Paul Schulte, Advisor, Banking and Financial Services
August 22nd, 2019
Paul Schulte is the Founder and Managing Editor of Shulte Research based in Singapore. Paul's roles[...]
SEC Launches Fintech Hub To Engage With Cryptocurrency Startups And More
Forbes | | Oct 18, 2018
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more.
Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public.
As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch.
The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance.
“We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.”
The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues.
See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens
In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” message has been hidden on the page.
Over the past year the number of cases being publicly pursued by the SEC has increased. As a result the U.S securities regulator earlier this year published a webpage that spoofed scam websites as a way to educate potential investors and blockchain builders. The new portal appears to be an extension of that strategy.
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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Decrypt | Andrew Hayward | May 27, 2020 First came CryptoKitties, and now Dapper Labs is launching a licensed hoops game with potentially massive mainstream appeal In brief NBA Top Shot, a blockchain-based collectibles game, is lauching in closed beta. The licensed game is developed by Dapper Labs, the studio behind CryptoKitties. Top Shot features tokenized NBA highlights and also pairs with a mobile hoops game. CryptoKitties developer Dapper Labs is going big for its latest project: NBA Top Shot, an officially licensed, blockchain-driven collectible game featuring tokenized highlights from basketball’s greatest stars. See: How the Pandemic Is Pushing Blockchain Forward It will be available to play next week, at least to those who registered interest and receive an invitation to the soon-to-be-released closed beta test. “What Top Shot does is it allows fans to buy a piece of the on-court action, actually own it, and then be able to sell it,” Dapper Labs VP of Marketing and Partnerships Caty Tedman told Decrypt. “It creates a new economy around the sport that’s never existed before that we’re particularly excited about.” The tokenized moments arrive as interactive “snapshots of a moment in time,” explained Tedman. They’re multi-faceted, animated widgets of sorts ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | May 29, 2020 JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY. EP40: Why Bitcoin Exists and Education for the Masses HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Fridays podcast episode GUEST: AUSTIN HUBBELL, Founder and CEO, Consilium Crypto (Linkedin) About this episode: On this episode our host Manseeb Khan sits down with Austin Hubbell from Consilum Crypto. They chat about how quarantine is going, the state crypto and much more. Enjoy! NCFA Canada · EP40 Why Bitcoin Exists, Adjusting to Covid-19 and Education for the Masses with Austin Hubbell BIO: Austin is the CEO and co-founder of Consilium Crypto (https://consiliumcrypto.ai/), a big data company developing institutional grade investment analytics and liquidity access tools for the digital asset markets, helping funds find alpha and place large orders efficiently in times of thin liquidity. With a background in software development and machine learning, as well as previous tech startup experience, Austin brings a skillset balanced between the technology and business worlds. He previously worked with a distributed team based in L.A./San Francisco to build predictive models for crime hotspotting in major US cities, before transferring to the FinTech world to build machine learning based trading systems for currency markets. Enjoy! Subscribe and ...
Read More
Raconteur | Marylou Costa | May 28, 2020 Often seen as a nice-to-have, workplace learning and professional development are now gaining importance as organisations’ best shot at retaining happy staff and staying competitive The idea of working from home may conjure up images of dishevelled, tracksuited executives. But the home has actually become the epicentre of a reskilling revolution that may just save businesses from a coronavirus-induced collapse. Corporate learning providers such as LinkedIn Learning, Circus Street and Hive Learning are all reporting a spike in usage, as an overwhelming array of new business challenges puts pressure on teams to embrace remote training methods and professional development. On LinkedIn Learning, more than four million hours of content was consumed globally in March alone. Hive Learning has seen a 20 per cent increase in logins since lockdown began Circus Street has noted not just a 64 per cent increase in weekday learning, but an unprecedented 500 per cent increase on Saturdays Skills gaps that the World Economic Forum had already outlined a need to bridge, such as digital and data literacy, have now become unnegotiable. Meanwhile ecommerce and digital marketing tactics like search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising have risen to ...
Read More
Forbes | Glenda Toma | May 28, 2020 Last December, language-learning app Duolingo surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark, becoming the fifth company on last year’s Next Billion-Dollar Startups list to do so. “Once we closed the funding round, a few of us early employees went for drinks and we just remembered all the early days where we had no idea where we were going to go, and we had no idea if this was even going to work out,” Duolingo CEO and cofounder Luis van Ahn tells Forbes in a video interview. Not only did it work out, but Duolingo has been among the companies that have been gaining during the coronavirus pandemic as bored Americans take to learning Spanish, French or the 34 other languages that it offers. Since Forbes published its 2019 Next Billion-Dollar Startups list last summer, 6 out of the 25 companies on the list, including design-software firm Figma, fintech Dave, e-commerce startup Grove Collaborative, as well as Duolingo, have reached a $1 billion valuation. Last December, language-learning app Duolingo surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark, becoming the fifth company on last year’s Next Billion-Dollar Startups list to do so. “Once we closed the funding round, ...
Read More
TFI and InvestHK | May 27 Toronto Finance International (TFI) would like to invite the Canadian FinTech ecosystem to join a presentation with InvestHK and RaceCapital to learn more about funding opportunities, new trends, and market entry to Asia in a post-COVID-19 world. Event Details Date: Thursday, June 11th, 2020 Time: 3:00pm to 4:15pm Location: Video Conference Speakers Chris Chen Head of Investment Promotion - Canada, InvestHK Michal Kaczmarzki Senior Manager, FinTech, InvestHK Edith Yeung General Partner, RaceCapital Agenda: - 3:05 - 3:30pm: Presentation: “Fundraising & governmental support for Fintechs entering Hong Kong” with Chris Chen, Head of Investment Promotion - Canada, InvestHK - 3:30pm-4:00pm: Discussion: Trends & opportunities in Hong Kong, in the post-COVID-19 era with Michal Kaczmarski, Senior Manager, Fintech, InvestHK, and Edith Yeung, General Partner, RaceCapital. Moderated by Chris Chen, Head of Investment Promotion - Canada, InvestHK Q&A to conclude. Register for this free event --> Now 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 ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | Craig Asano | May 27, 2020 NCFA SUBMISSION TO CSA ON PROPOSED HARMONIZED RULES FOR START-UP SECURITIES CROWDFUNDING (NI 45-110) The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are seeking comments on proposed harmonized rules for start-up securities crowdfunding by 27 May 2020. The National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA) welcomes this initiative. The following addresses the specifics of the proposed rules, but please see our previous submissions on crowdfunding in Canada on our website in the advocacy section for more details – https://ncfacanada.org/advocacy/. 1. Harmonization NCFA has argued for many years that CSA crowdfunding rules are unduly constraining, and this enhanced harmonization will enable a greater use of crowdfunding across Canada, help to fill a funding gap, and allow more retail investors to invest in businesses whose purpose they support. 2. Impact of the pandemic on fundraising Today, early stage Ventures are the most likely not to get funded as they lack established relationships with banks (including BDC) and they have been amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic. Many VC funds are moving towards growth equity (later stage) investing and foreign investors mainly invest at later stages. 3. Funding cap While the maximum total amount ...
Read More
Sifted | Tim Smith | May 26, 2020 As coronavirus has forced classrooms around the world to move online, kids are getting creative in trying to sabotage lessons Georgina Farnham, a Barcelona-based English literature and language teacher, was just getting used to the transition to online teaching when, one day, she thought the internet trolls had parked their tanks on her lawn. Farnham was making use of Kahoot!, the Norwegian educational games app, when the sabotage struck. “We were playing a game and it kept just crashing and not giving kids time to answer the questions, and on the leader board, all of these ridiculous names that hadn’t been entered into the game as players were coming up: ‘gayboy27’, ‘Covid-19’ — offensive names,” she explains. See: 58 Must-Read Remote Work Resources | 50 Great Remote Working Resources The kids said it was nothing to do with them, and Farnham got worried: “I thought someone had hacked into our game and was watching us, and I was worried for our cyber security.” Farnham quickly contacted the Kahoot! customer service team to find out what was going on. But the culprits, as it turned out, were closer to home than she had ...
Read More
Koho Release | Brittany Bell | May 27, 2020 TORONTO, May 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KOHO, Canada’s leading challenger bank, today announced it is piloting a new Early Payroll feature that will help those under financial strain pay their bills and make ends meet. KOHO’s Early Payroll pilot will grant users free access to $100 of their CERB payment before the scheduled payday. KOHO will not charge fees or interest. The company hopes this will provide a cushion that many Canadians could use right now to help pay bills and necessary expenses, and avoid harmful loan alternatives. “The economic impact of COVID was not equally distributed,” said Daniel Eberhard, Founder and CEO of KOHO. “A lot of lower and middle income Canadians are vulnerable right now. The KOHO team did an amazing job putting this together so quickly. We hope it helps.” In 2016 the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada released a report on payday loans that revealed the average cost of a $300 loan (for two weeks) is $63. That means 21% of the money you borrow is automatically eaten up by fees. See: Shopify Balance Brings Banking and Cash Flow to Merchants In March, KOHO partnered with ...
Read More
May 27, 2020 As real estate prices keep rising, the practice of crowdfunding your workplace — especially if you're independently funded — has never been more critical. When you crowdfund your workplace, you preserve your independence while also giving your workers and all interested stakeholders a better opportunity to mobilize and commit to the project. Community Mobilization As evidenced by the success of coworking space co.up, which has managed to crowdfund €7,950 to build a new top floor and renovate their current building, crowdfunding is an innovative and practical way to meet your business requirements for coworking space. It has demonstrated that workers and business owners can make use of the enthusiasm of workers and coworkers to "succeed through support of other communities already wishing to benefit from this extra space," according to Alex, the community manager. His confidence is understandable; Co.up was able to double its size thanks to crowdfunding. It may be easy to consider this feat as a one-off, but other projects have shown that it is possible to raise a significant amount of money by ensuring community participation in crowdfunding. See: SEC Gives Break on Crowdfunding Rules for Some Small Firms For example, organizations such as ...
Read More
Greater Capitalism: How the pandemic is currently reshaping America’s economic system for the better
Forbes | Randall Lane | May 26, 2020 In a matter of weeks, Covid-19 spurred seismic shifts in how we work, learn and transact, and it helped usher in a new era that is smarter and fairer. The surreal year 2020 produces a personal Groundhog Day effect. The clock moves at one-quarter speed as the time-numbing diversions and necessities of a century ago, from jigsaw puzzles to yeast, fly off the virtual shelves. Simultaneously, though, the world is transforming at a pace unlike any experienced since World War II. In a matter of weeks, seismic, permanent shifts have occurred in how we work, learn and transact. The most significant shift is taking place in our economic system itself. See: OpEd: IT’S TIME TO BUILD Capitalism, the greatest engine for prosperity and innovation ever created, was already under strain before the coronavirus pandemic. Despite a decade of impressive economic growth and job creation, a plurality of Americans still reported feeling as though the system was rigged, that hard work and playing by the rules no longer ensured success. “It is scary when you had the lowest unemployment, the lowest African-American unemployment, the lowest Hispanic unemployment, the lowest women’s unemployment,” says Michael Milken, ...
Read More
Decrypt | Andrew Hayward | May 27, 2020 First came CryptoKitties, and now Dapper Labs is launching a licensed hoops game with potentially massive mainstream appeal In brief NBA Top Shot, a blockchain-based collectibles game, is lauching in closed beta. The licensed game is developed by Dapper Labs, the studio behind CryptoKitties. Top Shot features tokenized NBA highlights and also pairs with a mobile hoops game. CryptoKitties developer Dapper Labs is going big for its latest project: NBA Top Shot, an officially licensed, blockchain-driven collectible game featuring tokenized highlights from basketball’s greatest stars. See: How the Pandemic Is Pushing Blockchain Forward It will be available to play next week, at least to those who registered interest and receive an invitation to the soon-to-be-released closed beta test. “What Top Shot does is it allows fans to buy a piece of the on-court action, actually own it, and then be able to sell it,” Dapper Labs VP of Marketing and Partnerships Caty Tedman told Decrypt. “It creates a new economy around the sport that’s never existed before that we’re particularly excited about.” The tokenized moments arrive as interactive “snapshots of a moment in time,” explained Tedman. They’re multi-faceted, animated widgets of sorts ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | May 29, 2020 JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY. EP40: Why Bitcoin Exists and Education for the Masses HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Fridays podcast episode GUEST: AUSTIN HUBBELL, Founder and CEO, Consilium Crypto (Linkedin) About this episode: On this episode our host Manseeb Khan sits down with Austin Hubbell from Consilum Crypto. They chat about how quarantine is going, the state crypto and much more. Enjoy! NCFA Canada · EP40 Why Bitcoin Exists, Adjusting to Covid-19 and Education for the Masses with Austin Hubbell BIO: Austin is the CEO and co-founder of Consilium Crypto (https://consiliumcrypto.ai/), a big data company developing institutional grade investment analytics and liquidity access tools for the digital asset markets, helping funds find alpha and place large orders efficiently in times of thin liquidity. With a background in software development and machine learning, as well as previous tech startup experience, Austin brings a skillset balanced between the technology and business worlds. He previously worked with a distributed team based in L.A./San Francisco to build predictive models for crime hotspotting in major US cities, before transferring to the FinTech world to build machine learning based trading systems for currency markets. Enjoy! Subscribe and ...
Read More
Read More
Raconteur | Marylou Costa | May 28, 2020 Often seen as a nice-to-have, workplace learning and professional development are now gaining importance as organisations’ best shot at retaining happy staff and staying competitive The idea of working from home may conjure up images of dishevelled, tracksuited executives. But the home has actually become the epicentre of a reskilling revolution that may just save businesses from a coronavirus-induced collapse. Corporate learning providers such as LinkedIn Learning, Circus Street and Hive Learning are all reporting a spike in usage, as an overwhelming array of new business challenges puts pressure on teams to embrace remote training methods and professional development. On LinkedIn Learning, more than four million hours of content was consumed globally in March alone. Hive Learning has seen a 20 per cent increase in logins since lockdown began Circus Street has noted not just a 64 per cent increase in weekday learning, but an unprecedented 500 per cent increase on Saturdays Skills gaps that the World Economic Forum had already outlined a need to bridge, such as digital and data literacy, have now become unnegotiable. Meanwhile ecommerce and digital marketing tactics like search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising have risen to ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Glenda Toma | May 28, 2020 Last December, language-learning app Duolingo surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark, becoming the fifth company on last year’s Next Billion-Dollar Startups list to do so. “Once we closed the funding round, a few of us early employees went for drinks and we just remembered all the early days where we had no idea where we were going to go, and we had no idea if this was even going to work out,” Duolingo CEO and cofounder Luis van Ahn tells Forbes in a video interview. Not only did it work out, but Duolingo has been among the companies that have been gaining during the coronavirus pandemic as bored Americans take to learning Spanish, French or the 34 other languages that it offers. Since Forbes published its 2019 Next Billion-Dollar Startups list last summer, 6 out of the 25 companies on the list, including design-software firm Figma, fintech Dave, e-commerce startup Grove Collaborative, as well as Duolingo, have reached a $1 billion valuation. Last December, language-learning app Duolingo surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark, becoming the fifth company on last year’s Next Billion-Dollar Startups list to do so. “Once we closed the funding round, ...
Read More
Read More
TFI and InvestHK | May 27 Toronto Finance International (TFI) would like to invite the Canadian FinTech ecosystem to join a presentation with InvestHK and RaceCapital to learn more about funding opportunities, new trends, and market entry to Asia in a post-COVID-19 world. Event Details Date: Thursday, June 11th, 2020 Time: 3:00pm to 4:15pm Location: Video Conference Speakers Chris Chen Head of Investment Promotion - Canada, InvestHK Michal Kaczmarzki Senior Manager, FinTech, InvestHK Edith Yeung General Partner, RaceCapital Agenda: - 3:05 - 3:30pm: Presentation: “Fundraising & governmental support for Fintechs entering Hong Kong” with Chris Chen, Head of Investment Promotion - Canada, InvestHK - 3:30pm-4:00pm: Discussion: Trends & opportunities in Hong Kong, in the post-COVID-19 era with Michal Kaczmarski, Senior Manager, Fintech, InvestHK, and Edith Yeung, General Partner, RaceCapital. Moderated by Chris Chen, Head of Investment Promotion - Canada, InvestHK Q&A to conclude. Register for this free event --> Now 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 ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | Craig Asano | May 27, 2020 NCFA SUBMISSION TO CSA ON PROPOSED HARMONIZED RULES FOR START-UP SECURITIES CROWDFUNDING (NI 45-110) The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are seeking comments on proposed harmonized rules for start-up securities crowdfunding by 27 May 2020. The National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA) welcomes this initiative. The following addresses the specifics of the proposed rules, but please see our previous submissions on crowdfunding in Canada on our website in the advocacy section for more details – https://ncfacanada.org/advocacy/. 1. Harmonization NCFA has argued for many years that CSA crowdfunding rules are unduly constraining, and this enhanced harmonization will enable a greater use of crowdfunding across Canada, help to fill a funding gap, and allow more retail investors to invest in businesses whose purpose they support. 2. Impact of the pandemic on fundraising Today, early stage Ventures are the most likely not to get funded as they lack established relationships with banks (including BDC) and they have been amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic. Many VC funds are moving towards growth equity (later stage) investing and foreign investors mainly invest at later stages. 3. Funding cap While the maximum total amount ...
Read More
Read More
Sifted | Tim Smith | May 26, 2020 As coronavirus has forced classrooms around the world to move online, kids are getting creative in trying to sabotage lessons Georgina Farnham, a Barcelona-based English literature and language teacher, was just getting used to the transition to online teaching when, one day, she thought the internet trolls had parked their tanks on her lawn. Farnham was making use of Kahoot!, the Norwegian educational games app, when the sabotage struck. “We were playing a game and it kept just crashing and not giving kids time to answer the questions, and on the leader board, all of these ridiculous names that hadn’t been entered into the game as players were coming up: ‘gayboy27’, ‘Covid-19’ — offensive names,” she explains. See: 58 Must-Read Remote Work Resources | 50 Great Remote Working Resources The kids said it was nothing to do with them, and Farnham got worried: “I thought someone had hacked into our game and was watching us, and I was worried for our cyber security.” Farnham quickly contacted the Kahoot! customer service team to find out what was going on. But the culprits, as it turned out, were closer to home than she had ...
Read More
Read More
Koho Release | Brittany Bell | May 27, 2020 TORONTO, May 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KOHO, Canada’s leading challenger bank, today announced it is piloting a new Early Payroll feature that will help those under financial strain pay their bills and make ends meet. KOHO’s Early Payroll pilot will grant users free access to $100 of their CERB payment before the scheduled payday. KOHO will not charge fees or interest. The company hopes this will provide a cushion that many Canadians could use right now to help pay bills and necessary expenses, and avoid harmful loan alternatives. “The economic impact of COVID was not equally distributed,” said Daniel Eberhard, Founder and CEO of KOHO. “A lot of lower and middle income Canadians are vulnerable right now. The KOHO team did an amazing job putting this together so quickly. We hope it helps.” In 2016 the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada released a report on payday loans that revealed the average cost of a $300 loan (for two weeks) is $63. That means 21% of the money you borrow is automatically eaten up by fees. See: Shopify Balance Brings Banking and Cash Flow to Merchants In March, KOHO partnered with ...
Read More
Read More
May 27, 2020 As real estate prices keep rising, the practice of crowdfunding your workplace — especially if you're independently funded — has never been more critical. When you crowdfund your workplace, you preserve your independence while also giving your workers and all interested stakeholders a better opportunity to mobilize and commit to the project. Community Mobilization As evidenced by the success of coworking space co.up, which has managed to crowdfund €7,950 to build a new top floor and renovate their current building, crowdfunding is an innovative and practical way to meet your business requirements for coworking space. It has demonstrated that workers and business owners can make use of the enthusiasm of workers and coworkers to "succeed through support of other communities already wishing to benefit from this extra space," according to Alex, the community manager. His confidence is understandable; Co.up was able to double its size thanks to crowdfunding. It may be easy to consider this feat as a one-off, but other projects have shown that it is possible to raise a significant amount of money by ensuring community participation in crowdfunding. See: SEC Gives Break on Crowdfunding Rules for Some Small Firms For example, organizations such as ...
Read More
Read More
Greater Capitalism: How the pandemic is currently reshaping America’s economic system for the better
Forbes | Randall Lane | May 26, 2020 In a matter of weeks, Covid-19 spurred seismic shifts in how we work, learn and transact, and it helped usher in a new era that is smarter and fairer. The surreal year 2020 produces a personal Groundhog Day effect. The clock moves at one-quarter speed as the time-numbing diversions and necessities of a century ago, from jigsaw puzzles to yeast, fly off the virtual shelves. Simultaneously, though, the world is transforming at a pace unlike any experienced since World War II. In a matter of weeks, seismic, permanent shifts have occurred in how we work, learn and transact. The most significant shift is taking place in our economic system itself. See: OpEd: IT’S TIME TO BUILD Capitalism, the greatest engine for prosperity and innovation ever created, was already under strain before the coronavirus pandemic. Despite a decade of impressive economic growth and job creation, a plurality of Americans still reported feeling as though the system was rigged, that hard work and playing by the rules no longer ensured success. “It is scary when you had the lowest unemployment, the lowest African-American unemployment, the lowest Hispanic unemployment, the lowest women’s unemployment,” says Michael Milken, ...
Read More
Read More
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