Opinion

I haven’t commented much on bitcoin’s (BTC) recent surge, as I’ve been watching and waiting, but it is something. Just in case you didn’t notice, the value has moved from a low of under $5,000 per BTC in March 2020 to around $50,000 per BTC today. But it’s not just BTC: it’s Ether, Bitcoin Cash,…

I was on a call the other day, discussing Big Data and Green Finance. It’s not an area I talk about much, although Green is more and more on the radar. Even big bank CEO’s are aware of it and the issues that go with it. So, what’s new? Well, I narrowed it down to…

I was pretty surprised to find that many of Robinhood’s account holders are very young, with an average age of 31. It is probably why they pile into anti-Wall Street stock movements and they are not the only ones. See this from Reuters: Apex Clearing, which helps facilitate trades for brokerages, said the nearly 6…

I’m working on a new book project. You might have spotted the themes in my recent blog entries but, if not, it’s all about purpose. The tagline is: if you don’t stand for something, you fall down, and is focused upon stakeholder capitalism. ESG, CSR and all that stuff and more. So, I’ve been watching for leaders who talk about…

It strikes to my digital nerve when I see forms that ask for a FAX number. What’s a FAX? Or someone said the other day that I should Xerox that. What’s Xerox? Watching a movie. Investigator is checking paperwork at a hotel and the guy says: “Hey man, are you done or do you need…

This is my last blog of 2020, so I thought I would look back at the year with a personal view. A terrible year. A year of locked down loneliness for many. In my case, it’s been hard. I am used to being in a different country every other day, flying the world. Since February,…

I woke up yesterday to find this story on Sifted, the Financial Times newish platform dedicated to innovation and FinTech: Fintechs to cosy up with politicians to counter ‘big bank lobby’ It’s interesting, especially for a guy like me who has hovered around all of the lobbies mentioned. The gist of the article is that…

Five years ago, I interviewed Niklas Adalberth, Co-Founder, Deputy CEO and Board Member at Klarna. He left the company shortly after, and is now a venture capitalist at Norrsken. At the time, Klarna was relatively unheard of, but the interview intrigued me at the time. It was all about an escrow style service, as people…

I’ve talked a lot about GloLo – the integration of local with global. This is where physical and digital come together, and has clearly been demonstrated during the pandemic. I’m local – locked in and not going anywhere – but I’m global – I’m video-calling every day to everywhere in the world. In the context…

I guess that Facebook caused many central banks to realise that if they didn’t issue digital currencies then others would. Hence, why most central banks are issuing them. But it’s not an either-or scenario. “We will see in the not-too-distant future a sovereign digital currency coming out.” Michael Corbat, CEO of Citi “There is absolutely…