2022 was a challenging year for venture-back companies but there were many silver linings for investment crowdfunding. Last week, Crowdfund Capital Advisors released their 
Revolut has rolled out its new crypto feature to 25 million customers, via its financial super app to provide more frictionless crypto trading experiences
After a substantial lift in crypto, it begs the question, was that the bottom? 
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Online Funding / Investing Portals
Kraken (Payward Inc.) in Advanced Stages of SEC Unregistered Securities Probe
BNN Bloomberg | | Feb 8, 2023
Image: Freepik/wirestock
Kraken (legal name Payward Inc.), one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is embroiled in a probe by a top US financial regulator over whether it broke securities rules related to certain offerings to American clients
- The Securities and Exchange Commission probe into whether Kraken offered unregistered securities is at an advanced stage and could lead to a settlement in coming days, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing a case that hasn’t been made public. It wasn’t immediately clear which tokens or offerings are drawing scrutiny.
- San Francisco-based Kraken is the No. 3 cryptocurrency exchange with daily trading volume of roughly $650 million globally, according to CoinMarketCap.
- Any action against Kraken could have significant ramifications for the industry, already facing sharp scrutiny in Washington after FTX’s collapse late last year. A settlement with the SEC could pressure other crypto firms to hash out deals with the regulator, which has repeatedly said most of the tokens being offered are securities that should be subject to the agency’s rules.
See: Federal Judge Dismisses Unregistered Securities Class Action Suit Against Coinbase (Shares Jump 21%)
- Kraken reached an unrelated settlement with Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control late last year over allegations that it violated US sanctions against Iran. The company agreed to pay a little over $360,000 as part of the deal and invest $100,000 in sanctions compliance. OFAC at the time said Kraken voluntarily disclosed the apparent violations to the government and cooperated with its investigation.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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CCA 2022 Investment Crowdfunding Report: 7 Charts Highlight Growth and Impact
Crowdfund Capital Advisors | Sherwood Neiss | Feb 8, 2023
2022 was a challenging year for venture-back companies but there were many silver linings for investment crowdfunding. Last week, Crowdfund Capital Advisors released their 7th annual Year in Review report. 105-page report (our longest yet) contains 100 charts, tables, images, and maps.
- Pitchbook Angel/Seed deals are trending down while alternative investment crowdfunding deals hit a record high:
- Pitchbook released the “Q4 Venture Monitor First Look” that breaks down its data. This trendline continues to show an increase in funded deals. As more issuers find it challenging to access capital in 2023, we expect to see them turn online for capital.
- Investment crowdfunding has bridged the the 'Valley of Death'
- The average raise since the industry launched has grown to $365K, expanding beyond where the Valley existed previously; $25K to $250K.
- With the maximum issuers can raise now at $5 million, there is much room for successful issuers to perform follow-on raises to not only get them through the Valley of Death but beyond it.
- Equity crowdfunding issuers are becoming less risky; the profile of the average successful investment crowdfunding issuer is changing
- Demographic: They tend to be older, are post-revenue, and have average revenues over $1 million.
- Investors see the logic. The more established issuers raised more money and had more investors than their startup counterparts.
- As larger, more established issuers come online, this will further derisk investment in this space.
See: Reg CF Update: Interview with Sherwood Neiss on Investment Crowdfunding
- Truly has democratized access to capital
- It used to be that if you wanted to access Venture capital, you needed to reside in or near Silicon Valley, New York, or Boston. However, thanks to Investment Crowdfunding, we see that it has successfully been able to democratize access to capital across the country.
- More importantly, the data shows that women and minority entrepreneurs (that routinely struggle to access capital) have had greater success within Investment Crowdfunding and are raising up to 50% of the capital.
- Investment Crowdfunding is a growing and important economic driver for the economy:
- Issuers successful with Investment Crowdfunding are scaling startups and small businesses. They create products and services. Pay business, sales, and payroll taxes. And are massive consumers of local and regional products and services. Investment Crowdfunding issuers are responsible for pumping more than $4 billion into our economy since the industry launched in 2016. All of this capital is going into over 1,600 communities across the USA. This is a local economic stimulus unlike we’ve ever seen. If our government officials are looking for ways to promote economic development, they should focus their attention on Investment Crowdfunding issuers.
See:
JOBS Act of 2012: Ten Years of Legalized Investment Crowdfunding
Fintech Fridays EP57: 10 Years of Investment Crowdfunding: Past, Present & Future Since the JOBS Act
- Since Investment Crowdfunding began, Issuers successful with Investment Crowdfunding are responsible for supporting over 226,000 jobs:
- We believe this is an underestimate because it doesn’t take into account issuers that reported no full-time employees but either have grown to support them or outsource jobs altogether.
- Either way, we went to Washington, DC, and promised jobs. And one can see the industry is delivering on it! Whoever came up with the acronym “The JOBS Act” deserves an award!
- Generate wealth and opportunities for the average investor
- Investment Crowdfunding allowed the average American to play the role of mini-VC and invest in pre-IPO startups that they believe in for the first time in history. A small percentage of these will most likely go on to phenomenal exits.
- Over $54B of value is currently sitting inside successful Investment Crowdfunding issuers. Only $1.6 billion has been invested to date by Investment Crowdfunding investors.
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Purchase the full 2022 Investment Crowdfunding report --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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The Ultimate Reading List for Casino Players
Feb 7, 2023
Image: Freepik
Gambling in an online casino Canada is not just for entertainment — some people turn this into a profession or career. If you want to become a professional player, you must read books to help you improve your skills. Today, we will provide you with an ultimate reading list for gamblers, which you can buy online or in a hard copy.
The Biggest Bluff
Author: Maria Konnikova
The Biggest Bluff is about poker. The author followed poker players and eventually became a poker player herself. The story reveals how she won big.
What she did was approach one poker Hall of Fame inductee, Erik Seidel, and ask him to be a mentor. Maria said she was not interested in making money but that she was interested in life.
As she played, she had a stretch of bad luck, and she eventually realized the things she could not control and the things that she could. Apart from the poker games and strategies, she also added some important principles from the area of psychology.
The book does not only talk about poker and how to win but how one person can apply the principles of poker in life. She provides detailed accounts of handling one’s emotions in poker games and in life and then turning the situation in your favour.
In addition, the book details her success story — how she started playing poker with people with zero knowledge and how she eventually earned hundreds of thousands of dollars and won a major title in the game. She even managed to get a sponsor.
Play Blackjack Like the Pros
Author: Kevin Blackwood
Blackjack is a combination of skill and chance. Despite this, there is a way to turn the tide around and make the game favourable to you, and this is what Kevin explains in this book.
Playing Blackjack Like the Pros is an important book for people who want to be an expert in the game — even if you have been playing it for a while. It is a requisite introduction to the game, its types, nuances, rules, and many more. Even if you are already an old-timer, you will still find it helpful.
The book also provides you with the following:
- Playing online
- Joining and winning tournaments
- Low-stakes and high-stakes betting
- Shoe games.
Most importantly, Kevin also covers card counting, and he split this skill into three types: novice, recreational, and professional.
The book introduces techniques that you may not have heard about, such as camouflage, which means you count cards, but you do not let the house know because if they find out, they may kick you out.
Playing Blackjack as a Business
Author: Lawrence Revere
Lawrence has always been credited as the Master of Blackjack. This book explains how he used computer technology to hone his techniques. As a player, he has 28 years of mastery in the game.
Here are some of the positions he held in the area of blackjack:
- Pit boss
- Dealer
- Owner
- Player at a professional level.
As you can see, he has been around, and he knows what he is doing. He was 13 years old when he first started dealing with blackjack at blackjack tables.
The book gives you an insider view of how blackjack works and what you can do to improve your game. He explains his theories as a professional, and his teaching method enables you to master the game.
One cool thing you need to know is that he used computer programs to design his strategies, which means that the computer program did the heavy lifting of the analysis of probabilities.
Gambling 102
Author: Michael Shackleford
Gambling 102 is the book you need if you want to learn a lot about different casino games. Unlike the first three books, this one covers several casino favourites.
Here are some of the games you will learn how to play:
- Sic bo
- Baccarat
- Video poker
- Craps
- Blackjack.
Michael is a mathematician, and this book provides insight into the approaches and techniques that took him years to develop. This book will not teach you hunches but rewire your brain into using mathematics as a guide.
What this book aims to accomplish is to provide you with strategies that will help you win. Michael teaches you how the games work in terms that are easy to understand.
So, what can you expect from the book? After reading it, you can expect to learn how to play the games at the most basic levels. You will also understand the math behind the odds and what is worth betting for and giving up, such as when to hold, double down, fold, etc.
See: What Was the Rationale Behind Ontario’s Online Gaming Regulation?
Gambling can sometimes be fun, but it can also become a profession. Know, however, that it will take time to be skilful. Like any work, you need to practice. You will experience losses — anticipate this and ensure you do not bankrupt yourself. Practice at home in online casinos with small bets so you do not lose your capital before you bet big.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Revolut Launches Crypto Staking to 25 Million Customers
Fintech Magazine | Joanna England | Feb 7, 2023
Revolut has rolled out its new crypto feature to 25 million customers, via its financial super app to provide more frictionless crypto trading experiences
- Revolut launched the crypto feature, called Staking in the UK and EEA, effectively taking another leap forward towards its mission to build the first super app for all-things-money, and is continuing to double-down on its promise to bring greater digital currency services to the banking space.
- New feature unlocks extra benefits for customers investing in crypto with Revolut, giving them the ability to earn rewards for specific tokens (Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot, and Tezos).
- The rewards are granted in the native token and customers can either stake their existing crypto balances for these tokens or buy and then stake the balance of one or more of the four tokens.
- Customers can set up a ‘stop or limit’ order so they don’t have to time the market or use the Recurring Buy feature to average out volatility.
- Other features also enable users to round up any spare change in a cryptocurrency of their choice, from a list of close to 100 cryptocurrencies.
See: Fintech Revolut Hires Behavioural Team to Improve Criticized Corporate Culture
Emil Urmanshin, General Manager, Revolut:
“Our international expansion continued with the launch of our crypto product in Singapore, as well as receiving crypto authorisations from regulators in the UK, Spain and Cyprus.”
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Binance Temporarily Suspends U.S. Dollar Deposits and Withdrawals
CNBC | MacKenzie Sigalos and Rohan Goswami | Feb 6, 2023
Image: Unsplash/Vadim Artyukhin
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, will suspend U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals, the company said Monday, without providing a reason for the decision.
- “We are temporarily suspending USD bank transfers as of February 8th,” a Binance spokesperson told CNBC. “Affected customers are being notified directly.” The company said “0.01% of our monthly active users leverage USD bank transfers” and added that “we are working hard to restart service as soon as possible.”
- Impact: Binance US, a unit of the company that’s regulated by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, said in a tweet that it’s not affected by the suspension. Thus the move applies only to non-U.S. customers who transfer money to or from bank accounts in dollars.
- Binance’s net U.S. dollar outflow was over $172 million for the day, based on data from DefiLlama. That represents a tiny amount of money for a company that has $42.2 billion worth of crypto assets, according to Arkham.
- Binance said customers can still use other fiat currencies or payment methods to purchase crypto. For the small number affected, “we’ll have a new partner to announce for those users in the next couple weeks,” the spokesperson said.
See: Is Binance’s Proof-of-Reserves Pointless Without Liabilities?
- In late January, Binance said U.S. banking partner Signature Bank had increased U.S. dollar transaction minimums to $100,000. At the time, Binance said Signature had told the exchange that the new minimum applied to all crypto exchange customers.
- Binance said customers can still use other fiat currencies or payment methods to purchase crypto. For the small number affected, “we’ll have a new partner to announce for those users in the next couple weeks,” the spokesperson said.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Federal Judge Dismisses Unregistered Securities Class Action Suit Against Coinbase (Shares Jump 21%)
MarketWatch | Dean Seal | Feb 2, 2023
Image: Pixabay/sergeitokmakov
Shares of Coinbase Global Inc. rose 21% to $79.50 after a federal district judge dismissed a proposed class action accusing the crypto exchange of selling tokens that qualified as unregistered securities.
- The suit, filed in October 2021, alleged that nearly 80 of the digital assets traded on the Coinbase exchange fit the description of a security under federal law, and that Coinbase therefore violated the law by selling the tokens without proper registration.
- A New York federal judge ruled Thursday that the token buyers behind the suit have made contradictory allegations between their original complaint and a later amended complaint as to whether Coinbase actually held title to or sold the tokens, rather than just facilitate their trading on its exchange, in "an apparent attempt to evade dismissal."
See: Coinbase is Cutting 950 Employees (20%) | Brother of Former Employee 10 months Sentence for Insider Trading
- The judge further found that the terms of Coinbase's user agreement, which state that only exchange users hold title over tokens they trade, "flatly contradict" the lawsuit's allegations. Finding that further amendments would be futile, the judge dismissed the case with prejudice.
- The dismissal marks a somewhat rare legal victory for a major player in the crypto space, which is under intense scrutiny by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following last year's selloff in the cryptocurrency market.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Is the Crypto Bottom In Yet?
Tristram Waye for Bitvo | Feb 2, 2023
After a substantial lift in crypto, it begs the question, was that the bottom?
- The answer, of course, is no idea. Because bottoms are not events but rather a process. After a challenging crypto winter, the relief is welcome, but the question of whether it’s over requires some evidence.
- This lift might be what is known as a bear trap. Bear traps entice buyers before heading back down.
- On the other hand, it might be the beginning of a new trading range for bitcoin and ether.
- So let’s have a look at some things that might tell us about where we are and how to use what we discover.
See: Is Crypto Bouncing Back, or Bull Trap?
- Be careful picking market tops and bottoms
- Jesse Livermore: “One of the most helpful things anyone can learn is to give up trying to catch the last eighth —or the first. These two are the most expensive eighths in the world. They have cost stock traders in aggregate enough millions of dollars to build a concrete highway across the continent.”
- So on the upside, this means picking tops, getting on the short side too early and getting squeezed.
- On the downside, it means catching falling knives trying to pick the bottom.
- In both cases, the financial impact is clear. But there is the psychological component as well. And this can present a bigger problem in some ways.
See: Learn to Love Those Bear Market Rallies
- Signals and sentiment:
- The press will post stories on the cover of their magazines and newspapers. And they are almost always wrong.
- But the response to bad news becomes important to watch. Any negative news that doesn’t generate downside should be examined.
- Sentiment is an interpretation of the bullish or bearish lean of various participants. Crypto has an enormous range of voices coming from a wide variety of content. And Twitter is a great place to get a gauge of sentiment. Here is where you can take a wide view of the voices around the space.
- Another sign of a bottom is the reaction to bad news. On the way to the bottom, every bit of negative news results in selling. The bias eventually becomes sell any story or rumor. We saw the last batch of selling occur with the FTX debacle. But since then, selling has been rather muted.
- At the bottom, negative news has little or no impact. Sellers no longer care. Lots of the sell side overhang is eaten up. And the response to news starts to change. Near the bottom, negative news goes from bearish to bullish.
- The demand for leverage will be low at the bottom and will have limited availability. Risk parameters at exchanges will also be relatively tight at the bottom. So even if you want leverage, and are fine with the cost of capital, the amount of leverage available and the margin required is likely quite a bit higher. Less leverage will mean less risk of downside liquidations.
- Bitcoin seems to be trading in a loose inverse relationship relative to the DXY.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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