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I was asked for an interview the other day by Sonya at Machinelab Venture and decided to say yes. It gives you a good view of me. So,here we go … Can you tell me a little about your background?  I took a degree in Management Sciences and joined IBM way back when. After a while,…

After Brexit, I hear and read a lot of negative things about doing business with Britain these days. The latest is Revolut complaining that Britain doesn’t like them. That’s not true. It’s more to do with Revolut cannot deliver their accounts on time (they blame the regulator for this) and cannot get the banking licence…

This week’s main blog discussions include … The issue with DeFi 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…

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…