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CEO of Briza steps down as insurtech startup cuts close to half of its staff (BETAKIT)
Briza’s CEO and co-founder, Ben Munro, stepped down from his role prior to the startup laying off around 26 of its employees, according to communications by now-former Briza employees viewed by BetaKit.
TikTok’s Parent ByteDance Pushes Into Payments With Help From J.P. Morgan (FORBES)
J.P. Morgan has been quietly working with TikTok parent ByteDance on payments technology that is helping the Chinese giant expand into more than two dozen markets and reach millions more users. The partnership is just one piece of ByteDance’s broader push into the fintech space.
Payments Canada pens open letter to Minister of Finance to expand organization’s membership eligibility (BETAKIT)
14 signatories signed a joint letter requesting to expand Payments Canada’s membership to include payment service providers registered under the Retail Payments Activities Act (RPAA), such as local credit unions and “operators of financial market infrastructures.”
What will it take for the IPO window to reopen in 2023? What trends will influence the world's largest economies? And how likely is the risk of a global recession or energy crisis?
Find out in RBC’s Global Market Outlook
Ant Group founder Jack Ma to give up control in key revamp (CNBC)
Ant’s $37 billion IPO, which would have been the world’s largest, was canceled at the last minute in November 2020, leading to a forced restructuring of the financial technology firm and speculation the Chinese billionaire would have to cede control.
Celsius Network wins ownership rights to customer crypto deposits (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
A bankruptcy judge ruled that digital coins deposited in Celsius Network LLC’s interest-bearing accounts belong to the firm, ruling against thousands of customers and deciding a key legal issue in crypto-related insolvencies.
More than 100 bitcoins linked to defunct cryptoexchange QuadrigaCX mysteriously transferred (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
It is not clear who moved the 104 bitcoins this month, worth approximately $2.4-million, nor how anyone could do so. Bankruptcy trustee Ernst & Young Inc. said in 2019 that it was not able to access the wallets, meaning the funds could not be recovered to help compensate users who lost money when the exchange went out of business.
BetaKit is hiring across Canada (BETAKIT)
The publication of record for Canadian startups is growing and needs your talent.
Editor, British Columbia (Jobbio / Gaulin Media)
Editor, Alberta (Jobbio / Gaulin Media)
Editor, Québec (Jobbio / Gaulin Media)
Staff Writer (1-Year Contract) (Jobbio / Gaulin Media)
Silvergate Capital Lays Off 40% Of Staff As FTX-Induced Contagion Strikes Again (CRUNCHBASE)
Silvergate Capital reported investors pulled out more than $8 billion in deposits from the crypto-focused bank as FTX’s sudden, spectacular implosion left them reeling. The bank also announced it will cut 40 percent of its staff—about 200 employees. As BetaKit’s recent year in review podcast discussed, “FTX and its collapse [was] just the icing on the shitty cake that has been crypto” in 2022.
Crypto Lender Genesis Considers Bankruptcy, Lays Off 30% of Staff (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Massive crypto lender Genesis Global Trading Inc. laid off 30% of its staff and is considering filing for bankruptcy, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest sign of financial turmoil at the crypto lender.
The layoffs weren’t confined to one department and were across the company, some of the people said. Genesis has 145 employees left after Thursday’s layoffs.
Tokens.com's metaverse subsidiary acquires NFT minting platform CocoNFT (BETAKIT)
Metaverse Group, a Tokens.com subsidiary, announced on Tuesday that it acquired Coco to advance the latter’s offering and integrate it with Metaverse’s virtual world B2B products.
Indian fintech BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer to leave top job (TECHCRUNCH)
The New Delhi–headquartered startup, backed by Sequoia India, Tiger Global, Coatue, Dragoneer and Ribbit Capital, said Sameer will transition to a strategic advisor role on January 7 and the current chief financial officer, Nalin Negi, will take over as the interim chief executive.
Coinbase to expand its Canadian crypto operations (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Lucas Matheson has been hired as the new head of Canada for Coinbase, the company told The Globe and Mail. He most recently worked as a senior director at Shopify Inc. and previously held other leadership roles at Deloitte and Toronto-Dominion Bank.