while Carney says Canada's final arrangement will come before Parliament.
U.S. Procurement Pressure Adds New Risk for Canadian Firms
The U.S. procurement action began on September 16, before Trump commented publicly on the European proposal. His procurement memorandum tells U.S. officials to identify Canadian goods that can legally be excluded from federal civilian purchasing. The White House says the action responds to Canada's Buy Canadian policies and some provincial procurement rules, which it argues restrict U.S. suppliers while Canadian companies still have access to U.S. federal contracts. The order applies to goods rather than services and doesn't immediately ban all Canadian products from U.S. government purchasing.
The White House says Canadian suppliers currently have access to more than US$280 billion a year in U.S. federal procurement covered by the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will monitor how Canada treats U.S. goods and can recommend further action. It can also identify conditions under which access for Canadian products could be restored.
Trump commented on the Canada EU proposal later. He called possible associate membership "laughable" and said he could regard it as a hostile act depending on its purpose. He also threatened serious tariffs or reduced trade with Europe if he concludes the initiative targets U.S. interests. Those measures haven't been imposed, and a White House official reportedly says the procurement order wasn't issued in response to von der Leyen's proposal.
Carney says Canada will choose its own international relationships and argues that closer ties with Europe can make Canada a stronger and more resilient partner to the United States. His economic argument is that diversification can reduce another country's leverage even when Canada remains heavily dependent on that market.
Canadian companies don't need to replace every U.S. dollar with European revenue before diversification starts helping. More customers, capital sources, suppliers and financial relationships can give businesses more options when tariffs, procurement restrictions or other policy changes affect one market. The United States will still remain Canada's largest commercial partner by a wide margin.
Fintech and software companies may have more flexibility than industries tied to physical North American supply chains, but expanding into Europe still costs money. Firms may need new licences, privacy controls, banking relationships, payment connections and customer acquisition spending. A deeper Canada EU agreement becomes an advantage to businesses when it lowers some of those barriers.
Financial Services Could Be One of the Biggest Opportunities
Carney proposes that Canada and Europe explore an "integrated market for financial services" that expands consumer choice, lowers costs and improves access to capital while maintaining financial resilience. He also calls for deeper cooperation in payments, digital trade, sovereign compute, secure broadband, AI safety protocols, common AI standards and transparency. These proposals are more relevant to Canadian fintech than the associate member label itself because they identify areas where regulatory and infrastructure changes could directly affect how companies operate.
Canada and the EU already have a base for that work. CETA includes a financial services chapter, and the two sides operate a Financial Services Committee covering banking, capital markets and regulatory policy. Negotiators can use those institutions to examine where different rules create avoidable duplication and where regulators are comfortable recognizing comparable requirements.
Can a firm serve customers in both markets without rebuilding its entire compliance stack?
Can payment providers connect more easily across systems?
Can investment products and capital reach both markets with fewer restrictions?
Can regulators recognize comparable standards for identity, financial data, operational controls or professional qualifications while preserving domestic oversight?
Banking licences, securities regulation, insurance supervision, privacy, anti money laundering requirements, consumer protection and prudential rules remain jurisdiction specific. An integrated market only becomes valuable if negotiators identify concrete areas where recognition or common standards reduce duplication without creating new compliance layers elsewhere.
Canada is also opening more of its domestic financial infrastructure. Consumer driven banking and wider payments participation create new access points for fintechs, while Open Banking in Canada is developing around financial data, identity, payments and competition. Better compatibility with European systems could help Canadian firms scale across both markets if negotiations eventually reach data access, digital identity, payment infrastructure or regulatory recognition.
Carney also wants Canada and Europe to develop common artificial intelligence standards, AI safety protocols and stronger transparency while pooling sovereign compute capacity and improving secure digital infrastructure. Canada is already developing its approach to AI transparency and agent governance, while Europe has a more developed regulatory regime. Greater compatibility could lower market entry costs for Canadian financial technology companies, although different Canadian, European and U.S. requirements could also increase compliance work for firms operating across all three markets.
Payments deserve close attention because Carney names them directly alongside digital trade and financial services. Governments haven't proposed specific changes to settlement, payment access, digital identity or cross border financial data, so those outcomes can't be assumed. If negotiations eventually reach those areas, the details will determine whether Canadian fintechs gain easier access to European customers or face another set of regulatory requirements.
The October summit should provide the first indication of how much of this agenda governments are prepared to put into formal negotiations. Canadian firms should watch for specific commitments on financial services, digital trade, payments, AI standards, mobility and market access, while companies exposed to U.S. procurement also need to follow implementation of the September 16 memorandum.
Talking Point
Canada already has extensive trade and investment ties with Europe, but financial services integration could take the relationship into areas where domestic regulation has traditionally limited cross border scale. If Canada and the EU can reduce duplicated rules across payments, capital, financial data and technology while preserving domestic oversight, how much more practical would Europe become as a second large market for Canadian fintechs?
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