A lot of discussion at the United Nations, where I’ve been all week (blogging about that next week), has raised the question of Libra, the Facebook digital currency. I’m avoiding calling it a cryptocurrency, as it’s more a stablecoin that is focused upon transactions, which is why it has Visa, …

In the last month, there’s been a wave of announcements from Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon about banking. We’ve seen Facebook’s major activities in trying to create a digital currency called Libra, and Apple’s move into finance with a credit card from Goldman Sachs which, in just a month, offered …

It’s been interesting to watch the development of Facebook’s Libra project. As I expected, regulators hate it and are asking lots of questions about it. Most seem to want to ban it. And now PayPal has dropped out of the original founding team, with Visa and MasterCard rumoured to follow. …

I’ve blogged a few times about Facebook planning to launch a currency … Will Facebook become the world’s central bank? If Facebook launch a cryptocurrency, will US government shut it down? … and the fact that most regulators won’t like it. In fact, there are already questions being asked in …

I’m writing more and more about Facebook launching its own cryptocurrency lately: Will Facebook become the world’s central bank? (March 2019) Will a global platform connect all of our money? (April 2019) This is because they are getting serious about payments and blockchain, after a variety of reports that they …

The main blog headlines are … What does “innovation” mean in finance? I recently was invited to be the keynote at some innovation awards in Ireland. It got me thinking about what innovation means in finance, so here are the notes from my speech. I trust it’s useful …   …

The term The Internet of Things (IoT) was first used twenty years ago. Twenty years later, IoT is emerging rapidly. We have our cars and homes networked but, more than this, we have gadgets like Google Home, Siri and Alexa. Amazon has taken this even further with services like Key …

Things we’re reading today include … Boss of RBS start-up bank Bó quits, plunging its future into chaos NAB faces class action lawsuit for delaying moving $6.3bn of super to low-fee accounts Bank executive accuses HSBC of tolerating “culture of sexism” Vodafone quits Facebook’s Libra currency Davos 2020: Bankers push …

The main blog headlines are … What would you rather talk about: sex, religion, politics or money? My blog often seems to return to the subject of sex, whether it be sexism or basic sex. It is for the reason that money and rumpy-pumpy are the twin engines powering everything …

I’ve blogged for a while now about the different approaches to Big Tech in China and America. In China, Big Tech is pretty much working hand-in-hand with government to solve society’s issues and police them. People in the West may not like it or understand it, but Big Brotherly Love …

The main blog headlines are … Why decentralised currencies are a PEST! Sometimes you debate stuff and a realisation comes. I had one of these today. When futurists talk about the future, they generally based their opinions on forces of change, known colloquially as PEST. Political, Economic, Social and Technological …

Things we’re reading today include … Facebook’s Zuckerberg grilled over Libra currency plan Is Facebook’s Libra doomed? Metro Bank posts loss during ‘challenging’ time Mario Draghi: His legacy after eight tumultuous years at the ECB Can central bankers talk too much? Peer-to-peer lender Funding Secure goes into administration Superyachts and …

Sometimes you debate stuff and a realisation comes. I had one of these today. When futurists talk about the future, they generally based their opinions on forces of change, known colloquially as PEST. Political, Economic, Social and Technological change. So I was having this debate with a friend about the …

Things we’re reading today include … Morgan Stanley elbows out rivals for plum role in $1.5 billion IPO relaunch: sources Infosys: India software giant probes whistleblower claims LSE bids show exchange world’s new priorities UK cyber-centre targets payment card fraud Revealed: The passwords putting you at most risk of cyber …

Things we’re reading today include … Chinese vice foreign minister says progress made in trade talks with U.S Infosys starts probe into alleged ‘unethical practices’ by CEO; shares tank ‘I wish the bank had asked about my spending’ China has more ‘unicorn’ start-ups than the US Brexit deal acceptable, says …