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The main blog headlines are … 9 out of 10 blockchain trials go nowhere I just read an interesting new report from Deloitte about blockchain. They tracked the history of 86,034 blockchain projects hosted on GitHub since 2009 to pull out “key lessons” on where the blockchain industry is going and its long-term prospects. Here…

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has slammed the rise of cryptocurrencies insisting the costs to mine bitcoin is ‘enormous‘ and that the energy consumption is worrying, declaring current costs of electricity consumption used to mine the coins are “double the electricity consumption of Scotland.” The UK’s leading banker claims that cryptocurrencies will…

As mentioned yesterday, I always get a new take on life when I come to Africa, and this visit is no exception. I’m chairing conferences where a range of start-ups, telco’s and banks are talking about their experiences and views. Halfway through the dialogue, a lightning bolt cracked through my forehead. Not literally obviously, that…

I just hosted a conference in Africa and you cannot attend a conference in Africa without financial inclusion, mobile wallets and microfinance coming up. It’s always on the agenda and top of mind, because most Africans have been excluded from financial services to date. In particular, focusing upon Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)*, which includes Kenya, Nigeria,…

I was talking the other day to a colleague about the phenomenon in Asia, India, Africa and South America taking place with mobile payments and the lack of take-up in the USA. Why is this, I wondered? Then  got my answer, although it isn’t a singular factor but a combination of factors. First, there are…

I recently wrote this piece for Raconteur’s Sunday Times supplement, and thought it might interest The Finanser’s readers: ‘When we in the West look to America for innovation, we are looking the wrong way’ I often talk about the world of change we are going through and how Europe and America are living in legacy economies Our…

I just read an interesting new report from Deloitte about blockchain. They tracked the history of 86,034 blockchain projects hosted on GitHub since 2009 to pull out “key lessons” on where the blockchain industry is going and its long-term prospects. Here are some of the highlights: More than 26,000 blockchain projects were started in 2016,…

The main blog headlines are … Excuse me, but would you like this chip in your vein or your brain? Lots of people talk a good talk about the internet of things and how my washing machine could now make purchases but my question is: what would my washing machine want to buy? More powder…

Lots of people talk a good talk about the internet of things and how my washing machine could now make purchases but my question is: what would my washing machine want to buy? More powder and some salt maybe? A replacement for the dish that just broke? An intelligent washing machine buying things on the…

Someone pointed out to me that when I wrote about the wealth divide, a lot of the property investing is not your average John or Jane, but a lot of money launderers. I wrote a while ago  that there is $1.6 trillion of money laundered worldwide every year, and only 2% is caught. That leaves…