News Heat Trend
WonderFi Founder Criticizes Canada's Innovation Environment: Struggling to Grow, Forced into Sale to Robinhood
Odaily News - Karia Samaroo, founder and former CEO of Canadian crypto company WonderFi, recently stated that the company's acquisition by US trading platform Robinhood Markets for CAD 250 million was not due to a lack of growth potential, but rather because Canada's market environment has restricted local tech companies from continuing to scale.Samaroo said that WonderFi was founded in 2021. After several years of development, the company consolidated Canada's fragmented crypto market, built a nationwide brand, and survived the QuadrigaCX collapse, the FTX crash, and Canada's strict crypto regulatory environment. By 2023, WonderFi had become a leading crypto platform in the Canadian market.However, he believes that succeeding in Canada was not the company's ultimate goal. WonderFi had originally hoped to grow into a global enterprise, and Robinhood saw WonderFi as a strategic gateway into the Canadian market, which led to the CAD 250 million acquisition. Samaroo pointed out that Canada has long faced structural issues that limit companies' ability to scale, including insufficient venture capital, weak public markets, regulatory fragmentation, and declining attractiveness of entrepreneurial returns.For the crypto industry, the challenges are even more pronounced. Samaroo noted that after the QuadrigaCX incident, Canadian regulators established one of the world's strictest crypto regulatory frameworks. While the original intent was to protect investors, it also increased operational costs for businesses. International trading platforms including Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Gemini all entered the Canadian market previously and then exited. He believes that Canada's crypto regulations are not only strict but also compounded by fragmented securities regulatory systems, leading to higher financing costs, increased operational complexity, and diminished interest from overseas investors.Samaroo said that WonderFi is not an isolated case—many Canadian tech companies have followed a similar trajectory: growing domestically until hitting market ceilings, then ultimately seeking overseas capital or strategic buyers. Shopify founder Tobi Lütke has also previously criticized Canada for repeatedly "nurturing important companies only to send them abroad." Restricting corporate sales can easily become a political statement, but the real key to solving the problem lies in building a business environment that supports companies in financing, expansion, and competing globally.Robinhood previously announced the acquisition of WonderFi for approximately CAD 250 million. This deal also reflects the accelerating consolidation in the North American crypto industry, as US platforms expand into other markets through M&A. (Fortune)
AI collaboration assistant Viktor completes $75 million funding round, led by Accel
AI collaboration assistant Viktor has announced the completion of a $75 million funding round, led by Accel, with participation from Bek Ventures, Kaya VC, Tenacity Capital, and executives from companies such as Slack, Google DeepMind, and Figma. The company is currently building "AI virtual colleagues" embedded into Slack and Microsoft Teams. Unlike traditional personal AI assistant products, these AI colleagues can execute tasks across systems like Google Drive, Notion, Airtable, and Shopify, generate reports, and build organization-level memory. (Fortune)
Thrive Capital invests $215 million in Amazon, positioning for AI shopping and cloud computing growth opportunities
Odaily News - Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, has purchased approximately $215 million worth of Amazon shares, further expanding its investment footprint in public market companies.According to regulatory filings, this investment gives Thrive Capital exposure to Amazon's growth opportunities in artificial intelligence, including agentic AI shopping tools and AI computing infrastructure services for enterprise customers.Earlier this month, Amazon's market capitalization surpassed $3 trillion for the first time, making it the fifth company globally to reach this milestone. The market continues to focus on its development potential in generative AI, cloud computing, and AI-driven e-commerce.Thrive Capital has previously been known for investing in early-stage tech companies, with a portfolio that includes SpaceX, Stripe, and OpenAI. In recent years, the firm has increasingly added positions in publicly listed companies, including Figma, StubHub, and Oscar Health.Earlier this year, Thrive also disclosed to investors that it had purchased approximately $100 million worth of Shopify stock, citing AI technology as a driver of a new wave of growth in the e-commerce sector.This investment signals that Thrive Capital is further transitioning from a traditional venture capital model toward becoming an "investor in core assets of the AI era," sharing in the growth dividends of AI infrastructure and application ecosystems by taking positions in major tech companies. (Bloomberg)
WonderFi Founder Criticizes Canada's Innovation Environment: Struggling to Grow, Forced into Sale to Robinhood
Odaily News - Karia Samaroo, founder and former CEO of Canadian crypto company WonderFi, recently stated that the company's acquisition by US trading platform Robinhood Markets for CAD 250 million was not due to a lack of growth potential, but rather because Canada's market environment has restricted local tech companies from continuing to scale.Samaroo said that WonderFi was founded in 2021. After several years of development, the company consolidated Canada's fragmented crypto market, built a nationwide brand, and survived the QuadrigaCX collapse, the FTX crash, and Canada's strict crypto regulatory environment. By 2023, WonderFi had become a leading crypto platform in the Canadian market.However, he believes that succeeding in Canada was not the company's ultimate goal. WonderFi had originally hoped to grow into a global enterprise, and Robinhood saw WonderFi as a strategic gateway into the Canadian market, which led to the CAD 250 million acquisition. Samaroo pointed out that Canada has long faced structural issues that limit companies' ability to scale, including insufficient venture capital, weak public markets, regulatory fragmentation, and declining attractiveness of entrepreneurial returns.For the crypto industry, the challenges are even more pronounced. Samaroo noted that after the QuadrigaCX incident, Canadian regulators established one of the world's strictest crypto regulatory frameworks. While the original intent was to protect investors, it also increased operational costs for businesses. International trading platforms including Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Gemini all entered the Canadian market previously and then exited. He believes that Canada's crypto regulations are not only strict but also compounded by fragmented securities regulatory systems, leading to higher financing costs, increased operational complexity, and diminished interest from overseas investors.Samaroo said that WonderFi is not an isolated case—many Canadian tech companies have followed a similar trajectory: growing domestically until hitting market ceilings, then ultimately seeking overseas capital or strategic buyers. Shopify founder Tobi Lütke has also previously criticized Canada for repeatedly "nurturing important companies only to send them abroad." Restricting corporate sales can easily become a political statement, but the real key to solving the problem lies in building a business environment that supports companies in financing, expansion, and competing globally.Robinhood previously announced the acquisition of WonderFi for approximately CAD 250 million. This deal also reflects the accelerating consolidation in the North American crypto industry, as US platforms expand into other markets through M&A. (Fortune)
Binance Futures Will List Multiple TradFi USDT Perpetual Contracts
According to the official announcement, the Binance Futures platform will sequentially launch 6 USDT perpetual contracts based on traditional finance underlying assets from August 17 to 18, 2026, as follows: • GDXUSDT (Underlying: VanEck Gold Miners ETF) — August 17, 13:30 UTC • NETUSDT (Underlying: Cloudflare Class A Common Stock) — August 17, 13:35 UTC • VSTUSDT (Underlying: Vistra Corp Common Stock) — August 17, 13:40 UTC • SHOPUSDT (Underlying: Shopify Class A Shares) — August 17, 13:45 UTC • LYTEUSDT (Underlying: Roundhill Photonics & Optical ETF) — August 17, 13:50 UTC • CXMTUSDT (Underlying: ChangXin Memory Technologies, SSE 688825) — August 18, 05:00 UTC The above contracts all support up to 20x leverage, 24/7 trading, and multi-asset mode, with funding rates settled every 8 hours, capped at ±2%.
WonderFi Founder Criticizes Canada's Innovation Environment: Struggling to Grow, Forced into Sale to Robinhood
Odaily News - Karia Samaroo, founder and former CEO of Canadian crypto company WonderFi, recently stated that the company's acquisition by US trading platform Robinhood Markets for CAD 250 million was not due to a lack of growth potential, but rather because Canada's market environment has restricted local tech companies from continuing to scale.Samaroo said that WonderFi was founded in 2021. After several years of development, the company consolidated Canada's fragmented crypto market, built a nationwide brand, and survived the QuadrigaCX collapse, the FTX crash, and Canada's strict crypto regulatory environment. By 2023, WonderFi had become a leading crypto platform in the Canadian market.However, he believes that succeeding in Canada was not the company's ultimate goal. WonderFi had originally hoped to grow into a global enterprise, and Robinhood saw WonderFi as a strategic gateway into the Canadian market, which led to the CAD 250 million acquisition. Samaroo pointed out that Canada has long faced structural issues that limit companies' ability to scale, including insufficient venture capital, weak public markets, regulatory fragmentation, and declining attractiveness of entrepreneurial returns.For the crypto industry, the challenges are even more pronounced. Samaroo noted that after the QuadrigaCX incident, Canadian regulators established one of the world's strictest crypto regulatory frameworks. While the original intent was to protect investors, it also increased operational costs for businesses. International trading platforms including Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Gemini all entered the Canadian market previously and then exited. He believes that Canada's crypto regulations are not only strict but also compounded by fragmented securities regulatory systems, leading to higher financing costs, increased operational complexity, and diminished interest from overseas investors.Samaroo said that WonderFi is not an isolated case—many Canadian tech companies have followed a similar trajectory: growing domestically until hitting market ceilings, then ultimately seeking overseas capital or strategic buyers. Shopify founder Tobi Lütke has also previously criticized Canada for repeatedly "nurturing important companies only to send them abroad." Restricting corporate sales can easily become a political statement, but the real key to solving the problem lies in building a business environment that supports companies in financing, expansion, and competing globally.Robinhood previously announced the acquisition of WonderFi for approximately CAD 250 million. This deal also reflects the accelerating consolidation in the North American crypto industry, as US platforms expand into other markets through M&A. (Fortune)
Cathie Wood's fund reduces Palantir holdings by approximately $17 million
According to the latest trading data disclosed by Ark Invest, funds under Cathie Wood sold a total of 109,492 shares of Palantir (PLTR) on August 4 and 5, valued at approximately $17 million based on the latest closing price.Palantir previously reported second-quarter revenue of $1.94 billion, up 93% year-over-year, and raised its full-year guidance, driving the stock up nearly 30% in a single day after the earnings release. In addition, Cathie Wood has recently increased positions in Circle (CRCL), SpaceX (SPCX), and NVIDIA (NVDA), while reducing holdings in Shopify (SHOP) and Roblox (RBLX). (The Street)
Bybit 今日上线 SHOP、BIIB、VRTX 美股永续合约
Bybit 今日新增 Shopify（SHOPUSDT）、渤健（BIIBUSDT）、福泰制药（VRTXSTOCKUSDT）3 个美股永续合约，最高支持 25 倍杠杆。上线同期享限时手续费优惠：限价单费率 0%，市价单费率 5 折。
Sarah Wolf, Head of Marketing for Coinbase Base, announced her departure to join Anthropic and lead marketing for its startup.
According to Sarah Wolf’s own post on X, her nearly five-year tenure at Coinbase is coming to an end. She joined Coinbase in 2023 as its first Builder Marketer and co-founded Base with Jesse Pollak, driving its growth into a leading global blockchain ecosystem with a builder community spanning over 52 countries. During her time at Coinbase, she led several landmark initiatives, including Onchain Summer—a collaboration with Adidas and Coca-Cola—integrating USDC payments into Shopify, and launching BaseCamp, the flagship builder summit. After leaving Coinbase, Sarah Wolf will join Anthropic as Head of Startup Marketing, focusing on supporting the startup ecosystem building around Claude. She has invited founders and builders currently developing with Claude to reach out to her.
Related news
Binance Futures Will List Multiple TradFi USDT Perpetual Contracts
According to the official announcement, the Binance Futures platform will sequentially launch 6 USDT perpetual contracts based on traditional finance underlying assets from August 17 to 18, 2026, as follows: • GDXUSDT (Underlying: VanEck Gold Miners ETF) — August 17, 13:30 UTC • NETUSDT (Underlying: Cloudflare Class A Common Stock) — August 17, 13:35 UTC • VSTUSDT (Underlying: Vistra Corp Common Stock) — August 17, 13:40 UTC • SHOPUSDT (Underlying: Shopify Class A Shares) — August 17, 13:45 UTC • LYTEUSDT (Underlying: Roundhill Photonics & Optical ETF) — August 17, 13:50 UTC • CXMTUSDT (Underlying: ChangXin Memory Technologies, SSE 688825) — August 18, 05:00 UTC The above contracts all support up to 20x leverage, 24/7 trading, and multi-asset mode, with funding rates settled every 8 hours, capped at ±2%.
Thrive Capital invests $215 million in Amazon, positioning for AI shopping and cloud computing growth opportunities
Odaily News - Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, has purchased approximately $215 million worth of Amazon shares, further expanding its investment footprint in public market companies.According to regulatory filings, this investment gives Thrive Capital exposure to Amazon's growth opportunities in artificial intelligence, including agentic AI shopping tools and AI computing infrastructure services for enterprise customers.Earlier this month, Amazon's market capitalization surpassed $3 trillion for the first time, making it the fifth company globally to reach this milestone. The market continues to focus on its development potential in generative AI, cloud computing, and AI-driven e-commerce.Thrive Capital has previously been known for investing in early-stage tech companies, with a portfolio that includes SpaceX, Stripe, and OpenAI. In recent years, the firm has increasingly added positions in publicly listed companies, including Figma, StubHub, and Oscar Health.Earlier this year, Thrive also disclosed to investors that it had purchased approximately $100 million worth of Shopify stock, citing AI technology as a driver of a new wave of growth in the e-commerce sector.This investment signals that Thrive Capital is further transitioning from a traditional venture capital model toward becoming an "investor in core assets of the AI era," sharing in the growth dividends of AI infrastructure and application ecosystems by taking positions in major tech companies. (Bloomberg)
Tom Lee Bullish on Robinhood Chain: 27 Million Users Connecting to the ETH Ecosystem, Potentially the Biggest Success Story in Crypto This Year
Odaily News Bitmine Chairman and Fundstrat Co-Founder Tom Lee stated that Robinhood's blockchain project, Robinhood Chain, has become the "biggest success story" in the crypto industry in 2026, standing out as a breakthrough project in terms of cumulative trading volume, total value locked (TVL), and potential market size.Lee pointed out that Robinhood Chain's greatest advantage lies in its massive user base. Robinhood (HOOD) is opening this service to its approximately 27 million users, which in itself constitutes a huge potential market. Ethereum (ETH) has also continued to develop in recent years, albeit with a relatively low-key growth process, gradually expanding its use cases through stablecoin settlements and scenarios such as crypto payments and asset purchases on platforms like Shopify.He believes that directly connecting 27 million Robinhood users to the Ethereum economic system will have a significant impact on the crypto industry, potentially further driving blockchain applications from native crypto users to mainstream financial users. Robinhood Chain's success is not only reflected at the technical level, but more importantly, it connects traditional financial users, trading platforms, and the Ethereum ecosystem, potentially becoming an important case study for the mainstream adoption of crypto assets.
WonderFi Founder Criticizes Canada's Innovation Environment: Struggling to Grow, Forced into Sale to Robinhood
Odaily News - Karia Samaroo, founder and former CEO of Canadian crypto company WonderFi, recently stated that the company's acquisition by US trading platform Robinhood Markets for CAD 250 million was not due to a lack of growth potential, but rather because Canada's market environment has restricted local tech companies from continuing to scale.Samaroo said that WonderFi was founded in 2021. After several years of development, the company consolidated Canada's fragmented crypto market, built a nationwide brand, and survived the QuadrigaCX collapse, the FTX crash, and Canada's strict crypto regulatory environment. By 2023, WonderFi had become a leading crypto platform in the Canadian market.However, he believes that succeeding in Canada was not the company's ultimate goal. WonderFi had originally hoped to grow into a global enterprise, and Robinhood saw WonderFi as a strategic gateway into the Canadian market, which led to the CAD 250 million acquisition. Samaroo pointed out that Canada has long faced structural issues that limit companies' ability to scale, including insufficient venture capital, weak public markets, regulatory fragmentation, and declining attractiveness of entrepreneurial returns.For the crypto industry, the challenges are even more pronounced. Samaroo noted that after the QuadrigaCX incident, Canadian regulators established one of the world's strictest crypto regulatory frameworks. While the original intent was to protect investors, it also increased operational costs for businesses. International trading platforms including Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Gemini all entered the Canadian market previously and then exited. He believes that Canada's crypto regulations are not only strict but also compounded by fragmented securities regulatory systems, leading to higher financing costs, increased operational complexity, and diminished interest from overseas investors.Samaroo said that WonderFi is not an isolated case—many Canadian tech companies have followed a similar trajectory: growing domestically until hitting market ceilings, then ultimately seeking overseas capital or strategic buyers. Shopify founder Tobi Lütke has also previously criticized Canada for repeatedly "nurturing important companies only to send them abroad." Restricting corporate sales can easily become a political statement, but the real key to solving the problem lies in building a business environment that supports companies in financing, expansion, and competing globally.Robinhood previously announced the acquisition of WonderFi for approximately CAD 250 million. This deal also reflects the accelerating consolidation in the North American crypto industry, as US platforms expand into other markets through M&A. (Fortune)
Cathie Wood's fund reduces Palantir holdings by approximately $17 million
According to the latest trading data disclosed by Ark Invest, funds under Cathie Wood sold a total of 109,492 shares of Palantir (PLTR) on August 4 and 5, valued at approximately $17 million based on the latest closing price.Palantir previously reported second-quarter revenue of $1.94 billion, up 93% year-over-year, and raised its full-year guidance, driving the stock up nearly 30% in a single day after the earnings release. In addition, Cathie Wood has recently increased positions in Circle (CRCL), SpaceX (SPCX), and NVIDIA (NVDA), while reducing holdings in Shopify (SHOP) and Roblox (RBLX). (The Street)
Shopify Q2 Revenue Surges 34%, Stock Price Jumps 17% in Single Day
According to BeInCrypto, Shopify (SHOP) announced its second-quarter earnings on August 5, with revenue growing 34% year-over-year to $3.58 billion, beating market expectations by $140 million, and raised its third-quarter guidance, causing the stock price to surge 17% that day. Previously, there were widespread market concerns that "Vibe Coding" (AI natural language programming tools) would enable small and medium merchants to bypass Shopify to build their own e-commerce systems, threatening its business model. In response, CNBC host Jim Cramer publicly slammed the aforementioned logic, noting that small and medium-sized enterprises generally lack the capability to build and maintain business software, and AI tools cannot change this reality. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein also responded, stating that the AI wave is spawning a large number of new entrepreneurs entering the market, and the increase in new stores actually brings more potential users to Shopify, "AI is creating customers, not cutting customers."