Global Leaders in Online Identity Verification, Management and Monetization Take Strategic Role as Steering Members to Help Enable Trusted Exchange of Verifiable Digital Credentials
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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
Liquid Avatar Partners with Fintech Innovator XTM to enable Hospitality, Personal Care, and other Industry Sectors to Verify COVID-19 Vaccination Verifiable Credentials
KABN Systems North America | Cara Buckspan | Dec 15, 2020
XTM joins industry leaders in technology, healthcare and patient data, venue and location management, university and college campus life and travel and leisure to help people start getting back to their everyday lives
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / December 15, 2020 / KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN) (the "Company" or "KABN North America"), a Canadian fintech company that specializes in continuous online identity verification, management and monetization in Canada and the US, through its biometrically and identity verified Self Sovereign Identity platform, Liquid Avatar (www.liquidavatar.com), today announces that fintech innovator, XTM Inc. (CSE:PAID) ("XTM") has joined its Verifiable Identity Healthcare Credential consortium to support the issuance, management and verification of COVID-19 digital diagnostic testing and vaccination verification for the hospitality, personal care and other business sectors that it services. XTM joins consortium partners, Trust over IP Foundation, Lumedic, Loop Insights (TSXV:MTRX), The Campus Agency and TripXpertz.
See: Digital transformation: 9 emerging roles you need on your team
XTM enables North American industry leaders in the hospitality, personal care and sports and entertainment sectors to power cashless payments to employees, including 7 of the 10 largest restaurant chains; 5 of the largest pizza delivery chains including Dominos and Boston Pizza; the largest personal care salon chain; and the largest Canadian sports and entertainment group.
"We're excited to join KABN, Liquid Avatar and the other consortium partners to bring our expertise in reaching and supporting large organizations and their employees in the hospitality, personal care, food services and entertainment sector that have been adversely affected by the pandemic," said Marilyn Schaffer, CEO of XTM. "Our goal is to help our industry partners, in any way possible, to support their current, limited activities, and to help create and support innovative solutions, like the Verifiable Identity Healthcare Credential initiative, so that restaurants, delivery services, salons and other personal care facilities and venues can safely and effectively expand operations to the public."
The consortium has developed an integrated solution ecosystem that enables healthcare issuers, individuals and verifiers to have a digital COVID-19 verifiable identity healthcare credential that is secure, user managed and controlled to ensure privacy, transportability and ease of use. This solution supports the foundation for the acceptance of digital Healthcare Passports and allow qualified Health Professionals with the ability to issue a Verifiable Credential that enables venues and other facilities to verify both the issued credential and the known user in real-time to grant access and / or services.
See: Evolving to Work Better Together: Public-Private Partnerships for Digital Payments
The ecosystem is built on a Trust over IP (TOIP) open standards framework, and the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) specifications for decentralized identifiers for credential management with the ability to issue, manage and verify interoperable COVID-19 vaccination and other verifiable credentials across a host of user managed and controlled digital wallets and applications.
Verifiable identity and access credentials can be used for multiple use cases such as Education, Workplaces, Tradeshows, Healthcare, Sporting Events, Concerts, Entertainment, Travel, Places of Worship, Senior Living, and other facilities, venues and locations and opens the door to further opportunities for commercial and consumer opportunities.
Powering and supporting the entire user experience, Liquid Avatar's Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) platform, which includes user biometric validation and a bank-grade verified identity credential, is available to consumers at no cost. Liquid Avatar enables users to verify and manage their identity and access credentials in a cloud-based, biometrically secure application. Users have complete control over their digital assets (like wallets, passwords and more), identity, and data through easy-to-use avatars that can be shared, on a permission-basis with others.
The COVID-19 Verifiable Healthcare Credential combines healthcare data with the user's biometrically verified identity credential. When a request is made by a Verifier, the User has a choice of which attributes are shared, creating a private verification transaction between themselves and a verifier. While much of the technology and services are already in place, the launch of the healthcare credential pilot is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2021 to coincide with the expected release of the COVID-19 widespread vaccination program. This solution will not only be able to verify identity credentials for the Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostic and antibody testing, but will also be able to support a wide range of immunizations and healthcare records.
"Liquid Avatar and the consortium partners are working together to create open-source solutions that can help empower users to return to public life and the things they once did freely, pre-COVID-19, with ease and continued safety," said David Lucatch, CEO of KABN. "Together with this amazing group and a growing list of partners we will enable, through this and future verifiable identity and access credentials, people to interact with businesses, schools, entertainment venues, retailers, airlines, resorts, and others and do the things and go to the places that they did before the pandemic changed our lives."
See: Law reform to move identity verification online
Healthcare issuers and individuals will be granted access to the system at no cost. Verifiers wishing to access the system will be charged a nominal subscription and micro-payment per verification, making it very cost efficient and effective to use the system for small and medium sized enterprises all the way up to major airlines, venues and facilities. The partners are committed to making the services affordable to all parties, so that everyone can get back to their everyday lives.
The KABN Network is working with leading industry partners to provide a safe and effective ecosystem that supports the issuance, ownership and verification of these verified identity and access credentials and is proud to be working with the following partners at the outset of this announcement covering a wide range of technologies, issuer, consumer, and verification engagement, with additional partners to be named as the program grows.
For more information, please visit www.kabnnaholdco.com or www.kabnsystemsna.com
For further information, please contact:
David Lucatch
Chief Executive Officer
647-725-7742 Ext. 701
mailto:ir@kabnsystemsna.com
US and Canadian Media Contact:
Nicole Rodrigues
NRPR Group
nicole@nrprgroup.com
View the full release -->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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Kabn North America Announces Non-Brokered Private Placement Financing for up to $2.0 Million
KABN | Cara Buckspan | Dec 10, 2020
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / December 10, 2020 / KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN) (the "Company" or "KABN North America" or "KABN NA"), a Canadian Fintech company that specializes in continuous online identity verification, management and monetization in Canada and the U.S., is pleased to announce that it has received interest for up to $2 Million of units ("Units") pursuant to a non-brokered financing (the "Non-Brokered Offering"), which will close prior to the unrelated, best efforts brokered private placement ("Brokered Offering") of units which the Company previously announced on December 7, 2020.
The gross proceeds of these unrelated offerings together will be up to $3.15 Million. The Units in each of the Brokered Offering and Non-Brokered Offering are being offered at $0.15 per Unit, with each Unit comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant shall be exercisable to acquire one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.20 per Warrant Share for a period of 24 months from the applicable closing.
See: Liquid Avatar and The KABN Network Launch Cloud-based Biometric Identity Verification for Self Sovereign Identity, Digital Wallets and Verified Credentials
The Brokered Offering is expected to close on or about December 29, 2020, or on such earlier date as agreed upon between the Company and Agent, and the Non-Brokered Offering is expected to close on or about December 21, 2020, or on such earlier date as the Company determines, and each is subject to certain conditions, including receipt of subscription agreements and payment of the subscription amounts by subscribers. The Units to be issued will have a hold period of four months and one day from the applicable closing.
The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.
About KABN North America
KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. through its wholly owned subsidiary KABN Systems North America Inc. focuses on the verification, management and monetization of digital identity, empowering users to control and benefit from the use of their online identity.
For more information, please visit www.kabnnaholdco.com or www.kabnsystemsna.com
KABN Systems NA Holding Corp. is a publicly listed company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "KABN."
For further information, please contact:
David Lucatch
647-725-7742 Ext. 701
ir@kabnsystemsna.com
View the original release --> 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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Liquid Avatar, Lumedic, Loop Insights, The Campus Agency and TripXpertz Form Consortium to Manage Verifiable Identity Credentials for COVID-19 Vaccinations
KABN | David Lucatch | Dec 8, 2020
Verified Self Sovereign Identity, together with a complete end-to-end issuance and verification health credentials ecosystem, ensures individuals have full privacy and control of personal healthcare data, including vaccination records, so they can securely start returning back to public life, freely.
TORONTO, ON and GIBRALTAR / ACCESSWIRE / December 8, 2020 / The KABN Network, together with KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN) (the "Company" or "KABN North America"), a Canadian fintech company that specializes in continuous online identity verification, management and monetization in Canada and the US, through its biometrically and identity verified Self Sovereign Identity platform, Liquid Avatar (www.liquidavatar.com), today announces the formation of a consortium of industry leaders that will empower people to start getting back to the activities, people and places they have been missing in their lives. The consortium has developed an integrated solution that enables healthcare issuers, individuals and verifiers to have a digital COVID-19 verifiable identity healthcare credential that is secure, user managed and controlled to ensure privacy, transportability and ease of use. This solution supports the foundation for the acceptance of digital Healthcare Passports.
This consortium initially includes the Lumedic Exchange, to power the healthcare credential ecosystem; Loop Insights (MTRX), a leader in automatic contact tracing; The Campus Agency, to support on campus programs at over 2,000 US Colleges and Universities; and TripXpertz, an organization that works with over 1,000 travel and tourism boards, airlines, wholesalers and resorts, together with Liquid Avatar's Self Sovereign Identity platform to empower the worldwide Healthcare industry to issue Identity-based Verifiable Credentials through a secure, effective and cost-efficient ecosystem.
See: Liquid Avatar and The KABN Network Launch Cloud-based Biometric Identity Verification for Self Sovereign Identity, Digital Wallets and Verified Credentials
This ecosystem will allow qualified Health Professionals with the ability to issue a Verifiable Credential that enables venues and other facilities to verify both the issued credential and the known user in real-time to grant access and / or services. This partnership built on a Trust over IP (TOIP) open standards framework, and the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) specifications for decentralized identifiers for credential management, can power interoperable COVID-19 vaccination and other verifiable credentials across a host of user managed and controlled digital wallets and applications. This process can be used for multiple use cases such as Education, Workplaces, Tradeshows, Healthcare, Sporting Events, Concerts, Entertainment, Travel, Places of Worship, Senior Living, and other facilities, venues and locations and opens the door to further opportunities for commercial and consumer opportunities.
Liquid Avatar's Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) platform, which includes user biometric validation and a bank-grade verified identity credential, is available to consumers at no cost. Liquid Avatar enables users to verify and manage their identity and access credentials in a cloud-based, biometrically-secure application. Users have complete control over their digital assets (like wallets, passwords and more), identity, and data through easy to use avatars that can be shared, on a permission-basis with others. The COVID-19 Verifiable Healthcare Credential combines healthcare data with the user's biometrically verified identity credential. When a request is made by a Verifier, the User has a choice of which attributes are shared, creating a private verification transaction between themselves and a verifier. While much of the technology and services are already in place, the launch of the healthcare credential pilot is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2021 to coincide with the expected release of the COVID-19 widespread vaccination program.
This program will not only be able to verify identity credentials for the Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostic and antibody testing, but will also be able to support a wide range of immunizations and healthcare records.
"We want to empower users to return to public life and the things they once did freely, pre-COVID-19, with ease and continued safety, with this and future credentials," said David Lucatch, CEO of KABN. "Our goal is to help get everyone back to life as efficiently and effectively as possible, so a sense of "normality" can be reestablished. Liquid Avatar and the ecosystem, together with this amazing group and a growing list of partners, will potentially enable businesses, schools, entertainment venues, and more do the normal things that they do and give users the power to engage with them as they did before the pandemic changed our lives."
Healthcare issuers and individuals will be granted access to the system at no cost. Verifiers wishing to access the system will be charged a nominal subscription and micro-payment per verification, making it very cost efficient and effective to use the system for small and medium sized enterprises all the way up to major airlines, venues and facilities. The partners are committed to making the services affordable to all parties, so that everyone can get back to their everyday lives.
See: From Voting To Social Media: What Does The Future Hold For Digital Identity On The Blockchain
The KABN Network is working with leading industry partners to provide a safe and effective ecosystem that supports the issuance, ownership and verification of these verified identity and access credentials and is proud to be working with the following partners at the outset of this announcement covering a wide range of technologies, issuer, consumer and verification engagement, with additional partners to be named as the program grows.
Trust over IP Foundation (ToIP)
As a member of the Trust over IP Foundation (www.trustoverip.org) steering committee, The KABN Network is committed to the organization's open-standard framework and tech stacks. ToIP recently released its Covid-19 Credentials Initiative ("CCI") Governance Framework for public review.
"Trust over IP offers an important new model for how to assemble the pieces that create working and reliable digital trust ecosystems. We are very excited to see momentum growing for real-world cases where the model is being used to make people's digital lives simpler and better. This includes the KABN Network becoming part of the Lumedic Exchange," said John Jordan - Executive Director of the Trust over IP Foundation. "We hope to see this momentum continue, and more organizations using the Trust over IP model to create solutions that benefit individuals and businesses."
Lumedic Exchange
The KABN Network, as a founding partner, is working with the Lumedic Exchange (www.lumedic.io), an open-standards, decentralized framework for the healthcare industry giving patients greater control over their health data.
Chris Ingrao, Chief Strategy Officer of Lumedic, a US-based Health technology company, part of Providence Health Systems ecosystem, comments: "Lumedic recently launched the Lumedic Exchange, the first healthcare ecosystem of its kind dedicated solely to community-driven standards development for patient-intermediated information exchange using verifiable credentials, to support secure exchange of vaccination information."
Loop Insights, Inc.
Powering professional sports, entertainment, collegiate and other venues and facilities with Automatic Contract Tracing, Loop Insights, Inc. (www.loopinsights.ai) (MTRX) has developed a fully managed contactless check-in platform that securely transfers contact information and triggers real-time notifications at scale.
"The success Loop has had with our recent NCAA sporting events using our venue tracing and management tools, only reinforces the need for a unified verifiable credential that consumers and businesses can trust. Working with KABN and Liquid Avatar and their digital identity platform will provide our customers - and ultimately consumers - with the level of trust required to provide personal information such as COVID testing results, vaccination proof, payment, and other sensitive personal information required in today's changing landscape. We are thrilled to be one of the first partners to work with KABN and Liquid Avatar on an end to end solution that will provide this safety, security, and peace of mind required to protect consumers looking to return to a new way of life where mobile devices and personal information will be at the forefront of nearly every interaction", Rob Anson, President and CEO Loop Insights.
The Campus Agency
With reach to over 2,000 US College and University campuses and over 1.5 Million Gen Z students, alumni and families, The Campus Agency (www.thecampusagency.com) has been supporting innovative direct to student and online marketing programs for over 40 years.
"We are really excited to be working with KABN and Liquid Avatar and be a member of this consortium. COVID-19 has impacted the lives of students and faculty on college campuses in such a major way, and we are looking forward to being part of a solution that provides campus communities with the tools and resources they need to return to their way of lives, safely and securely," Chris Nyland, Chief Operating Officer, The Campus Agency
TripXpertz
Powering over 1,000 travel and government tourism boards, airlines, travel wholesalers and resorts in US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and around the world, to more effectively reach their intended travel audiences with end to end travel marketing management, booking and analytics solutions TripXpertz (www.tripxpertz.com) is changing the way the travel industry reaches travelers and how travelers can receive better value from their travel experiences.
"Our Priority Protection Passport program is aimed at restoring consumer confidence and trust in travelling again and piece-of-mind while away," says Brad Miron, CEO of TripXpertz. "This partnership gives us, and our multiple program stakeholders, the ability to verify an individual's identity with certainty, while maintaining security and privacy - In the context of Priority Protection Passport, Liquid Avatar and the capabilities of the Verifiable Identity Healthcare Credentials are foundational to what we must deliver to attract, assure and welcome back tourists to destinations."
For more information on the program and / or how to become a consortium partner or participant, please visit www.liquidavatar.com
About KABN North America - www.kabnnaholdco.com
KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. through its wholly owned subsidiary KABN Systems North America Inc. focuses on the verification, management and monetization of Self Sovereign identity, empowering users to control and benefit from the use of their online identity. The KABN proprietary technology suite includes 4 key products:
Liquid Avatar is a verified Self Sovereign Identity platform empowers users to create high quality digital icons representing their online personas. These icons, in conjunction with KABN ID, allow users to manage and control their digital identity and Verifiable Access and Identity Credentials, and to use Liquid Avatars to share public and permission based private data when they want and with whom they want. www.liquidavatar.com
KABN ID is an Always On, biometric and blockchain based digital identity validation and verification platform allowing users to continuously and confidently prove themselves throughout the online community.
KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. is publicly listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the symbol "KABN" (CSE:KABN)
If you have not already joined our mailing list, and would like to receive updates on KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp., please click here to join!
For more information, please visit www.kabnnaholdco.com or www.kabnsystemsna.com
For further information, please contact:
David Lucatch
Chief Executive Officer
647-725-7742 Ext. 701
ir@kabnsystemsna.com
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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KABN Network Joins the Trust Over IP Foundation
KABN Systems North America | David Lucatch | Nov 12, 2020
Global Leaders in Online Identity Verification, Management and Monetization Take Strategic Role as Steering Members to Help Enable Trusted Exchange of Verifiable Digital Credentials
TORONTO, ON and GIBRALTAR / ACCESSWIRE / November 12, 2020 / The KABN Network together with KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN) (the "Company" or "KABN North America") (www.kabnsystemsna.com), a Canadian Fintech company that specializes in continuous online identity verification, management and monetization in Canada and the US, today has announced a strategic role as a Steering Member of the Trust over IP ("ToIP") Foundation (www.trustoverip.org).
In taking on this role, KABN joins other Steering Members including Accenture, Anonyme Labs, Continuum Loop, Evernym, Finicity, Futurewei, IBM, ID Ramp, LG CNS, Mastercard and others. The Trust over IP Foundation has over 170 members, including organizations as well as individuals, collaborating together with the common objective of changing the way people interact online.
See: KABN North America and BOON Rewards Set to Launch Cashback and Rewards Programs
The Trust over IP Foundation is defining a complete architecture for Internet-scale digital trust that combines both cryptographic trust at the machine layer and human trust at the business, legal, and social layers. As part of this community, the KABN Network is focused on bridging the gap between traditional fintech services and solutions and new and innovative Verified Credential processes.
KABN aims to use proven bank-grade identity verification processes to allow Holders (who use a credential), Verifiers (who confirm the validity of a credential) and Issuers (who produce the credential) to complete transactions of many kinds including financial services, eCommerce transactions, organization, building and visitor access badges among others.
"I am certain KABN will make a strong contribution to the Trust over IP Foundation." said John Jordan, executive director, BC Digital Trust Service and executive director of ToIP. "People and businesses are going to continue using the internet to build relationships and complete transactions digitally with all the risks of security breaches and fraud that go along with it today. It's time for a change. Global leaders are working together at our Foundation to make it possible for people to be known and to build trusted relationships online. I am happy to have KABN be part of this effort."
Businesses today struggle to protect and manage digital assets and data, especially in an increasingly complex enterprise environment that includes the Internet of Things (IoT), Edge Computing, Artificial Intelligence and much more. This is compounding the already low consumer confidence in the use of personal data and is slowing innovation on opportunities like digital identity and the adoption of new services that can support humanity.
See: From Voting To Social Media: What Does The Future Hold For Digital Identity On The Blockchain
The KABN Network believes that without a global standard for how to ensure digital trust, these struggles are bound to continue. The four layers of Trust over IP's dual governance and technology stack establish a clear model for how utilities, technical components, business rules and human-focused design can combine to solve this set of problems. The digital trust ecosystems that emerge from Trust over IP will help businesses, citizens and governments alike use the internet to create enduring trusted relationships that allow transactions to be completed safely and with confidence.
"With the ToIP Technology and Governance Stack, the industry is now in a position for an Identity Paradigm shift. Future generations will have a hard time believing that there was a day when everyone was anonymous on the Internet and we believe that the KABN Network is at the forefront of this evolution," said RJ Reiser, KABN North America CBDO, Director and Co-Chair ToIP Ecosystem Foundry Working Group.
View the original press release --> 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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Leading Canadian Mortgage Tech Company, Lendesk, Acquires Digital Mortgage Origination Provider, Finmo
Lendesk | Oct 27, 2020
Lendesk Technologies, the premier FinTech provider for Canada's mortgage industry professionals, today announced its acquisition of Finmo Financial Technologies – the fastest growing mortgage origination platform in Canada.
Lendesk provides technology that seamlessly connects mortgage brokers with its network of over 200 lenders. The company's Lender Spotlight product allows brokers to find up-to-date mortgage rates, lender policies and product guidelines from lenders across Canada, and compare them side-by-side to find the best option for their clients.
See: How to buy a home for cash
Finmo helps mortgage professionals offer their clients a truly digital experience. Finmo's proprietary Smart Docs algorithms allow brokers to automatically request necessary documents from their clients as part of an intuitive digital mortgage application process. Then, the platform converts client uploads to PDFs, making the materials easier for brokers and lenders to view and manage. Best of all, it was created with mortgage professionals, and their clients' needs, in mind. The technology is backed by the 27 of the top brokers in Canada – who have provided investment, feedback and support as it has grown. These brokers will continue to back the newly combined platform.
"At Lendesk, we have been very focused on the experience of brokers and lenders – constantly finding new ways they can work together more efficiently to achieve their common goal of a streamlined mortgage process," said Alex Conconi, Founder and CEO of Lendesk. "Now, with this acquisition, we have extended that experience beyond brokers and lenders, to improve the experience of their clients: homebuyers and homeowners. Mortgage professionals who work with Lendesk can already find the best deal for their clients with Spotlight, and now they can provide the best mortgage experience using Finmo's digital origination platform."
Later this fall, Finmo's technology will be integrated into Lendesk's platform allowing brokers to use the suite of products to complete the entire mortgage process securely and digitally, from client acquisition to direct submission. With the new system, brokers will be able to share personalized Finmo application links with clients, seamlessly use the Lender Spotlight to search and qualify specific products, digitally collect documents and submit applications directly to hundreds of lenders using the Lendesk Lender Network.
"When considering who would be the best partner for Finmo, Lendesk was the obvious choice," said Greg Williamson, President and Co-founder of Finmo. "The leadership has an intense drive to improve the broker-lender relationship, just as we have been focused on helping brokers better assist their clients. By combining these technologies, the mortgage experience will be improved for everyone involved."
Carter Zimmerman, CEO and Co-Founder of Finmo added, "combining Finmo's product and engineering experts with the immense resources at Lendesk will enable the team to quickly and effectively provide the features and innovations mortgage professionals expect, while maintaining intensely high levels of innovation."
Greg Williamson will now serve as the Chief Revenue Officer of Lendesk. Carter Zimmerman is now the Chief Product Officer for Lendesk. All other Finmo team members are also now part of the Lendesk team.
Lendesk is part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), the largest mortgage tech company in America, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in August. Lendesk is empowered by Rocket Companies to continue the mission to digitize the mortgage experience for Canadian mortgage brokers, lenders and their mutual clients. Rocket Companies supports those efforts with capital investments and, more importantly, advice and expertise from its group of other successful FinTech Leaders.
Mortgage brokers are encouraged sign up with Finmo today at Finmo.ca to be among the first to leverage the forthcoming combined platform.
The acquisition closed in earlier this month and financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
View the original press release --> 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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Canada’s first public Bitcoin fund hits $100M mark
Cointelegraph | Helen Partz | Oct 21, 2020
Shares of Canada’s first publicly listed Bitcoin fund are up 30% since its launch in April.
Canadian digital asset manager 3iQ has recorded a major milestone fo its public Bitcoin (BTC) fund.
The Bitcoin Fund — Canada’s first Bitcoin fund listed on a major stock exchange — has crossed the $100 million market cap threshold, 3iQ announced in an Oct. 20 tweet.
Tyler Winklevoss, a major cryptocurrency investor and a co-founder of United States’ Gemini crypto exchange, congratulated 3iQ on the milestone.
As previously reported, 3iQ launched its Bitcoin fund in April 2020, listing the Bitcoin Fund’s shares (QBTC.U) on the Toronto Stock Exchange. At the launch, the Bitcoin Fund listed nearly 1.5 million Class A shares on the exchange.
See: Bitcoin price hits record high for 2020 after PayPal finally adds cryptocurrency
In conjunction with a new market cap milestone, the Bitcoin Fund’s shares have seen significant growth since its launch. At publishing time, QBTC.U is trading at $15.80, up about 30% from $11 when it was listed in April.
At the launch, Winklevoss claimed that it was the “first public Bitcoin fund listed on a major stock exchange.” Winklevoss’s Gemini exchange is providing crypto custodian services for the Bitcoin Fund.
In January 2018, 3iQ reportedly became the first crypto fund regulated by the Ontario Securities Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators.
Continue to the full article --> here
3iQ Press Release | Oct
3iQ’s The Bitcoin Fund Offers Trading Denominated in Canadian Dollars
Toronto, Oct. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 3iQ Corp. ("3iQ") is pleased to announce that the Class A Units of The Bitcoin Fund will commence trading in Canadian dollars on the Toronto Stock Exchange on October 22, 2020 under the symbol “QBTC.” The Class A Units will trade under their existing CUSIP number. “Finally, Canadian investors have the opportunity to trade The Bitcoin Fund in their native currency and through their locally dominated accounts, thus eliminating the interminable costs and albeit hassle of converting currencies” says Fred Pye, President & CEO of 3iQ.
The Bitcoin Fund’s investment objectives are to provide holders of units with exposure to bitcoin and the opportunity for long-term capital appreciation. The Bitcoin Fund acquires assets from reputable and regulated bitcoin trading platforms and OTC counterparties, in order to provide investors with a convenient, secure alternative to a direct investment in bitcoin. We believe an investment in bitcoin will provide investors with a low-correlated asset class, which will complement traditional investment strategies.
See: $14M Bitcoin Fund Gets Listed on Toronto Stock Exchange
Additionally, 3iQ is excited to welcome Christopher Matta to the company as Managing Director of Sales and Trading, effective October 19th, 2020. Chris is the President and Founder of the Blockchain Association of New Jersey, which advocates for innovative regulatory leadership and enterprise collaboration for the cryptocurrency space. He is the former co-founder of Crescent Crypto, an asset management firm focused on creating innovative investment solutions to bring the cryptocurrency asset class to institutional and mainstream investors. Prior to Crescent, Chris was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where he managed assets for the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund and Trust Comp. Chris reveals that he is "excited to be joining 3iQ at this pivotal time as the company is rapidly expanding, launching new and innovative products that will make digital asset investing more secure and accessible through a regulated offering.”
View release 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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Bitcoin price hits record high for 2020 after PayPal finally adds cryptocurrency
Business Insider | Ben Winck | Oct 21, 2020
Bitcoin leaps to highest since July 2019 after PayPal opens service to cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin spiked as much as 8% higher on Wednesday after PayPal revealed it will soon allow users to buy, sell, and hold the popular cryptocurrency.
- The leap pushed bitcoin to an intraday peak of $12,817.17, its highest level since July 2019.
- PayPal's Wednesday announcement marks the latest move by a financial-services giant to accept cryptocurrencies.
- Billionaire investor and bitcoin bull Michael Novogratz deemed PayPal's move "the biggest news of the year in crypto."
Bitcoin soared as much as 8% on Wednesday after PayPal announced it would open its service to cryptocurrency purchases and sales.
The rally placed bitcoin at an intraday high of $12,817.17, well above its previous 2020 record of $12,473. The Wednesday peak marks bitcoin's highest level since July 2019.
See: Square’s Major Bitcoin Buy: Puts 1% of Total Assets Worth $50 Million in BTC
The world's largest cryptocurrency is up more than 11% this week alone. Bitcoin broke through the key $12,000 level on Tuesday, and the PayPal news adds more fuel to the upswing.
PayPal said Wednesday it will allow its users to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies from their accounts starting in a few weeks. More than 26 million merchants using the platform will also be able to accept cryptocurrencies as a funding source, according to a press release.
The company's acceptance of cryptocurrencies comes after other mainstream financial names adopt the previously ignored asset class. Square scooped up 4,709 bitcoins for $50 million earlier in October, saying bitcoin can become "a more ubiquitous currency" in the future. Fidelity rolled out its first bitcoin-focused fund back in August, allowing its wealthier clients to back the volatile tokens.
Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz praised PayPal's move on Wednesday, deeming it "the biggest news of the year in crypto." The former hedge fund manager serves as chief executive for Galaxy Investment Partners, a crypto-focused investment firm.
Novogratz has long pushed for widespread adoption of digital currencies, and said in a tweet that PayPal's action marks an "exciting day" for cryptocurrency advocates.
Continue to the full article --> here
Bitcoin price hits record high for 2020 after PayPal finally adds cryptocurrency
The Independent (UK) | Anthony Cuthbertson | Oct 21, 2020
Analysts say coronavirus pandemic has also helped cryptocurrency more than double in value since March
The price of bitcoin hit a record high for 2020 on Wednesday, after PayPal announced plans to integrate cryptocurrency into its online payment platform.
Bitcoin’s price rose by more than 5 per cent following the news, taking its total gains since last week above $1,000. It is currently trading above $12,400.
PayPal said customers will be able to pay using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at the 26 million merchants on its network from next year.
See: PayPal is going after the big banks
As the world’s number one online payments platform, bitcoin’s reach will extend to its roughly 346 million customers worldwide.
“Our global reach, digital payments expertise, two-sided network, and rigorous security and compliance controls provide us with the opportunity, and the responsibility, to help facilitate the understanding, redemption and interoperability of these new instruments of exchange,” said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman.
Bitcoin remains a long way off the all-time price highs seen in late 2017, when its value briefly rose to $20,000, but the latest gains come just seven months after bitcoin was trading below $5,000.
Some analysts have attributed price gains since March to global economic uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Ongoing - and heightening - global political, economic and social turbulence suggests that there will be a price surge before the end of the year,” Nigel Green, CEO of financial advisory firm deVere Group, told The Independent.
“Like gold, bitcoin can be expected to retain its value or even grow in value when other assets fall, therefore enabling investors to reduce their exposure to losses.
Investors will increase exposure to decentralised, non-sovereign, secure digital currencies, such as bitcoin, to help shield them from the potential issues in traditional markets.
See: Samsung Is Quietly Becoming A Major Bitcoin, Crypto And Blockchain Player
“There’s a growing sense that we’re set to experience a mini-boom similar to that seen at the end of 2017.”
Other analysts warned that bitcoin’s volatile nature means investors should remain weary of any sudden price jumps.
Simon Peters, a multi-asset analyst at online trading platform eToro, told The Independent: “Emphasis will be on how the price reacts at $12,000, given we haven't convincingly stayed above the threshold this year. Before investors look to the next bull run, we need to see the price remain above $12,000 for an extended period of time.”
Continue to the full article --> 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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