Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

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How will we trade with aliens?

Waking up today, I am shocked to see the headlines about aliens wrecking the world’s financial markets. Apparently, various American politicians have kind of confirmed that aliens are real, admitting to an 80-year cover-up including Dulce Base in New Mexico and Area 51, Nevada. The reason this came up today is that, if confirmed true,…

The Finanser’s Week: 12th January -18th January 2026

This week’s main blog discussions include … My next new book: “Intelligent Bank” I just got a summary of my new book from the publishers. It comes out in the summer but, for those interested, here are the key messages … The more wealth amongst the few, the more likely the revolution by the many…

Quantum-proofing money, a report by BIS

My friend Lory Kehoe spotted a white paper by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) that was released in December discussing Project Leap, a deep technical experiment showing that core payment systems can migrate to post-quantum cryptography without breaking how money moves today. It’s a fascinating paper and an important one for us fintech nerds,…

My next new book: “Intelligent Bank”

I just got a summary of my new book from the publishers. It comes out in the summer but, for those interested, here are the key messages: Core Thesis The book argues that banking is entering its third great technological revolution: Mainframe era → automation and scale Digital era → connectivity, mobile, fintech, experience Intelligence…

The World economy in 2026

Well guys, it doesn’t look good. Most banks and economic think tanks reckon the world is in a dive. Happy New Year! Much of this has been caused by the economic uncertainty of the world superpower called the USA. Donald Trump’s tariff policies has caused huge nervousness and so the economies of all countries are…

The Top 10 Blogs of 2025

Every year I visit the analytics engine to see which blogs got the most visits. This list is this year’s although, interestingly, the blog entry with the most clicks generally is the one I wrote about who invented WiFi. Regardless, the list this year is interesting as it is mainly about fintech firms like Klarna,…

A quick review of #fintech 2025

I get regular emails with facts and stats, and one that I subscribe to regularly is from Fintech Global. Fintech Global provides research and, more importantly, connects senior decision-makers via industry-leading conferences. Enough of the advertising as what intrigues me more is facts and stats, and their research gives an interesting reflection of the world…

The arguments for and against digital identification

For many years, I’ve been among the fintech influencers arguing for a digital identity system. Most people reply that they don’t want one. Even an anonymous encrypted one. They fear that governments will find ways to track and trace them, and so it does not work. Their fears are slightly irrational as, if you use…

Did 2025 really happen? (the year of deep fake)

2025 has been the year of AI and AI hype from Agentic AI to AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) to Robots, chatbots and more but, for me, it has been the year of Deep Fake AI. It all started with the story of the French woman who got duped into a fake AI relationship with Brad Pitt…

Wells Fargo: from Pony Express to a pioneer of women’s rights

You may know Wells Fargo, one of the largest American banks. I know them well, having worked with some of their key people over the years. Their brand is all based around the old Pony Express … Note: stamp is dated 1940 … but you may not know their real history, so here we go….