~chris-skinner-s-blo | Bookmarks (184)

There’s a brand new book on the block, which I wish I had written: who is Satoshi Nakamoto? It’s actually not called that. It’s called: The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto: A Fifteen-Year Quest to Unmask the Secret Genius Behind Crypto by Benjamin Wallace, but you get the idea. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin... The post Was bitcoin created by America’s NSA? appeared...

Things we’re reading today include … Barclays, HSBC, Bank of America bosses hold crisis tariff talks Fintech companies caught up in tariff turmoil Why the ‘Crypto President’ has overseen a crash in Bitcoin Airwallex Reportedly Plans to Seek US and UK Banking Licenses Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey to lead global banking watchdog Fintech... The post Things worth reading: 8th April 2025 appeared...

I don’t know about you, but I remember getting my first computer back in the 1980s. It was OK, but quite difficult to use and pretty expensive. In around 1990, I got my first laptop and can remember it cost around £2,000. It wasn’t worth it. Ever since, like most people, I’ve probably changed computers... The post Happy 50th Birthday Microsoft appeared first on...

Things we’re reading today include … Klarna puts IPO plans on hold | Sifted UAE aims to launch retail central bank digital currency this year “I am a junior at a top US bank. We openly discuss whether this bank is going under” Lloyds accused of failing small firms as it reduced its lending –... The post Things worth reading: 7th April 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … #Stripe’s policy: by raising risk, you become risk (#RDR) On my LinkedIn stream, I’ve been getting more and more alerts about malpractices at Stripe. That surprises me as they are the poster child of fintech, so I investigated and found that most of my feed was being filled... The post The Finanser’s Week: 31st March – 6th...

I was talking to a wealth management startup the other day, and they showed me an aggregation service that can harvest all of your physical, digital and emotional assets, combined with a death management service that alerts your key people to all the things they need to know to find those assets when you die.... The post Why does no one deal with emotional...

Things we’re reading today include … 70% of bank IT budgets go to maintaining legacy tech European banks exposed to risk of US dollar shortfall, says EU watchdog Pizza brand Papa Johns partners with TrueLayer to offer Pay by Bank | Open Banking Expo Central banks keep gold in focus in February | Post by... The post Things worth reading: 4th April 2025 appeared...

Things we’re reading today include … OnlyFans founder, crypto foundation submit late-stage bid to buy TikTok | Reuters European Fintech in 2025: Can It Overcome Market Fragmentation? Open Banking fintech Yavrio connects with five major US banks | Open Banking Expo US banks predict climate goals will fail – but air conditioning firms will thrive... The post Things worth reading: 3rd April 2025 appeared...

In a reflection of the times we live in, Hasbro announced a new version of Monopoly the other day with no cash and no banker, but a focus upon a digital wallet. It should be available from most major retailers in August 2025. Spotting the announcement my friend (1) Post | LinkedIn says that the... The post Today’s Monopoly: no cash, no banker and...

On my LinkedIn stream, I’ve been getting more and more alerts about malpractices at Stripe. That surprises me as they are the poster child of fintech, so I investigated and found that most of my feed was being filled by one Brad Harrington, a young self-employed entrepreneur who graduated from the University of Michigan in... The post #Stripe’s policy: by raising risk, you become...

Things we’re reading today include: Crypto scams cost Britons nearly £200m in the past year Metro ex-CEO claims watchdog ‘too busy’ to supervise London can lure Brexit-fleeing banks back to UK – but the City must move quickly Political support leading to increasing fallout for crypto Trump Family Turns to Bitcoin Mining How Trump’s family... The post Things worth reading: 2nd April 2025 appeared...

Things we’re reading today include … Bank Issues April Fool’s Day Fraud Warning Meet the UK and Ireland’s fastest-growing fintechs by revenue | Sifted The Prudential Regulation Authority proposes raising FSCS deposit protection limit to £110,000 | Bank of England Former Barclays chief Jenkins weighs sale of fintech 10X How to use Russia’s central bank... The post Things worth reading: 1st April 2025 appeared...

Building on my recent blogs about Don Tramp’s love of crypto, he has now allegedly launched a joint meme coin with Vlamadir Punit, a Ruskian. The meme coin is called Pump, a reference to Punit and Tramp. Little was known about the background to the coin until it was launched this morning but, in a... The post The rise and fall of the meme...

I got hauled up for being a Musk hater the other day which, to be clear, I am not. It’s purely that he is the richest man in the world and the most powerful, even more powerful than Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, so the media hate him. As we are fed daily media updates... The post Doing a Musk, Part Two: Integrating X...

Things we’re reading today include … Zilch Declared Fastest Growing Fintech In UK Monzo, Starling, Zilch: The fintech IPOs that could boost London JPMorgan people lament “noisy” office, Revolut staff flaunt working by the beach The use and abuse of investment bank bonuses China’s 4 top state-owned banks to raise US$72 billion from stock sales... The post Things worth reading: 31st March 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … Bank IT outages … let’s talk about the bank systems Jenga I’ve been talking a lot about bank IT outages lately, as you can hear here on the BBC! Tech Life – Surviving digital banking outages – BBC Sounds Why? Because they are becoming more and more common and... The post The Finanser’s Week: 24th March – 31st...

I just downloaded the Chainalysis annual cryptocrime report and, as usual, it is fascinating. Ask almost any politician or banker about cryptocurrencies and they’ll say they all encourage crime except Donald Trump, but that’s because he is supposedly a criminal. Here is a synopsis of the report taken from their introduction: According to our metrics... The post How much crypto is crime? appeared first...

Things we’re reading today include … Trump’s top officials ‘have passwords leaked’ Jack Dorsey’s fintech venture lays off nearly 1,000 over email How Gen Z and Millennials Are Reshaping the Fintech Industry Bank payday outages ‘will absolutely happen again’ Japan to limit cash withdrawals and bank transfers for elderly people to stop scammers Farage attacks... The post Things worth reading: 28th March 2025 appeared...

I’ve seen a number of companies die over they years. Sometimes it’s a statement from the CEO showing arrogance but, more often, from a mistake in strategy. After all, it’s easy to make a comment and miss the mark; it’s even easier to make a strategic movement and miss the mark. Therefore, the recent dumping... The post How to kill a company by doing...

Things we’re reading today include … Stablecoin surge: Reserve-backed cryptocurrencies are on the rise | World Economic Forum What we know about Trump family’s plan to sell a new cryptocurrency Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account – The White House Orange finally peels open mobile-only bank TrueLayer integrates with Starling Bank for Open... The post Things worth reading: 27th March 2025 appeared...

I’ve been talking a lot about bank IT outages lately, as you can hear here on the BBC! Tech Life – Surviving digital banking outages – BBC Sounds Why? Because they are becoming more and more common and frequent: Big bank systems crashed for over 800 hours in last two years due to IT outages More... The post Bank IT outages … let’s talk about...

Things we’re reading today include: Investor makes a stand against digital banking Globalisation may have run its course in current form, says HSBC chair Ant Group reduces AI costs 20% with Chinese chips Solaris Investor SBI Completes Ownership Process Bailey warns tariffs and ageing population are threat to Britain Top 500 Banking Brands | Brand... The post Things worth reading: 26th March 2025 appeared...

It’s funny that I’m blogging so much about trust and identity, but that seems to be the theme of the year. So when I saw the new release of the Financial Conduct Authority’s five-year vision I was struck by the Chair’s opening page, which is all about trust. Ashley Alder writes: “When financial services are strong... The post The FCA’s five year vision appeared first...

Cryptoassets, smart contracts, stablecoins, tokenisation and the two different types of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) – retail CBDCs and wholesale CBDCs. The world of finance and technology is quite confusing. Add onto this AI, APIs, BNPL, blockchain (Layer 1 and Layer 2), DLT [distributed-ledger technology], machine learning and more, and you get the idea.... The post The quagmire of fintech terminologies appeared first...