Mahi Sall, Advisor, Fintech-Bank Partnerships, Payments and Financial Inclusivity
January 25th, 2023
Mahi Sall is the CEO & Founder of FinXpair, a Berlin-based strategic advisory boutique firm focu[...]
Coinsquare acquires BlockEQ to expand its cryptocurrency offerings
Coinsquare release | Dec 6, 2018
The acquisition was closed for $12 million CAD and brings the leading cryptocurrency wallet on
the Stellar platform into the Coinsquare ecosystem
TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2018 /CNW/ - Today Coinsquare, Canada's premier cryptocurrency trading platform for trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, announced it has acquired BlockEQ, the leading cryptocurrency wallet on the Stellar network. Coinsquare purchased BlockEQ for $12 million CAD and will leverage BlockEQ's technology to help Coinsquare and its users connect further with the world of cryptocurrencies.
See: House Finance Committee Urges Canadian Government to Regulate Cryptocurrencies
"We have enormous respect for what the BlockEQ team brings to Coinsquare," said Cole Diamond, CEO of Coinsquare. "They are one of Canada's best tech teams, and the product they've built is immensely valuable. That combination in partnership with Coinsquare's technology and team means that we have the opportunity to build amazing things for the cryptocurrency community in Canada and far beyond."
BlockEQ, which was co-founded by Jonathan Lister, Megha Bambra and Satraj Bambra, is a cryptocurrency wallet that empowers users to buy, trade, and hold cryptocurrencies in a secure manner. It allows for the tokenization of crypto assets in order to allow them to move on the Stellar network, at a fraction of the cost of moving any other assets in the world, with near instant settlement. Their innovative technology means increased user acquisition, and an incredible ability to scale into the quickly maturing cryptocurrency world. Coinsquare and BlockEQ will be working towards launching a huge number of crypto assets together, none more notable in the short term than an upcoming Coinsquare Stable Coin.
"We're excited to be working under the Coinsquare umbrella," said Satraj Bambra, CEO of BlockEQ. "Coinsquare was the reason we initially became interested in the cryptocurrency space, so when Cole and team approached us about coming onboard, it seemed like a natural next step."
See: FINTECH FRIDAY$ (EP.18-Nov 16): Bridging the AML/ATF Gap with Financial Institutions and the New Economy with Charlene Cieslik, Chief AML Officer, Coinsquare
BlockEQ will remain its own entity, operating as a subsidiary of Coinsquare as the company continues to diversify its business lines and move toward becoming a 21st-century financial institution. Earlier this year, Coinsquare announced the launch of Coincapital, the portfolio and investment fund management division of the trading platform; and was recognized by LinkedIn as the fastest-growing startup on the Top Canadian Startup list based on the company's 92 per cent employee base growth from July 2017 to June 2018.
To learn more about Coinsquare, visit coinsquare.com. To learn more about BlockEQ, visit blockeq.com.
Source: release
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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Read More
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Read More
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Read More
Read More
CNBC | Hannah Ward-Glenton | Mar 27, 2023 The banking crisis today looks very different from 15 years ago thanks to social media, online banking, and huge shifts in regulation. So how is it different? Social media not only allows rumors to spread more easily, but also much faster. "What social media has done is increase the importance of reputation, perhaps exponentially, and that's part of this problem I think," Donavan added. Social media gives "more scope for damaging rumours to spread" compared to 2008, Jon Danielsson, director of the Systemic Risk Centre at the London School of Economics, told CNBC in an email. "The increased use of the Internet and social media, digital banking and the like, all work to make the financial system more fragile than it otherwise would be," Danielsson said. "There are a couple of tweets and then this thing [the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank] went down much faster than has happened in history," Fraser added. While information can spread within seconds, money can now be withdrawn just as quickly. Mobile banking has changed the fundamental behavior of bank users, as well as the optics of a financial collapse. See: Digital Asset Experts School Senate ...
Read More
Read More
Cato Institute | Jennifer J. Schulp | Feb 17, 2023 What little financial privacy you have when trading stocks is about to get even smaller next month. When you make a stock trade, your broker already is required by the Bank Secrecy Act to maintain records of it, monitor your trading activity, and report any suspicion of illegal activity to the federal government. Starting in March, your broker will be required to directly report all of your trades, including your personal information, to a massive government database. If the Bank Secrecy Act concerns you—and even if it doesn’t—just wait until you hear about the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). The Consolidated Audit Trail is intended to collect and accurately identify every order, cancellation, modification, and trade execution for all exchange‐listed equities and options across all U.S. markets, allowing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to track orders and identify who made them. See: Office of the Privacy Commissioner Announces Digital ID Ecosystem Resolution to Ensure Transparency and Privacy This massive surveillance database is a financial privacy nightmare: The CAT began collecting trading data in 2020, after years of development replete with challenges and controversies. It is scheduled to begin collecting customer information on March ...
Read More
Read More
Coindesk | Nikhilesh De | Mar 22, 2023 The regulator alleged TRX and BTT are unregistered securities, and claimed Sun created an "extensive wash trading" program to boost their trading volume. The SEC said in a press release it was suing Sun, the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation and BitTorrent (now known as Rainberry) over the sale of tronix (TRX) and bitTorrent (BTT) tokens, which the regulator described as unregistered crypto asset securities. The regulator further alleged the defendants "fraudulently manipulat[ed]" TRX's secondary market through an "extensive wash trading" scheme. See: SEC Warns Investors: Be Vigilant Regarding Crypto Asset Securities The SEC alleged, by having his own employees "engage in more than 600,000 wash trades of TRX between two crypto asset trading platform accounts he controlled." According to the court filing, Sun's Tron Foundation employees conducted the trades, the BitTorrent and Tron foundations controlled the accounts and Rainberry employees transferred funds for the trading. Celebrity influencers: The agency is also suing Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Soulja Boy, Lil Yachty, Ne-Yo, Akon and Michele Mason on illegal touting charges for their roles allegedly promoting TRX and BTT without disclosing they were paid to do so. The majority of these celebrities settled the ...
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