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Sid Paquette will now head RBC Ventures and RBCx (BETAKIT)
Nearly two years after joining RBC, Sid Paquette is now the head of both RBCx and Ventures, the bank’s venture arm. Paquette first joined RBC in 2020 to launch RBCx, the technology and innovation banking group.
Binance.US raises over $200M in first seed round, hitting a $4.5B valuation as it preps for IPO (TECHCRUNCH)
The company is targeting an IPO in two to three years from April 6, Shroder said. This is the first time Binance.US has taken external investor capital, and no valuation has been shared publicly before, he added.
With new investment product, is Neo Financial’s biggest competition now Wealthsimple and Questrade, or the big banks? (BETAKIT)
The three-year-old startup has been vocal about its plans to take on Canada’s incumbent financial giants by creating a full suite of FinTech products. Today, the company officially launches its new product, Neo Invest.
Facebook owner Meta targets finance with ‘Zuck Bucks’ and creator coins (FINANCIAL TIMES)
Meta has drawn up plans to introduce virtual coins, tokens and lending services to its apps, as Facebook’s parent company pursues its finance ambitions despite the collapse of a project to launch a cryptocurrency.
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Cybrid secures $3.8 million CAD seed round to help challenger banks launch crypto (BETAKIT)
As crypto and DeFi products become more mainstream, a Canadian startup is looking to make it easier for FinTech startups and challenger banks to offer these services to consumers.
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The hottest NFT marketplace is mostly users selling to themselves (BNN BLOOMBERG)
A closer look at the LooksRare platform that has quickly become the leading NFT marketplace by trading volume shows that most of the activity is actually users selling tokens to themselves to help earn rewards in the form of more coins.
Amid NFT boom, Liquid MarketPlace aims to turn physical sports and Pokémon cards into tokens (BETAKIT)
While Dapper is partnering with sports leagues across the world to create digital collectibles, other companies are looking to leverage the same underlying tech to offer fractional equity stakes in actual sports trading cards and other rare physical assets.
Banks weigh using Zelle to challenge Visa, Mastercard (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Banks are debating a plan to bring Zelle to the checkout at big retailers.
Xero appoints Chris O’Neill as company’s first chief growth officer (BETAKIT)
Canadian tech entrepreneur and investor Chris O’Neill is joining New Zealand-headquartered Xero as the company’s first-ever chief growth officer.
More investment firms dipping their toes in crypto assets: Survey (BNN BLOOMBERG)
A new study finds there’s a growing acceptance of cryptocurrency-related investments among Canadian institutional investors, but firms are showing restraint in how much they’re allocating towards those assets.
Payments Canada announces global firm Tata Consultancy Services will lead the integration of the Real-Time Rail system (BETAKIT)
TCS is a global IT service, consulting, and business solutions company. As the integration lead, TCS will help plan and coordinate activities with industry stakeholders for the integration of RTR components, and deployment of the new system.
OpenSea ‘Sitting on Ticking Bomb’ as lawsuits pile up over stolen Apes (VICE)
The NFT marketplace OpenSea is now facing at least three lawsuits over stolen cartoon apes after lawyers for a New York man filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court claiming that his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT was taken from him due to what he characterized as “security vulnerabilities” of the OpenSea platform.
Uplinq raises $4.4 million CAD to help small business lenders make accurate decisions (BETAKIT)
The financing was co-led by venture capital firms N49P and Surface Ventures, with participation from MoVi Partners, Impulsum Ventures, Magic Fund, Assure Syndicates, and the DVC Syndicate. Uplinq noted that several FinTech executives also invested in the round, though their names were not disclosed.