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This week’s main blog discussions include … Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the oldest bank in the world became the newest? I’m working with a cryptobank start-up, and we’re looking at options for licensing. Various countries have various attractions, with some more attractive than others. I won’t go into the nuances of the details as…

I know that my blog is focused upon finance, technology and the future, but there are moments where something hits you about the past and makes you consider it. This is one of those days. I wrote some years ago about the creation of Switzerland being based upon the Knights Templar, which created a state…

I’m working with a cryptobank start-up, and we’re looking at options for licensing. Various countries have various attractions, with some more attractive than others. I won’t go into the nuances of the details as it’s all under wraps, but one of the founders turned to me and asked if there might be a good licensed…

As you know, I don’t like entering the political sphere too much as it’s way too controversial, but I’ve just got around to watching the BBC Panorama programme aired on February 19 about Hamas’s secret financial empire. It’s fascinating and, unfortunately, only available on the BBC iPlayer, as far as I know. It’s well worth…

I’ve just had several incidents with traditional banks digitally that made me realise they really are faced with big issues. You may have noticed this in my recent blogging, but here are three specific insights that illustrated the point. The first is the fact that I keep having to open the bank’s app to find…

The main blog discussions this week include … The Dunning-Kruger effect, as inspired by a bank robbery I had never heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect until the other day. Inspired by a bank robbery, Professor David Dunning worked out that people sit at opposite ends of a spectrum of confidence. Some are hugely confident and…

I had never heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect until the other day. Inspired by a bank robbery, Professor David Dunning worked out that people sit at opposite ends of a spectrum of confidence. Some are hugely confident and competent whilst, at the other end of the spectrum, they are hugely confident but completely incompetent. How…

Way back in the 1990s, we all talked about object-oriented architectures and modular computing. In the 2000s, I called it Banking-as-a-Service, BaaS, and started presenting the idea around the world. The difference between the 1990s and 2000s was cloud and mobile smartphones. This change was the tipping point from fragmented systems to open platforms, and…

Thirty years ago, I presented at a conference with the theme being the end of cash. Thirty years later we are all gradually going cashless. Twenty-five years ago, I presented at a conference, with the view that bank branches weren’t needed. Twenty-five years later, most bank branches are going, going, gone. Twenty years ago, I…

Way back in 2012, I invested £1,000 in bitcoins on Mt.Gox, the Japanese-based exchange that was the most popular platform at that time for trading in said currency. Then they got hacked and went bankrupt in 2014. You may remember but, just in case: Launched in 2010, it was handling over 70% of all bitcoin…