Future

Based on this article from the Verge, I thought I’d give my explainer of NFTs. What does NFT stand for? NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, an acronym and phrase that no mere mortal understands. The gist of it is the word Fungible. Fungible means it can be replaced by something else. I give you a…

Crypto is in its usual rollercoaster mode with bitcoin prices halving in January, but then it did the same in January 2021. Regardless of this and, building on yesterday’s blog, there’s an interesting trend I’ve spotted, and it is the reason why bitcoin is not going away. The trend is that if you live in…

Lots of folks are talking Web3, but what is Web3 and why isn’t it Web 3.0? I guess, like with all things, we abbreviate and so Web3 is the next wave network that will revolutionize everything. So what is it? Web3, as envisioned by the Web3 Foundation, will be a public internet where data and content…

The worlds’ rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Does it always have to be that way? In 2020, the world's super-rich enjoyed a record rise in their wealth. Here's how the world's wealthiest can put their money to use: https://t.co/3sVoeYqqDF pic.twitter.com/JYvppQCsUI — World Economic Forum (@wef) January 13, 2022 Not necessarily. It was…

I took a contrarian view and said that FinTech investments worldwide would plateau in 2022. Interestingly, 2021 was a record year. Just looking at the figures from Innovate Finance, you can see things were still on fire: Sector bounces back from pandemic – 217% overall YoY investment increase in the UK Total capital invested in…

There has been a continual debate about the euro and the future of Europe. When the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, I was absolutely mortified. I didn’t think it would happen, but it has happened. It’s a messy divorce, but the divorce has taken place. Now, the debate moves on to the…

In the final part of my welcome to 2022 series, here are the big trends in technology in general (not just FinTech). According to the World Economic Forum, there are ten key technologies to watch including 3D printing houses, tracking humans through the network and getting drugs through apps. That’s only ten things, so Forbes goes…

Focusing just on the payments space, there are many folks making forecasts for 2022. Here are the highlights. The Financial Brand lists seven major trends for 2022: The ‘P2P’ Wars Will Continue Unabated Despite All the New Stuff, Cards (and Cash) Roll On BNPL: The Payments Wild Card It’s A Wallet! It’s a Platform! It’s Super…

Banking in 2022 has a number of forecasters. Deloitte claim that banks are at a make-or-break moment. I agree. My feeling is that banks are dealing with digital transformation – a thing they should have dealt with a decade ago. For the next decade, they need to deal with investment transformation. Why? Because of the link…

I used to make predictions to start the year. I’m not doing that anymore, as everyone else is doing them. I will add a few thoughts at the end of this week’s series of blog entries but, for the moment, here’s my selection of what’s going to happen in 2022. You had one job ……