Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Opinion

Dreaming of winning the lottery? … maybe not

Most of us dream of being millionaires or, these days, billionaires. Unlimited wealth = unlimited fun! However, the reality is that this is not the case. Seven our of ten lottery winners end up broke and a third go on to declare bankruptcy, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education. Runaway spending, toxic investments…

How often do you read the Ts and Cs?

Most of us don’t care. We just click. Even in the good old days of paper-printed documentation, did you read the terms and conditions? You’re sitting with the salesperson and there’s 5,000 words on a page that look like standard conditions. Do you read them? Nah, most of us don’t. I always remember a gaming…

Farewell to the Queen

I didn’t want to comment on the death of the Queen. It’s got nothing to do with FinTech, Banking, Technology or finance … but, in the last few years, I created a charity with my good friend Basia Hamilton, a world-leading portrait artist, to encourage children to paint and draw. The Portrait Foundation is now…

In space, no one can take your money

The strapline for the film Alien was that in space, no one can hear you scream. It doesn’t sound quite as scary, but I was thinking about the cashless world and realised that: In case you cannot see the words: In space, no one can take your money Do you ever see anyone paying for…

Welcome to (another) crypto meltdown

As a guy who has invested a little in cryptocurrencies, I sat back a year ago in a warm glow. The investment had risen phantasmagorically, and was now worth a good pension. Today? It’s worth almost nothing. Source: Daily Mail What’s gone wrong? Well, it started with Terra, and it’s led to Terror. The wobbles…

I just woke up to my cancelled culture

Growing up, my brother used to try hard to persuade me to attend The Motor Show. He is a petrolhead and the show would be the highlight of his year. I went once. My lasting memory is almost every stand had women who were dressed in a sexy way to entice the men onto the…

Could bitcoin destabilise the dollar?

I was thinking about cryptocurrencies and the fact that most of us have heard of bitcoin and Ethereum. You may have heard of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. Maybe you even know Cordana and Polygon. But do you know about UNI and Potcoin? Or Putincoin and Trumpcoin? What about Whoppercoin or Catcoin? It seems like madness…

How can you oversee a system you don’t see?

I was intrigued by a post from a friend who had worked for a leading fund manager. Her boss was jailed for financial manipulation. In her words: “I witnessed the effect of regulators on an innovative mind. Prior to jail, he was a financial trailblazer in encouraging companies to dream big, much like today’s venture capitalists….

I get knocked down, but I get up again

Life is swings and roundabouts … you win some, you lose some. Life is Sliding Doors moments … you look back and want to change things or wish you had taken that opportunity (Ed: it’s easy in hindsight). Life is what you make it … you cannot change the past or present, only the future….

Curiousity killed the cat but made the human

I’ve noticed that my blogging has developed into regularly asking questions. Many of my blog entries end with a question mark. Why is that? It’s because I’m always asking questions. It’s because I cannot accept the way it is. It’s because I want to know more. It’s because I’m curious. Funnily enough I presented at…