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Wealthsimple becomes first regulated Canadian crypto platform to offer staking (BETAKIT)
As of Wednesday, Canadians can officially stake two tokens through Wealthsimple—Solana and Ethereum—to earn crypto rewards for staking their assets, which can be up to four percent in returns.
Andreessen Horowitz Went All In on Crypto at the Worst Possible Time (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
The storied venture-capital firm had developed a reputation as Silicon Valley’s greatest crypto bull, thanks largely to a 50-year-old partner named Chris Dixon who was one of the earliest evangelists for how the blockchain technology powering cryptocurrencies could change business. His unit was one of the most-active crypto investors last year, and in May announced a $4.5 billion crypto fund, the largest ever for such investments.
Float quadruples revenue YoY despite increased competition, choppy economy (BETAKIT)
Float, as well as its customers, are feeling the crunch of the economy, and more players have entered the Canadian market to address the spending needs of businesses.
Despite these challenges and amid choppy waters, Float claims to have seen its revenue and payments volume quadruple since its $37 million CAD, Tiger Global-led Series A round in November of last year.
Fintech Platform ConnexPay Nabs $110M To Expand Into Europe (CRUNCHBASE)
The Atlanta-based startup integrates incoming user payments with supplier payments in one platform, which lowers merchant processing fees and allows for users to immediately access fund payments. Having both customer and supplier payments on one platform makes financial transactions less risky.
Alberta Innovates’ broad scope gives us the perspective to solve some of industry’s biggest challenges, while stimulating the start-up community to build new technology, drive new ideas, and support the development and growth of small and medium enterprises.
We’re investing in entrepreneurs and innovators to help them commercialize and scale, including those who are disrupting, improving, and automating financial services.
Our programs connect you with coaching, community, and capital to streamline your innovation journey and to bring transformative technologies to the people who need them today.
The Crypto Story (BLOOMBERG)
If crypto isn’t going away, we’d better attempt to understand it. Which is why we asked the finest finance writer around, Matt Levine of Bloomberg Opinion, to write a cover-to-cover issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, something a single author has done only one other time in the magazine’s 93-year history.
What follows is his brilliant explanation of what this maddening, often absurd, and always fascinating technology means, and where it might go.
WonderFi swaps CEOs, plans hedge against crypto volatility with stock trading and sports betting (BETAKIT)
In addition to being named president, Dean Skurka has replaced WonderFi co-founder Ben Samaroo as interim CEO, as the Vancouver-based cryptocurrency company plots an expansion into traditional equities, sports betting, and online gaming amid challenging crypto market conditions.
Apis in talks to back fintech Money View at $1 billion valuation despite market slump (TECHCRUNCH)
Apis Partners is deliberating leading a funding round of about $125 million to $150 million in the Bengaluru-headquartered startup at a valuation of about $1 billion, the sources said. The round, a Series E, hasn’t been finalized, so terms of the deal may still change, the sources cautioned, requesting anonymity speaking about nonpublic information.
Manzil launches “the Halal version of Wealthsimple” for Muslim Canadians (BETAKIT)
The Toronto-based FinTech startup caters to a sizeable, fast-growing but underbanked demographic that has largely been shut out of the traditional financial system by a lack of options that satisfy their religious requirements. As Manzil co-founder and CEO Mohamad Sawwaf put it, many Muslim Canadians avoid investing their money altogether because they don’t have “the peace of mind” that the available options are Halal.
Nuri terminates business after failing to find an acquirer (SIFTED)
Berlin-based digital bank Nuri’s business has collapsed, after failing to land fresh investment or find an acquirer.
CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer has announced that the fintech has “not been able to find investors to continue our mission,” in a blog post published on the company’s website this morning.
Why Potloc founder Rodolphe Barrere tries to fire himself every six months (BETAKIT)
Potloc founder Rodolphe Barrere takes a different approach: he tries to fire himself from every other job in the company so he can focus solely on being a growth-oriented CEO.
