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This week we’ve seen three different headlines about 3 different banks, all with a familiar thread running through the stories. Are they all following the same playbook and will more of the same unfold as the year progresses? Links to the stuff we spoke about:- Boston Consulting Group (BCG) published a new report in collaboration with…

As the global superpower that I grew up with, America has dominated everything in my life. I’ve worked for American companies; I watch American movies; I use American tech for almost everything I do … in fact, as a Brit, I’m so American that the only thing I don’t do is pronounce a Z as…

I’ve talked a lot about a global basket of digital currencies becoming the norm. Then, as I started developing ideas for my next book – CeFi vs DeFi – I realised that the way the world is moving is to have both. Why can’t we have stablecoins based on a basket of USD and RMB…

I’ve had this thing about decentralised finance for some time. The reason? Libertarians say that we can now have money without government. From my side, I argue that’s wrong. You can’t have money without government. The question is: who is the government? You cannot have money without government, but the government can just as easily…

You’re probably fed up with discussions of First Republic’s failure and its acquisition by JPMorgan by now. It is a bit strange however, as First Republic is very much a bank for the wealthiest people in West Coast America (think of the bank of Mark Zuckerberg) so, what’s going on? If you already know, then…

I was quietly annoyed by one of the headlines I saw the other day: Using crypto for crime is not a bug — it’s an industry feature It’s an attack on the whole idea of cryptocurrencies in an opinion piece by Financial Times columnist Jemima Kelly. She talks about being heckled for saying that crypto…

This week’s main blog discussions include … Why digital transformation fails I got a nudge that my good friend Jim Marous had just published a new report, sponsored by Qorus and Infosys Finacle. 💯 Jim Marous states that: “innovation is important in banking because it drives growth, allows organisations to stay competitive, and helps solve complex…

We welcomed guest judge Barb MacLean of Fintech Playlist fame to preside over proceedings this week during which, the European Payments Initiative (EPI) made a big announcement, taking them one step closer to breaking the Visa / Mastercard duopoly in the region. There were other losers and a surprising winner on the show but no more spoilers,…

I recently had a chat with the folks of Machine Lab. Here’s what happened … An acclaimed author and independent commentator whose insights on financial markets and fintech are second to none, Chris Skinner was one of the founding minds behind the world’s first mobile bank and has advised some of the most prominent CEOs and leaders…

I recently stumbled across Kevin Burkart whilst listening to a podcast on BBC Sounds called Sideways, hosted by Matthew Syed. The episode is all about the giving economy, which is actually drilled into our DNA, as I blogged about recently. The summary is that before we trade, commerce and money, we lived in communities where helping…