Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Press Releases
Coinbase Buys Deribit for $2.9B to Lead Crypto Derivatives
M&A | May 8, 2025
Image credit: Coinbase Announcement
Coinbase Buys Deribit for $2.9B to Become Global Crypto Derivatives Leader
On May 8, 2025, Coinbase announced that it has agreed to acquire Deribit in a $2.9 billion deal, to become the world’s largest crypto options exchange. The acquisition includes $700 million in cash and 11 million shares of Coinbase Class A common stock, and is the largest strategic M&A deal to date in the Digital Assets space per Financial Technology Partners who served as the exclusive financial advisor to Deribit to facilitate the transaction which is expected to close by the end of 2025.
Deribit provides institutional-grade infrastructure for trading derivatives across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major tokens, and currently holds around $30 billion in open interest and processed more than $1 trillion in trading volume last year in 2024, making it the global leader in Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading.
See: The Agentic Web Begins. Coinbase Launches ‘Base Agent’
With this deal, Coinbase becomes the most comprehensive provider of crypto derivatives globally for hedge funds, asset managers, and proprietary trading firms, offering access to spot, futures, perpetual futures, and options trading on a single platform.
Luuk Strijers, CEO of Deribit:
“We’re excited to join forces with Coinbase to power a new era in global crypto derivatives. As the leading crypto options platform, we’ve built a strong, profitable business, and this acquisition will accelerate the foundation we laid while providing traders with even more opportunities across spot, futures, perpetuals, and options – all under one trusted brand."
Crypto Derivatives Majority of Global Trading Volume
Derivatives represent about 70% of the global crypto trading volume, including futures, perpetuals, and options. Coinbase already offered futures and perpetuals via its U.S. and international exchanges. Now with the acquisition of Deribit's options infrastructure, it completes Coinbase's platform product stack evolving from basic spot trading to provide access to more advanced strategies and instruments.
See: Coinbase Launches COIN50 Index of Top 50 Cryptos
Greg Tusar, Vice President of Institutional Products at Coinbase:
"With Deribit’s strong presence and professional client base, Coinbase is making its most substantial move yet to accelerate our international growth strategy. Deribit will immediately enhance profitability and add diversity and durability to our trading revenues upon close."
Coinbase's Strategy of Growth by Acquisition
This is not Coinbase’s first major infrastructure acquisition, and at this point it's a pattern of acquiring strategic platforms and integrating them into essential components of its institutional offerings. Each of these deals broadened Coinbase's reach among professional and institutional traders and investors.
See: Circle Files for IPO as Crypto Firms Eye Wall Street
- In 2019, Coinbase acquired Xapo’s custody business, which became Coinbase Custody
- Tagomi followed in 2020, evolving into Coinbase Prime
- FairX was acquired in 2022 and rebranded as Coinbase Derivatives Exchange
- One River Digital became Coinbase Asset Management in 2023
- Deribit acquisition 2025 will turn Coinbase into the global crypto options leader
Why It Matters
Coinbase's acquisition of Deribit is a clear sign of where the industry is heading. The next phase of crypto growth will be built on institutional-grade infrastructure, not hype. Advanced trading tools, capital efficiency, and compliance are becoming the new standards.
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
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
Should Fintechs Design for People or AI Agents?
Agentic AI | May 5, 2025
Image: Freepik
Visa and Mastercard Join the AI 'Buy for me' Race. What Should Fintechs Do Now?
Last month, Amazon launched its AI concierge shopping service. Now Visa is rolling out its 'Intelligent Commerce' (April 30) and Mastercard with its 'Agent Pay' (Apr 29). Without question artificial intelligent smart, buying assistants are becoming active customers in daily transactions. They aren't just answering questions or offering a comparative analysis, they are being enabled to make real purchases, book real services, and handle real payments. While these services are being tested and iterated, the implications are significant for fintech companies. If people rely on smart agents as (one of) the main ways they shop and pay, then financial technology firms that aren't ready could be left behind.
Are fintechs still designing for people?
Agentic AI is flipping the script and changing the role of the actual human buyer. More and more decisions and purchases on behalf of customers will be completed by agentic AI buyers, meaning that the front-end UX/UI will also need to be designed for AI agents, and overtime less about human buyers. So traditional fintech interfaces that rely on pleasing human designs, well organized navigation, step-by-step forms and processes, may soon be irrelevant.
See: Why No Code AI Agents Matter for Fintech in Canada
Why? Well smart agents don't browse; they query APIs based on a set of rule-based purchasing requirements, and act instantly. Fintechs now need to build tools that interact with agents and not just design interfaces that are pleasing for humans to look at. As the sentence is written, starting to wonder if we're all turning into robots here!
What are "buy-for-me" models?
Instead of a human user buying something directly, they authorize their agentic AI buying assistant to buy it for them. These 'buy-for-me' agents follow rules set by the end-user, such as only buy from my trusted list of sellers, or stay within a budget. Important to know that these agents don't use traditional credit cards to make a purchase, they are using safer, digital payment tokens. Visa and Mastercard have already built the infrastructure to enable agents to act on behalf of users (no credit card required).
What are the biggest challenges?
At the core of so many digital innovations, and perhaps one of the biggest challenges with Agentic AI buyers, is 'TRUST'. People are still unsure whether to let an AI spend their hard earned money, especially for large purchases like a new car, TV or even a house. Even with the right rules and controls in place, users need a way to monitor or check in on what an assistant is doing. If an agent buys something on their behalf, they may for example expect to have the ability to override or undue mistakes quickly, so fintechs must offer tools that make this experience easier and more seamless than today, if they want adoption to grow.
See: Balancing AI Automation and Ethics in Fintech
Then there's regulation. If an agent hallucinates after explicitly being instructed to follow a laundry list of rules, then they purchase something that's not wanted or more expensive than allowed then who is actually responsible? Right now the rules are unclear. So financial tech firms will need to show a traceable, non-tamperable, audit trail to prove that the agent had permission to buy (or not). Financial service transactions are highly sensitive and private, rules and the regulations around them must be strictly enforced, or risk backlash.
Another challenge will be interoperability between different systems. Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, and others are each building their own platforms. Without shared standards, fintechs may have to build separate connections for each system. Creating a shared standard that optimizes interoperability is a great opportunity and challenge for facilitating how AI agent-driven commerce could be globally.
Can AI agents already shop and buy today?
Yes, within certain limits. Visa lets users set conditions for how their assistants can spend. Mastercard supports secure payments using special tokens built for AI. These buying systems are live and consumers can already use them today but most buying tools are still restricted to basic purchasing functionality, and can't yet handle more complex decisions like comparing options or negotiating pricing deals and discounts.
Will we see general purpose or niche agents?
AI agents are still an emerging innovation, so we'll likely see niche agents for a while, such as one to help buy groceries, or find discounted prices, book travel, or manage recurring business purchases. General AI buying assistants or ones that can conceivably buy anything from anywhere are still many steps away. They'll need access to more interfaces, more data, and optimized logic to support complex decisions and outcomes.
What should fintechs do right now?
Now is the time to prepare and build digital wallets that work well with AI buying agents. These smart wallets should show what the assistant is doing and let users set rules or stop transactions if needed. Fintechs should also think about offering services that agents can call on. For example, an assistant might ask for the best foreign exchange rate or check for promotional offers. Fintechs that provide this kind of useful data to agents will be in demand.
See: How Real-Time Agentic AI Will Boost Fintechs
Another need is for smarter fraud detection. Agentic spending looks different from human spending, as it's faster and sometimes harder to explain. This means that older fraud detection models won’t work as well. Fintechs that build tools to understand and respond to this new kind of buying activity will have an edge.
Consent and approval tracking is another piece of the puzzle. If an agent buys something, there needs to be a clear record showing what it was allowed to do and when. Building this kind of audit trail will be essential, as regulators and buyers will demand it.
Closing Outlook
As financial and e-commerce giants like Visa, Amazon, and Mastercard rollout smart buying agents, fintechs need to start preparing to build wallets and systems that work with these agents. To offer services and data in a way that AI agents can easily use. Tools must be safe, compliant, flexible, and transparent. Early companies that build this changing AI agent buying layer will be ready for what agent marketplaces will look like and how they behave in the future. Not to long from now, human users will be choosing which agents, the marketplace, and fintech wallets they want handling their purchases and money.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
CSA Pauses Climate and Diversity Disclosure Rules
DEI Regulation | April 25, 2025
Image: Freepik
Canadian Regulators Halt Plans for Mandatory Climate and Diversity Disclosures
On April 23, 2025, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced that it is pausing plans to create mandatory rules for climate and diversity reporting, since the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has cancelled their DEI initiatives and the need to focus on making Canadian markets more robust, efficient and competitive.
See: How Canadian Institutional Investors Voted on Climate 2024
Stan Magidson, CSA Chair and Chair/CEO of the ASC:
“In recent months, the global economic and geopolitical landscape has rapidly and significantly changed, resulting in increased uncertainty and rising competitiveness concerns for Canadian issuers,”
Material Risk Disclosure Still Required
Although proposed rules requiring companies to disclose more detailed information about climate risks and board diversity is not moving forward, companies must still adhere to the current rules under Canadian securities law that require disclosure of any material risk that would significantly impact the business or its investors, including climate-related risks.
For companies wondering about the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) standards (CSDS 1 and CSDS 2) that were introduced last December 2024, they are 'voluntary but encouraged'. These standards offer a framework for sustainability disclosures that are aligned with international norms but they will not be enforced unless circumstances change.
CSA Still Monitoring for Greenwashing and Diversity Rules Stay As-Is
While there are no new diversity requirements being added, non-venture issuers (companies listed on senior public stock exchanges, such as the TSX or NEO), are still required to report on representation of women on boards and in executive positions, covered under the existing rules in National Instrument 58-101.
See: Planetary Health Check 2024 and Canadian Climate Tech
The CSA says it will continue to monitor public company disclosures for misleading or incomplete climate claims (i.e. greenwashing) and may provide future guidance if needed.
Why It Matters
Some investors and advocates for diversity and inclusion may be disappointed by the pause on mandatory disclosure rules. At the same time, many companies are likely to appreciate the flexibility to use voluntary standards, especially given the current economic and regulatory landscape.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
NewCo Capital Launches Canadian Operations
Capital Markets | April 23, 2025
Image: Freepik
U.S. Non-Bank Lender, NewCo Capital, Brings Same Day Funding to Canadian Small Businesses
On April 21, 2025, U.S.-based alternative finance provider NewCo Capital Group announced the official launch of its Canadian operations. The expansion to Canada is fuelled by a strategic partnership with Bizcap, a global business lender in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Singapore.
Since launching in 2020, NewCo Capital Group has provided over $2 billion USD in funding to more than 45,000 businesses worldwide. They boast a Trustpilot score of 4.8/5, and now offer small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fast access to working capital right across Canada.
See: Canada’s $300M AI Funding Targets SMEs for Growth
Omer Navon, Director of Operations for NewCo Canada:
"The uptick in demand we've seen across Canada since our initial rollout has been both strong and consistent. We've built the infrastructure to scale efficiently across all provinces and territories, including Quebec, ensuring businesses receive timely access to capital with the same level of speed, service, and reliability that defines NewCo's model."
What Canadian Businesses Can Expect
NewCo Capital Group specializes in providing non-banking lending solutions for small businesses (no equity financing options), such as on-demand access to pre-approved working capital and receivables-based financing. Their focus is on speed and flexibility to support SME growth.
- Funding range: $10,000 to $2,000,000 CAD
- Approval time: As little as 3 hours
- Payout: Within 12 hours of approval
- Evaluation: Based on business performance, not just credit scores
See: FundThrough Acquires Ampla and Raises $25M Series B
Closing Thought
Small businesses need to keep all funding options on the table, given that capital is a key barrier for growth. NewCo Capital Group's expansion into Canada offers a tech driven funding solution that provides low friction liquidity, pushing the bar for modern SME lending.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
FundThrough Acquires Ampla and Raises $25M Series B
M&A and Financing | April 22, 2025
FundThrough acquires Ampla and cecures a $25M Series B equity investment, led by Klister Credit Corp.
FundThrough Scales AI Cash Flow Infrastructure with Ampla Acquisition and Fresh $25M Raise
Toronto-based financial invoicing technology firm FundThrough announced on April 22, 2025, the strategic acquisition of U.S.-based Ampla Technologies along with $25 million in new equity funding to grow its platform. This achievement builds on prior milestones including the acquisition of BlueVine's invoice factoring business in 2021, and a $10 million commitment in 2020 to help Canadian businesses during the early days of the pandemic.
Solving the Invoice Delay Problem
From day one, FundThrough's mission to help small and medium sized businesses get access to money they've already earned quicker, has been a great success. They advance cash based on unpaid invoices, giving businesses the working capital they need to pay suppliers, make payroll, and process new orders without having to wait weeks or months for larger customers to pay.
See: Smarter API Integration with VoPay’s AI-Powered Assistant
A key strength of their model is how easily it integrates into how businesses already work. FundThrough's platform uses a permission-based, secure connection into various accounting software applications like QuickBooks or Xero, and analyzes invoice data to identify outstanding customer payments, triggering automated funding offers designed to reduce the strain of long payment cycles. Since launching, the company has funded over $2.7 billion in invoices of which 85% supports U.S customers.
What Ampla Brings to the Table
Ampla Technologies is a U.S. fintech providing consumer brands with working capital, banking, corporate cards, and analytics. They've managed over $5 trillion in transaction volume and originated over $2 billion in credit. By incorporating Ampla's tech into FundThrough's stack, the combined platform will offer more AI powered tools to help small businesses assess risk, improve cash flow forecasting, and access credit faster.
See: Canada’s SMBs Deserve Better Banking. Lessons from US Fintechs
Steven Uster, CEO of FundThrough:
“Now, Ampla’s technology significantly enhances FundThrough’s AI-powered model, enabling us to level the playing field further. With Ampla, we can scale faster, enhance our credit underwriting and monitoring processes, and help even more businesses solve their number one pain point, cash flow."
New Series B Equity Funding
Alongside Ampla's acquisition, FundThrough announced closure of a $25 million Series B equity round, led by Canadian Klister Credit Corp with other investors including Canadian Business Growth Fund and Urbana Corporation. New funds will support future acquisitions and the ongoing expansion into U.S. and Canadian markets and improve the platforms AI capabilities.
John Phillips, President of Klister:
“FundThrough’s track record over the past years of uncertainty is impressive. My increased investment reflects my confidence in the FundThrough team’s continuing focus on serving this important market.”
Why This Matters for Fintech and Small Business Finance
This acquisition shows how fintech is changing the way small businesses manage cash flow. Traditional financing can often takes weeks to process and may require credit checks or collateral. FundThrough uses verified invoice data and AI-driven analytics to give small businesses faster access to the money they’re owed. As more companies deal with long payment terms from large buyers, this kind of invoice funding helps level the playing field.
See: Loop Raises $6.4M CAD for SMB Global Finance Platform
It gives small and medium-sized businesses more control over their cash flow, without the delays of traditional banking. FundThrough’s growth also highlights how Canadian fintech companies are expanding into the U.S. by offering digital first financial tools and smarter funding solutions to help businesses stay competitive.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
OneVest Closes $20M Series B to Lead Wealthtech
Financing | April 11, 2025
Image: Freepik
OneVest Secures $20M in Series B to Build the Future of WealthTech in North America
On January 29, 2025, Calgary and Toronto-based fintech firm OneVest announced the close of a $20 million Series B round, led by Salesforce Ventures and joined by Allianz Life Ventures, TIAA Ventures, and returning backers like OMERS Ventures, Deloitte Ventures, Fin Capital, Luge Capital, and Pivot Investment Partners.
See: OneVest’s Rapid Expansion Powered by a $17M Funding Round led by OMERS Ventures
OneVest estimates that $84 trillion of wealth will be passed down from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Millennials over the coming decades, creating a massive opportunity and challenge for financial institutions. OneVest's platform is positioned to offer financial institutions, such as banks, insurers, asset managers and RIAs, a module tech platform to build or upgrade their wealth management services. Companies ca upgrade outdated infrastructure by plugging in only the components they need, reducing time and cost to market.
Amar Ahluwalia, CEO of OneVest:
“We are tackling massive challenges in an industry that’s been traditionally slow to adopt new technologies. Having such esteemed investors solidifies our position to reimagine wealth management technology for enterprises across the U.S. and Canada. With this new funding, we are poised to achieve our goal of becoming the leading wealth management platform in North America.”
Flexible, Smart, and Built for Scale
The OneVest platform offers financial institutions end-to-end wealth offerings or customized tools to match their requirements. Advisors can manage portfolios more efficiently with a hybrid experience that blends automated insights with human guidance. OneVest is investing in AI-powered decisions making tools and building out it's capabilities in alternative investments, helping firms better service their clients who are looking to diversify beyond traditional assets.
See: Wealth Management Insights for Fintechs and Investors
OneVest continues to strengthen its strategic partnerships with major players like BlackRock, Vanguard, and Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, helping expand its reach across the financial services sector. Since many clients use Saleforce, OneVest plans to further streamline the advisor-client experience across systems.
What’s Next for OneVest
With this funding, OneVest will focus on scaling operations, growing its team, and continuing product development. Its mission has been clear from the start. To become the leading infrastructure provider for wealth management in North America by providing financial institutions modern tools so they can keep up with the changing needs of their clients.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
eToro Files Nasdaq IPO After Crypto Revenue Surge
Public Market Funding | March 31, 2025
Image: Freepik/macrovector
Trading platform eToro officially files to go public on Nasdaq as IPO interest builds
On March 24, 2025, an Israeli fintech platform known for social trading and crypto investments, eToro filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, confirming intent to go public on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “ETOR". After several years of IPO uncertainty and decline, here's a
of 10 private fintech companies watching and waiting to see how IPOs in early 2025 perform before announcing their own.
About eToro
eToro is an Israeli fintech company with offices in Cyprus, UK, US, Australia, Germany and the UAE, and not currently available to Canadian residents. It's an online, multi-asset trading platform founded in 2007 where users can trade stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), cryptocurrencies, and commodities. Uniquely it offers social trading features where users can view, follow, and copy the investment strategies of other traders. This innovation makes investing more accessible for those new to trading and financial markets.
See: 10 Fintech and Crypto IPOs 2025 – Boom or Bubble?
eToro is a digital-first platform that operates entirely online via web and mobile apps, reducing many of the barriers traditionally associated with investing. It was one of the first early fintech players to embrace crypto trading which helped democratize digital assets among retail investors. With a friendly UX/UI, real time data tools, and low starting requirements, eToro is often compared to fintech giants like Robinhood, Revolut, and Wealthsimple and is part of the broader movement to challenge incumbents by using new technologies to offer simpler, faster, and often cheaper alternatives.
eToro’s financial performance has been strong heading into 2025. In 2024, the company generated $931 million in commissions, an 31% increase over the year prior. Net income also jumped to $192 million from just $15 million the year before. Why the growth? A surge in crypto trading made up 38% of their commissions last year which is up more than double from 17% in 2023 per investopedia reporting.
IPO Market 2020-2025
Initial Public Offering markets have been hit or miss over the past five years, due to economic uncertainties, investor sentiment and global events. Below is an overview.
2020-2021 - IPO activity surged. Low interest rates and a bullish stock market created favourable conditions that leads to a record number of companies going public. In 2021, global IPO proceeds raked in $508.9 billion, an 80% increase compared to 2020.
2022-2023 -IPO decline/uncertainty. Due to rising inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical tensions, IPO momentum slowed in 2022 and 2023. Investors were caution leading to a big drop in IPO activity. In 2023, global IPO proceeds fell like a stone to around $117.9 billion, the lowest in the last decade.
2024 - IPO markets showed signs of recovery. While the U.S. led in IPO proceeds, India surpassed other countries in IPO volume, highlighting regional strengths. Private equity and venture capital-backed IPOs played a key role with tech, industrials, and consumer sectors leading activity.
2025 - pentup IPO demand / optimism Returns? With easing inflation and anticipation for further rate cuts, some confidence is returning to IPO outlook, proceeds in 2024 were up 45% and the number of IPOs also rose 40% from the previous year. Sectors like artificial intelligence, fintech and crypto are gaining traction due to a shift in the regulatory outlook, especially in the U.S. under the new administration. At the same time, tariffs and trade wars are dominating the narrative putting pressure on investor's outlook and economic uncertainty.
So after a period of volatility, IPO markets in 2025 appear to be ready for renewed activity but not without risks. As such, companies waiting in the IPO queue are watching with abated breath to see how proceeds and investor sentiment are before launching their own IPOs, including firms like BitGo, Gemini, Kraken, Circle, Klarna and Chime.
eToro's IPO Outlook
This isn't eToro's first kick at the IPO can. Back in 2021, eToro planned to list through a SPAC deal, a type of company that exists just to be taken over so firms can go public quickly. That deal would have valued eToro at over $10 billion but it fell through in 2022 according to investopedia.
See: How Fintechs Are Unlocking Value in Private Markets 2024
This time, eToro has big brand banks backing its IPO like Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, UBS, and Citigroup. If eToro’s IPO is successful, it could open the door for more tech and fintech firms that have been patiently watching on the sidelines and may finally be able to enter the public markets.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
