Latest news with #WonderFi
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Innovation in Canada Stifled by the 'Idiot King' Trudeau: Kevin O'Leary
Mr. Wonderful Kevin O'Leary joins WonderFi President and CEO Dean Skurka with Bullish CEO Tom Farley on stage at Consensus 2025 in Toronto to discuss WonderFi's landmark acquisition by Robinhood, bringing major American crypto presence to Canada. Plus, the panel delves into Canada's crypto landscape as the country seeks to wake up from an "economic coma." This content should not be construed or relied upon as investment advice. It is for entertainment and general information purposes.
Arabian Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Post
Robinhood's $200M Bitstamp Buy Signals Global Crypto Ambitions
Robinhood Markets Inc. has finalised its $200 million cash acquisition of Bitstamp, a Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange, marking a significant step in its global expansion strategy. This move brings over 5,000 institutional clients and 50,000 retail users under Robinhood's umbrella, with a substantial portion of trading volume originating from institutional activities. The acquisition, initially agreed upon in June 2024, was completed without alterations to the deal's terms. Bitstamp, established in 2011, operates across multiple jurisdictions, including Luxembourg, the UK, Slovenia, Singapore, and the US. The exchange holds more than 50 active licenses and registrations, providing Robinhood with a robust regulatory framework to support its international crypto operations. Johann Kerbrat, General Manager of Robinhood Crypto, highlighted the strategic importance of the acquisition, stating that Bitstamp's established reputation and global presence would enhance Robinhood's ability to serve both retail and institutional investors. He emphasised that the integration of Bitstamp's services would facilitate Robinhood's expansion beyond the US market. ADVERTISEMENT This acquisition follows Robinhood's announcement on May 13 of its intent to acquire Canadian crypto firm WonderFi for approximately $179 million. WonderFi operates regulated platforms such as Bitbuy and Coinsquare, and the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. The acquisition aims to strengthen Robinhood's presence in the Canadian market and expand its suite of crypto offerings. Robinhood's strategic acquisitions align with its broader goal of diversifying its services and increasing its footprint in the global financial market. The company's stock has experienced significant growth, reflecting investor confidence in its expansion plans and the potential of the cryptocurrency sector.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fireblocks Launches Platform-Wide Enhancements to Power Secure and Scalable Digital Asset Operations
New platform capabilities eliminate friction and boost security across payments, retail, and institutional trading workflows NEW YORK, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Fireblocks, an enterprise platform providing digital asset infrastructure solutions to businesses building on blockchain, announced today the launch of platform-wide enhancements engineered to meet the security, scalability, and automation demands of modern digital asset operations. Debuted at Fireblocks Pulse, the company's first global product showcase, these new capabilities are already in use by leading institutions including Galaxy and WonderFi. Designed to meet the growing operational demands of trading and retail businesses that are transitioning core functions to blockchain-based rails and leapfrogging into stablecoin payments and DeFi, Fireblocks debuted new capabilities that solve key challenges and collectively power a secure, scalable operating system for digital asset operations, with re-engineered security, abstracted blockchain complexity via EIP-7702, and increased scale and speed. "We're flipping the switch from 'utility' to 'advantage'," said Idan Ofrat, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Fireblocks. "The enhanced platform gives every institution the power to move billions, meet local regulations, and invent new products—on infrastructure engineered to stay three steps ahead of the threat landscape." These enhancements arrive as institutional adoption accelerates. According to Fireblocks' 2025 State of Stablecoins report, 86% of firms say their infrastructure is ready for stablecoin operations—but fewer than 1 in 5 feel confident in their continuity or security frameworks. The message from the market is clear: execution matters now, and infrastructure will decide the winners. Fireblocks' latest platform upgrades address this execution gap—eliminating friction, mitigating emerging attack vectors, and bringing enterprise-grade policy, automation, and wallet management tools to the forefront of digital asset operations: Next-Generation Fireblocks Policy Engine: Offers new controls for managing transaction and workflow security, governance, and compliance policies in one place. New features include multi-asset rules, simplified configuration tools, and direct management of AML/KYT requirements. Early adopters include WonderFi (acquired by Robinhood) and Galaxy. dApp Access Policy: Fireblocks is the first platform to offer enterprise-grade dApp controls at the application layer. Teams can now whitelist trusted URLs and block suspicious or spoofed apps — mitigating phishing, wallet drainers, and smart contract exploits, which are rising attack vectors in DeFi and retail. Wallet Tagging: A new system for organizing vaults, addresses, and users with custom business logic—by region, client, or product. Fully integrated with Fireblocks Automation and Policy Engine for smarter, rule-based operations at scale. Batched Transfers: A new API to support high-volume transaction execution — allowing businesses to send funds from one source to multiple destinations in a single blockchain transaction. Ideal for payouts, payroll, merchant settlements, and token distributions. Sweeping: A new automation feature that moves assets from multiple wallets into a single destination in real time. Helps teams centralize deposits, optimize treasury flows, and eliminate manual reconciliation. Universal Gasless: A first-of-its-kind solution allowing users to send tokens on EVM chains without paying gas fees, creating a more seamless customer experience for retail and consumer apps while addressing compliance barriers for regulated entities who cannot keep gas tokens on their balance sheet. Built on EIP-7702 from the Ethereum Pectra upgrade. Gasless transactions are also available on Solana. "Fireblocks' new Policy Engine is a leap forward for operational clarity. The new structure and UX make it far easier to manage complex policies at scale—whether it's organizing rules by business unit or getting visibility into which ones are active," said Dean Skurka, President & CEO of WonderFi. "These updates raise the security bar and strip out manual steps our ops team used to handle. The time we save can now go toward higher-value work." As blockchain shifts from experimentation to essential infrastructure, Fireblocks is delivering scalable, secure, and intuitive tools that institutions and builders require. Whether onboarding millions of users or managing complex institutional flows, organizations can access a platform engineered for high-volume execution, without compromising on security or control. To learn more about the newest capabilities on the Fireblocks platform, visit here. About Fireblocks Fireblocks is the world's most trusted and proven digital asset infrastructure company, empowering organizations of all sizes to build, run and grow their business on the blockchain. With the industry's most secure, scalable and comprehensive platform, we streamline custody, tokenization, payment, settlement, and trading operations across the largest ecosystem of exchanges, custodians, banks, payment providers and stablecoin issuers in the world. Over 2,000 organizations - including BNY Mellon, Galaxy, and Revolut - trust Fireblocks to secure more than $10 trillion in digital asset transactions across 100+ blockchains and over 300 million wallets. Learn more at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Fireblocks Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
15-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Robinhood Crypto GM discusses trading platform's deal with Canadian crypto firm WonderFi
Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of Robinhood Crypto, discusses the company's new deal with Canadian crypto firm WonderFi from Consensus 2025.
CNBC
15-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
The U.S. has struggled for crypto clarity. Canada may have the answer
TORONTO — Canada has quietly become a global leader in digital assets. Canada was among the first countries to enact rules for crypto, starting with anti-money laundering guidelines in 2014. The country has repeatedly evolved its regulatory guidance in recent years, while U.S. lawmakers remain stuck in gridlock — even with a pro-crypto White House and a Republican-controlled Congress. That regulatory clarity has made Toronto a launchpad for blockchain growth, and Wall Street is taking notice. Robinhood's recent acquisition of Canadian crypto firm WonderFi, owner of Bitbuy and Coinsquare, plugs it into Canada's established user base. "Canada is a very attractive market for us," said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood's crypto chief. "It's projected to be more than 30 million users using crypto here in Canada, with revenue projections of about $900 million in 2025." The company's decision to spend just under $180 million to buy WonderFi, which has one of the longest-standing crypto licenses in the country, is a direct bet on that growth. Galaxy Digital, the digital asset investing giant founded by Mike Novogratz, is headquartered in New York but listed in Canada because it couldn't go public in the United States. After being among the first to launch spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., Galaxy will finally debut on the Nasdaq on Friday. DeFi Technologies, a Canadian player focused on being the Strategy of Solana, is also planning a U.S. listing. "A lot of companies have started on the Toronto Stock Exchange and are trying to uplist into the Nasdaq," said Ondo Finance CEO Nathan Allman. "I think we're going to see more of that." At Consensus 2025 in Toronto, one of the world's largest crypto conferences, JPMorgan, Ondo, and Chainlink announced a $100 billion bet on blockchain with a new platform to tokenize real-world assets. The two firms say the new offering allows treasuries to be tokenized and settled using blockchain, combining JPMorgan's Kinexys Digital Payments network with Ondo's blockchain infrastructure. "It's really the first time that there's been this interoperability between a bank's permissioned blockchain environment and a public blockchain," Allman said. Crypto dealmaking has shown signs of life in recent months, as the United States has shifted its regulatory approach under President Donald Trump. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve have eased restrictions on banks handling crypto, rolling back prior guidance that required pre-approval for digital asset activities. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also taken a significant step by rescinding its restrictive accounting bulletin, which had forced companies holding crypto assets for clients to record them as liabilities. The new approach aligns crypto custody with traditional financial instruments. At the same time, the SEC has launched a new Crypto Task Force, inviting public input on how to better regulate digital assets. This self-driving car technology stock could pop by more than 400%, say three analysts Looking for alternatives to Nvidia? Futurum CEO names 3 he's bullish on for 2024 Bernstein tech analyst's best idea for 2024 is to short Tesla Morgan Stanley picks 'alpha' opportunities in China tech - giving one 52% upside "They want large enterprises like Citi to have a seat at the table," said Ryan Rugg, global head of digital assets for Citi's Treasury and Trade Solutions division. "They're asking for our opinion, where I think in the past, it was not quite the case." The booking of Eric Trump, the president's son and a leader of the newly-formed American Bitcoin, as a headline speaker, highlighted the growing presence of the U.S. in the crypto arena. The firm made waves when it launched in March, and already intends to go public through a merger with Gryphon Digital Mining. "It's important to remember: Most countries are totally neutral on blockchain," said Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital. "The U.S. had a fairly antagonistic stance on blockchain which made it difficult for companies to get bank accounts, made it difficult for companies to go public." He said he believes many companies that would have gone public a few years ago will hit U.S. markets in the next six months. "There's obviously tremendous appetite in the public markets," he said. Israel-based crypto and stock trading platform eToro went public on Wednesday after pricing above its expected range. Shares soared nearly 29% on its first trading day. The advancements in the U.S. aren't without setbacks. A first-of-its-kind stablecoin regulation bill failed to advance in the Senate after Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about national security, while others expressed concerns about the president's ties to crypto. Still, the payment giants are charging ahead. Mastercard announced Thursday that it's partnering with Moonpay to let customers use debit cards to transact using their stablecoin balances. PayPal announced Wednesday that it's partnering with artificial intelligence platform Perplexity to enable chat-powered shopping. PayPal's senior vice president of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies told CNBC at Consensus 2025 that he sees a future where customers could transact in AI chats with their PayPal stablecoins or other crypto holdings. "We are trying to make sure that PayPal and Venmo are the gateway product to get more people into crypto," said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal's senior vice president of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies. "A lot of people get into crypto through us, and that leads us to continue to add tokens." While PayPal leans on accessibility and payments, Robinhood is doubling down on tokenization and staking to capture both retail and institutional users. "This debate here in the U.S. is really important — it shows that we want to embrace the technology instead of just regulating it and turning it off like it was before," Kerbrat said, describing his appearance at an SEC roundtable under new chair Paul Atkins. The company sees blockchain technology as a way to transform everything from stocks to private equity markets and real estate into digital tokens that can be traded instantly. "We think at Robinhood that it is actually the future, and we can bring a lot more traditional assets on-chain using tokenization," Kerbrat added.
