Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Shared experiences and the networked economy

I was in the theatres again recently, watching shows. I love theatre, especially musicals (Ed: is it okay for Chris to say this?). I wondered why theatre is so special and then realised it’s that shared experience. A bunch of people on stage doing stuff, and a crowd of people sharing what they’re doing. It…

Walk the line: the balance between regulation and innovation

I noted that the FCA is holding the new UK banks to account for their mishaps over customer onboarding and, specifically, their lack of due diligence: Barclays’ fraud prevention team spotted a problem: some customers had handed over millions of pounds to a single, suspicious Monzo account in a matter of weeks.  As I said a…

Stripe’s IPO – how much?

We all got excited a couple of years ago about the biggest FinTech IPO that would ever be listed. Ant Group would have listed with a valuation over $300 billion. They didn’t, because President Xi blocked it after Jack Ma messed up, but it was exciting whilst it lasted. Now there’s another big FinTech IPO…

The Emperor’s Clothes and Barclays Bank

Here’s the latest blog from Extinction Rebellion’s Co-founder Gail Bradbrook, with her colleagues Aidan Knox and Toby Gale (first, second and third are here). The Emperor’s Clothes and Barclays Bank “Some government and business leaders are saying one thing – but doing another. Simply put, they are lying. And the results will be catastrophic.” These…

What’s the new book about, Chris?

I had an interview the other day about my new book Digital for Good. It felt like it was a worthy discussion, so thought it worth sharing again today. What is the number for your new book “Digital for Good“? Do you have the same feelings as when your first book was released? I’ve released many books…

The Finanser’s Week: 25th April 2022 – 1st May 2022

This week’s main blog discussions include: How can you oversee a system you don’t see? I was intrigued by a post from a friend who had worked for a leading fund manager. Her boss was jailed for financial manipulation. In her words: “I witnessed the effect of regulators on an innovative mind. Prior to jail, he…

Are cryptos actually currencies or just gambling?

It’s interesting as I found two studies over the past few days that show Dogecoin and shiba Inu coins are the most popular on the net, beating bitcoin. Both reports were analysing Google Trends for searches, not acutally buying or use of crypto. Even so, the reports prove to be interesting. The first report –…

How can you oversee a system you don’t see?

I was intrigued by a post from a friend who had worked for a leading fund manager. Her boss was jailed for financial manipulation. In her words: “I witnessed the effect of regulators on an innovative mind. Prior to jail, he was a financial trailblazer in encouraging companies to dream big, much like today’s venture capitalists….

People who fear being tracked and traced … it’s too late

For years now there has been a discussion of having chips inside humans. I was presenting this idea twenty years ago, and often used the example of the Baja Beach Club. The idea made sense: get a club chip inserted under the skin and you need no wallet or phone … just dance. It particularly…