Future

Most of the people around the world have savings that can last them less than a month. In the USA, 29% of households have less than $1,000 in savings; in the UK, 15% of Brits have no savings at all; and in most economies worldwide, a large tranche of society have only got enough to live…

What if we make money truly global, stable and secure? That’s Libra’s ambition and I’ve got to hand it to the guys at Libra. Having announced their idea to create a global currency last summer, and then see it ripped to pieces by regulators, they’re back. Yes, it’s Libra 2.0. What’s the difference between 1.0 and…

I’m really frustrated between what the government is saying, the media is reporting, the behaviour of banks, the thrust of business and the reality of life. Governments worldwide are locking down and, at the same time, saying they’re going to help citizens and business; media is telling everyone there’s help, support, money, aid out there;…

Someone asked me what the coronavirus pandemic means for the future of FinTech. I’ve blogged a bit about that already, referring specifically to this great presentation by Finch Capital: But equally, you may think that times are dull and boring, locked in at home and nothing going on, but there’s loads happening. Critically, what’s happening…

For most of my adult life, we’ve been part of the European Union. The Brexit vote came as a shock, and the unravelling of Britain from Europe for the past four years has been a major stalemate in British life and politics. Now, the whole euro project might come tumbling down, so maybe the Brits…

I have a few favourite FinTech firms: Ripple, Prosper, Lending Club, SoFi, Zopa, Monzo, N26, TransferWise, Klarna, Stripe, Alipay, WeBank and more. A lot of it is because I knew these firms as fledglings and have enjoyed watching them grow up. One firm in this crew is Wirecard, the German bank behind many of Europe’s…

The non-stop coverage of coronavirus, global markets slumping, an economic armageddon, the end of the world due to a climate emergency, the melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice, rising of the oceans, weather fatalities, a farce of a US election, the UK and EU in a stand-off over Brexit, the cancellation of the Olympics…

I don’t know how you guys are holding up, but I’m finding myself on lots of videoconferences, even delivering a keynote in Tokyo the other day from my home office in Poland. The event was recorded and so I thought I’d share the video and transcript with you. This, btw, is all summarised in full…

It’s very strange times. I’ve taken travel for granted. For years, I’ve been used to open borders, easy connectivity and access to airports. The internet then fuelled that ease of movement and connectivity. Suddenly, via social media, my friends are in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Mumbai, Lagos, Paris, Milan, New York, San Francisco, Buenos Aires,…

I’m getting a lot of people asking questions about what I think the coronavirus will mean long-term in the financial markets, so I’ve tried to jump forward to look back. Obviously, the big thing about a pandemic is that people are being told to stop meeting each other. Conferences, events, gatherings, office work, packed trains…