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

World-Renowned Artist May Pang Presents John Lennon’s Lost Weekend Experience, The “Walls and Bridges” NFT Collection, in Partnership with McCartney Multimedia and Oasis Digital Studios

May 10, 2021

Liquid Avatar Release | May 10, 2021 Exclusive collection of never-before-seen photographs of John cinematically enhanced and created with AR-technology to be sold as limited edition, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) TORONTO, ON and VANCOUVER, BC and ERIE, PA and LOS ANGELES, CA and NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2021 / Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. (CSE:LQID)(OTC PINK:TRWRF)(FRA:4T51), ImagineAR Inc. (IP)(IPNFF), McCartney Multimedia Inc. and Oasis Digital Studios proudly announce a truly historical collaboration, revealing new, never-before-seen photos of Rock Legend, John Lennon, that drops for viewing today, as part of an exclusive group of 15 limited edition photographic and animated NFTs with AR enhancements, that recount the original inspiration of John's Walls and Bridges album cover art. Music enthusiasts and John Lennon fans will be able to purchase these NFTs in two special offerings, as original format, variations, and cinematics, starting May 19th, gaining digital ownership of a representation of a very personal time in his life. Most of these photos have never been seen publicly before and have been preserved as part of music history. "I'm proud to share these portraits of John, which became the inspiration for the Walls and Bridges album artwork as NFTs, allowing music ...
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Bank of Canada to become new regulator of fintech companies doing payments processing

May 7, 2021

The Globe and Mail | James Bradshaw and Mark Rendell | May 6, 2021 The federal government has introduced a new law to begin regulating technology companies offering payment services, aiming to increase trust in financial technology startups and stoke competition with established banks as digital payments become more popular. The Retail Payments Activities Act will put the Bank of Canada in charge of regulating payment services providers in Canada that aren’t governed by another regulator, as well as foreign companies facilitating payments for Canadian customers. It does not apply to domestic or foreign banks, credit unions or insurance companies that are already regulated in other ways. Instead, it is aimed at financial technology startups – often called “fintechs” or “paytechs” – as well as global technology giants such as Google and Apple that have made inroads in digital payments without robust oversight. See:  Wait and see approach for Fintechs as Payments Canada chooses Interac as Canada’s real-time payments provider The new law comes at a moment when adoption and use of digital payments by consumers and small businesses has accelerated dramatically amid the coronavirus pandemic. The tighter controls on startups are intended to make payments more secure and reliable ...
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A Visual Explanation of Algorithmic Stablecoins

May 7, 2021

Dragonfly Research | Haseeb Qureshi | Apr 27, 2021 Stablecoin usage has exploded in the last year. And yet, fewer and fewer people seem to understand how these stablecoins actually work. For some reason, stablecoin creators are obsessed with making these designs seem impenetrably complex. Almost every white paper is mired in equations and newly invented jargon, as though their authors are trying to convince you: trust me, you’re not smart enough to understand this. I don’t agree. At bottom, all stablecoin design is pretty simple. I’m going to show you a simple visual language to understand how all stablecoins work. Think of each stablecoin protocol as a bank. They each hold assets and owe liabilities. Each of them captures value somehow and distributes that value to “equity” holders. Consider a normal full-reserve bank. On the left side are its real assets — the actual physical dollars it holds in reserve. On the right side are its liabilities—call them “digital dollars”—which are claims on the assets in reserve. See:  A Brilliant Fintech Future – Banking on Stablecoins In a full-reserve bank, each liability is matched 1:1 with assets in reserve. If someone with a digital dollar asks for the cash ...
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NCFA Reveals Speakers and Agenda for Online FFCON21: Fintech and Financing Conference

May 6, 2021

NCFA Release | May 6, 2021 Conference to explore accelerated Blockchain - Fintech trends and innovations paving the way to mass adoption and scale TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 6, 2020 / The Fintech & Financing Conference and Expo (#FFCON21), Canada's premier Fintech conference organized by The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA), Toronto Finance International (TFI), and partners has announced its agenda and speaker line-up for its seventh annual event taking place online from May 11-13. Building on the success of previous conferences will bring together an international community of leading voices in fintech, digital banking, payments, tokenization, blockchain, CBDCs, digital identity, AI, capital markets innovation and finance - all in an immersive and interactive platform. The FFCON21 audience is composed of 500 global Fintechs, financial institutions, investors, tech providers, government, and media. This year's theme is 'Breaking Barriers' - reflecting the growth and emerging challenges that the Canadian Fintech industry must navigate to achieve mass adoption and scale. Through keynotes, lively panel discussions, and workshops the conference will share new ideas and thought-provoking insights into: AI and the Future of Innovation in Financial Services The Rise of Decentralized Finance and Web 3.0 and its Barriers to Adoption ...
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Wealthsimple Raises Money at $4 Billion Value; Drake Buys In

May 4, 2021

Bloomberg | Kevin Orland | May 3, 2021 Power Corp. of Canada’s Wealthsimple online brokerage raised C$750 million ($610 million) in a funding round that valued it about $4 billion, more than triple what it was worth in October. The round was led by existing investors Meritech Capital Partners and Greylock Partners, the Toronto-based company said Monday. Also participating are Canadian celebrities including rapper Drake, actors Ryan Reynolds and Michael J. Fox and basketball player Kelly Olynyk. Wealthsimple, which has more than 2 million users, is benefiting from surging valuations for tech companies and an increase in online trading that has fueled rivals like Robinhood Markets Inc. Wealthsimple offers commission-free stock trading as well as automated investing, cryptocurrency trading and tax services. See:  Wealthsimple CEO Michael Katchen on his not-so-simple mission: to help people — especially youth — build the foundations of financial freedom The financing announcement confirmed a Bloomberg report on April 30 that the company was in talks to raise money at a valuation of at least C$4.3 billion. Wealthsimple raised C$114 million at a C$1.5 billion post-money valuation in October, giving it unicorn status. Continue to the full article --> here The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association ...
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Series of Essays: Regulation in the Era of Fintech

May 3, 2021

The Regulatory Review | April 26, 2021 Technological innovation is changing the financial sector. Cryptocurrency markets have surged to all-time highs, culminating in the historic initial public offering of Coinbase, the first major cryptocurrency company to go public on a U.S. stock exchange. Retail investors have used Reddit and various commission-free trading platforms to spark unprecedented market volatility in “meme stocks,” such as GameStop. And at the same time, the Internal Revenue Service has struggled to distribute stimulus checks to millions of Americans, highlighting the need for better technological and regulatory solutions to facilitate faster payments in the United States. New financial technology, or “fintech,” promises to make the financial system faster, better informed, and more global. Once a budding sector of finance, fintech is now a constant presence in every corner of the industry. Fintech products have opened the door to many new opportunities for consumers, investors, and businesses. But with these opportunities, come new challenges. Regulators and policymakers face key choices as they adapt to meet the needs of this constantly changing landscape while keeping investors and consumers safe. See:  SEC Commissioner Peirce speak at FFCON21 May 11-13 - Register Here The Regulatory Review has invited policymakers, scholars, ...
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This Slackbot wants to fix fintech’s workplace harassment problem

April 30, 2021

Sifted | Ryan Weeks | Apr 28, 2021 There have been hundreds of cases of harassment in the fintech sector. Today, InChorus launched a slack bot to track and collate data on microaggressions. The fact that InChorus, a reporting platform for workplace harassment, chose fintech as its ground zero is a sobering sign for the sector. More sobering still is the fact that, this time last year, more than 500 incidents of harassment were reported through InChorus’ system by fintech employees in the UK. Of those, 85% related to gender and 10% involved “unwanted physical contact”. See:  Why workplace learning matters more than ever Unsurprisingly, more than 85 companies in the sector have since signed up to the FinTech For All Charter, which aims to tackle these issues with the support of the Financial Conduct Authority, Innovate Finance, Level39 and others. The next phase in that initiative begins today, with the rollout of a new Slackbot which will track and collate data on microaggressions relating to harassment and diversity issues within the fintech sector. “We really believe in the ongoing collection of data around this problem in order to ultimately drive accountability,” said Rosie Turner, cofounder and co-CEO of InChorus ...
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DeFi Users Explode as ETH Makes New Highs

April 29, 2021

The Defiant | Dan Kahan | Apr 29, 2021 ETH is breaking new all-time highs of just under $2,800 on Thursday, and the breathtaking rally from $200 a year ago is coming with a boom in users. MetaMask said it has surpassed the 5M monthly active users milestone, while a popular Dune Analytics dashboard shows DeFi users just recently climbed above 2M for the first time. MetaMask Boom MetaMask’s active user base has grown 400% during the past six months, according to the April 27 blog post. The DeFi wallet had reached 1M cumulative monthly active users across its browser extension and mobile app for the first time in October 2020. Now in April, MetaMask is reporting over 5M active users over the past month. FFCON21 May 11-13:  Join us for VIP Masterclasses on Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Workshops MetaMask attributed the influx of users to a combination of factors including the NFT craze and increased interest in DeFi from people in what the company calls “the Global South.” “India and Indonesia are both in the top 5 countries in terms of MetaMask mobile adoption, while Vietnam and Nigeria are in the top 10,” the post says. “Many people in these ...
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SEC enforcement chief resigns over role in Indonesian torture case

April 29, 2021

Politico | Kellie Mejdrich and Zachary Warmbrodt | Apr 28, 2021 Alex Oh said in a resignation letter that she was leaving because of a "development" in a case on which she worked as a corporate lawyer. SEC Chair Gary Gensler's pick to serve as the agency's enforcement director resigned unexpectedly on Wednesday amid mounting criticism from progressives over her work as a corporate defense lawyer. Alex Oh, who was in private practice for two decades before Gensler announced her new role last week, resigned after a federal judge reprimanded her and others defending oil giant ExxonMobil in a class action lawsuit brought by Indonesian villagers. It was a stunning reversal for the SEC less than two weeks into Gensler's tenure at the helm of the agency. "In light of the time and attention it will take from me, I have reached the conclusion that I cannot address this development without it becoming an unwelcome distraction to the important work of the division," Oh said in a resignation letter. Oh walked away from the job as Gensler faced growing concern from progressives on Capitol Hill and in the activism community about his decision to hire a long-time corporate lawyer for ...
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Tesla Sold Some Bitcoins

April 29, 2021

Bloomberg Opinion | Matt Levine | Apr 28, 2021 Tesla Bitcoin I wrote back in February: A funny thing for Elon Musk to do would be: Tesla Inc. buys some Bitcoin. 2. Tesla announces that Bitcoin is good now and that it bought some. 3. The price of Bitcoin goes up, because institutional adoption of Bitcoin is good for its price, but also because, by the Elon Markets Hypothesis, anything that Musk buys goes up. 4. Tesla sells some Bitcoin, making a profit. 5. Musk tweets that the price of Bitcoin is too high. 6. Bitcoin prices go down due to the Elon Markets Hypothesis. 7. Go to Step 1. Well, on Monday Tesla announced earnings, and guess what guess what guess what: Tesla pulled a new lever to juice earnings in the quarter, generating $101 million in income from selling about 10% of its Bitcoin holdings. Profit from the cryptocurrency and the sale of regulatory credits and tax benefits contributed about 25 cents to Tesla’s adjusted earnings of 93 cents a share, allowing the carmaker to beat Wall Street’s 80-cent average estimate, Dan Levy, an analyst with Credit Suisse, wrote in a note Monday. See:  Elon Musk says people ...
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