This week’s main blog discussions include … Britain’s recent budgets feel like a long walk on a short cliff I’m not going to make any political statements, but have been watching UK political activity for the past few months, as has Elon Musk and others. In particular, there have been two milestone budget events in…
On Monday, the crypto-president of America takes office. Bearing in mind that I’ve said several times he will be the crypto-President it is interesting that, in the last few weeks, he will be more than this. He will be the Big Tech President. Here is why. We live in such interesting times. Digitalisation has creeped…
For a long time, I’ve had this chart that shows how banks can become digital banks by moving from the distribution of paper through buildings with humans to the distribution of data through software and servers. It’s a stable of my presentations and the argument is that the front, middle and back office needs to move…
Some years ago, I wrote a paper for SUERF. What’s SUERF? SUERF stands for Société Universitaire Européenne de Recherches Financières, which is French for the European University of Financial Research. It is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation that aims to promote discussion and understanding of financial and monetary issues. All well and good. The reason for…
I’m not going to make any political statements, but have been watching UK political activity for the past few months, as has Elon Musk and others. In particular, there have been two milestone budget events in the last two years, both of which damaged the UK economy massively. Add on to this all the Brexit…
Donald Trump’s administration is expected to turn the US into a crypto-friendly hub using a range of changes to tax policies. Here’s the best guess of what that means. For some time I’ve talked about Donald Trump’s ambition to be the crypto President and, as his inauguration on January 20th approaches, it makes you wonder…
A final wrap-up of the big trends of 2025 is obvs to talk about fintech. Looking at the big fintech trends, probably the best place to start is with Simon Taylor’s 111 page report (ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN PAGES!!!). Simon and his BFF Jev at Sardine note a number of developments, such as the fintech hyperscaler….
So, I’ve already talked about payments, technology and mentioned cryptocurrencies but, this year, crypto deserves its’ very own singular entry. Cryptocurrencies are huge in 2025. This is not only because Donald Trump and Elon Musk will do their utmost to make America the Crypto Capital, but because – after sixteen years – cryptocurrencies are coming…
Continuing the theme of payments in 2025 I really liked the view of McKinsey, who produced a really nice report to coincide with SIBOS last year. What did they say? In short “simpler interfaces, complex reality”. What does that mean? It means that “payments are becoming disconnected from accounts, and the number of players is proliferating,…
