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Canadian securities regulators tighten rules for crypto platforms following Voyager, Celsius, FTX collapse (BETAKIT)
These moves come in light of the recent collapse of a number of different unregulated international crypto trading platforms, from Voyager Digital to Celsius Network and FTX, amid the broader crypto downturn.
Jack Ma-Backed Ant profit falls 83% after regulatory clampdowns (BNN BLOOMBERG)
More than two years after authorities torpedoed its listing, Ant is awaiting a green light to apply for a financial holding company license. The company’s valuation was trimmed by Fidelity Investments again to $63.8 billion as of November, far below its peak of $235 billion.
Dapper Labs cuts another 20 percent of staff while fending off class action suit (BETAKIT)
Vancouver-based Web3 firm Dapper Labs has laid off 20 percent of its full-time employees as part of a restructuring amid the crypto winter. These cuts represent Dapper Labs’ second round of significant layoffs since November, and come as the firm contends with a class action lawsuit claiming its NBA Top Shot NFTs constitute unregistered securities.
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Dapper Labs ruling could spell trouble for other centralized NFT projects, experts say (COINDESK)
If Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shots Moments are found to be securities, the company and its CEO could potentially face civil and criminal penalties for selling unregistered securities.
CDPQ makes executive changes following Celsius investment write-off (BETAKIT)
Alexandre Synnett, executive vice-president and CTO at CDPQ—and the executive involved in the CDPQ investment in Celsius—left the firm. As per the firm’s recent earnings call, CDPQ CEO Charles Emond noted that Synnett voluntarily resigned.
Gary Gensler on Meeting With SBF and His Crypto Crackdown (NEW YORK MAGAZINE)
According to Gensler, FTX was far too conflicted to satisfy the agency’s regulations. He said that he told the group “that alternative trading systems were something amongst and for institutional investors” and that “just coming into compliance was going to need them to disaggregate their business to address the conflicts — that they should have a separate exchange, separate broker-dealer, separate custody, and that they were in the national security exchange Zip Code, not in the ATS Zip Code.”
Felix Health CFO Paritosh Gupta on why finance leaders need a new approach to risk (BETAKIT)
Speaking on the Float Retained Learnings podcast, Gupta shared more about his belief that CFOs need to learn to experiment more.
Block misses on earnings but beats on revenue, gross profit (CNBC)
Analysts tend to focus on gross profit as a more accurate measurement of the company’s core transactional businesses.
The company posted a net loss of $114 million, or 19 cents per share, for the quarter.
Despite market conditions, 2022 second-highest year on record for Canadian venture capital BetaKit (BETAKIT)
In the fourth quarter $2.5 billion CAD was invested across 162 deals. That closed the year with $10 billion across 706 deals.
In contrast, the third quarter of 2022 showed an annual and quarter-over-quarter decline with just $896 million invested across 144 VC deals.
Meet Ledn, the last crypto lender standing (THE LOGIC)
As BetaKit has previously reported, Toronto-based Ledn is one of the last crypto lenders operating, after 2022’s price crashes left its former peers bankrupt, accused of fraud or both. Ledn recently cut staff and stopped offering Bitcoin savings accounts as part of its push to register with the Ontario Securities Commission.
OMERS Ventures enters 2023 with new playbook as firm looks to launch fifth fund this year (BETAKIT)
Four years since John Ruffolo's departure, OMERS Ventures has built its global venture fund out of Canada. But 2023 has brought more changes for the firm: with plans to launch its fifth fund this year, OMERS Ventures has overhauled its operational structure and unified under one global investment committee.
Polygon lays off 20% of its workforce as part of consolidation process (INC42)
“Earlier this year, we consolidated multiple business units under Polygon Labs. As part of this process, we’re sharing the difficult news that we’ve reduced our team by 20% impacting multiple teams and about 100 positions,” the startup said in a blog post.
Proposed regulations for Retail Payment Activities Act open for public comment (BETAKIT)
Finance Canada published the proposed regulations in the Canada Gazette. It expands on previously shared information about the RPAA, including operational risk management, safeguarding user funds, as well as registration and reporting requirements with the Bank of Canada.
Covalent partners with Coinbase to launch blockchain network (VANCOUVER TECH JOURNAL)
The union allows Coinbase to look beyond currency exchange and towards decentralized finance, gaming, and social media.