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In an excellent article on LinkedIn, Priscilla Russo laments the state of Agentic AI from a payments point of view. Bearing in mind that 2025 is the year of Agentic AI – a world where AI agents do everything for you on your behalf – it is clear that we have a dichotomy between the open... The post The big issue: 2025 commerce is connected...

Things we’re reading today include … Elon Musk’s Portfolio and its Impact on Cryptocurrency Trading Bill Gates criticizes cryptocurrency: ‘High IQs fooled themselves’ US Congress to form cryptocurrency working group Cryptocurrency Prices Plummet Amid U.S. Regulatory Concerns Coinbase Pushes US to Pave Way for Bank-Crypto Partnerships Solaris secures €140m Series G funding, SBI Group becomes... The post Things worth reading: 5th February 2025 appeared...

A quantum financial system, or QFS for short Maybe it’s the way my feeds are set up, but every day seems like a headline about cryptocurrency and AI these days. Take my daily things worth reading, and here’s a few examples just from last Monday. On crypto: Trump orders crypto working group to draft new... The post What is the next big thing? appeared...

Things we’re reading today include … Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland down: Mobile app and online banking outages affect millions of customers Aussie bank blasted over plans to close branches and force customers to go online: ‘Devastating’ Millions of Nationwide customers to notice money missing from bank accounts from today Raiffeisen Bank shares tumble... The post Things worth reading: 4th February 2025 appeared...

I feel like a continual splurge of Musk is happening, ever since Donald Trump became President, but the latest is really interesting as Elon Musk is now in control of the Treasury department payments system that runs America. According to The Washington Post, longtime Treasury official David Lebryk is “expected to leave the agency soon”, despite... The post Elon Musk now controls the American payments...

Things we’re reading today include … Barclays hit by major IT outage on tax deadline day – BBC News Moment customers surge around Barclays’ cash machines for ‘free money’ Barclays says IT glitch that locked people out of their accounts has been resolved | UK News | Sky News Santander boss gives major update on... The post Things worth reading: 3rd February 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … Five key impacts of #Brexit five years on Five years ago, on 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union. BBC Verify, the BBC’s fact checking service, just wrote a really interesting report on the impact. They cite analysis in five key areas: trade, immigration, travel, laws... The post The Finanser’s Week: 27th January – 2nd...

Five years ago, on 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union. Not everyone is happy about this. The number of Britons saying the UK was right to vote to leave the EU has hit its lowest level since the referendum, ahead of the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday Right to vote to... The post Five key impacts of #Brexit five years...

Things we’re reading today include … UK fintech jobs market booms Fintech Investment Director At Lloyds Banking Group Highlights Key Financial Technology Trends For 2025 Deutsche Bank profits collapse as German economy reels  A message from Christian Sewing on Deutsche Bank’s 2024 results Statistical release: BIS international banking statistics and global liquidity indicators at end-September... The post Things worth reading: 31st January 2025 appeared...

As a long-term and dedicated user of facebook and twitter since the 2000s, it is weird to find that, today, they are no longer useful tools. The feeds are now stacked with Mark Zuckerberg updates, Musk propaganda and worse. The only tool that’s still useful is LinkedIn, although there are issues there too. So it... The post Who wants payments on X? appeared first...

Things we’re reading today include … Trump Media Launches Fintech Brand With Bitcoin and Crypto Focus – Decrypt Donald Trump lashes out at Federal Reserve after central bank keeps rates steady Formance raises $21M to build the AWS for fintech infrastructure | TechCrunch Failed fintech start-up will leave creditors £100m out of pocket The bank... The post Things worth reading: 30th January 2025 appeared...

Being an optimist, I always think the future is bright – is it orange or yellow and blue? – yet, when looking back into the past, almost every year has something happening somewhere that moves the world’s axis. It’s like my favourite quote from Vladimir Ilyich Lenin who, after the Russian Revolution in 1918, said... The post Is DeepSeek an inflexion point? appeared first...

Things we’re reading today include … Elon Musk’s X partners with Visa to offer digital wallet X is ‘barely breaking even’ as the big banks get antsy over their debt Head of Czech central bank wants it to buy billions of euros in bitcoin Hackers steal $85 million worth of cryptocurrency from Phemex Fintech firm... The post Things worth reading: 29th January 2025 appeared...

Marc Andreessen announced that their office in London, opened only two years ago, would shut down and its got everyone talking. Is London finished? Is the UK’s claim of being a great tech economy over? Will it bring down the government? Well, there are differing views. Many believe it is due to the new Trump... The post You can take a16z out of the...

Things we’re reading today include … Nvidia shares sink as Chinese AI app DeepSeek spooks US markets – BBC News Bitcoin falls below $98,000 as cryptocurrency market hit by tech stock declines Political interference in central banks risks economic harm, ECB president warns | The Guardian DWP will take money from bank accounts when balance... The post Things worth reading: 28th January 2025 appeared...

Thirty years ago, I predicted the end of the intermediary. It’s the one prediction I got wrong as the intermediary – the middleman – is the key to good business. This is one thing I’ve learned after all these years. It’s not what you know. It’s who you know. The broker who can link the... The post The art of good business is being...

Things we’re reading today include … PayPal fined by New York for cybersecurity failures Trump orders crypto working group to draft new regulations, explore national stockpile | Reuters Leak Reveals Musk’s Doge Could Be About To Trigger A Bitcoin-Inspired Price Game-Changer 1 Top Cryptocurrency to Buy Before It Soars 120%, According to a Former Goldman... The post Things worth reading: 27th January 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … Digital Trust: How do you know you are you? For many years now, we have been talking about digital identity. The core is how to prove you are you. You have to be identified, verified, authenticated and approved. You would think with so many layers of monitoring access... The post The Finanser’s Week: 20th January – 26th...

Things we’re reading today include … Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology – The White House Trump Issues Executive Order to Boost Cryptocurrency Industry – The New York Times Trump orders crypto working group to draft new regulations, explore national stockpile | Reuters Davos 2025: Is the cryptocurrency era about to begin? | World... The post Things worth reading: 24th January 2025 appeared...

For many years now, we have been talking about digital identity. The core is how to prove you are you. You have to be identified, verified, authenticated and approved. You would think with so many layers of monitoring access that everyone online in the financial system could be trusted. So, how come there are criminals,... The post Digital Trust: How do you know you...

I had a nice conversation the other day with a research group about the future of cash. Here’s a quick summary of the conversation. The conversation explores the future of cash and digital currencies, highlighting different demographic preferences and the challenges in transitioning to a cashless society. Demographic Tiers: There are three main demographic groups: tech-savvy... The post The future of cash appeared first on...

Things we’re reading today include … Santander boss speaks out after growing fears of bank pulling out of UK UK’s FCA Charts Path From Open Banking to ‘Open Finance’ Top 10: Global Neobanks | FinTech Magazine A whistlestop tour of US banks – Investors’ Chronicle JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank position for boom in ultra wealthy families... The post Things worth reading: 23rd January 2025 appeared...

It’s funny how things go around and come around again. For years, I’ve been bemused why banks cannot merge and be successful across borders. There have been almost zero European bank mergers of any size that are cross-border and the few that exist – Santander, Unicredit, Nordea to name a few – have all found... The post Fintechs are building global platforms: what can...

Things we’re reading today include … Experts alarmed by Trumps’ crypto meme coins: ‘America voted for corruption’ | The Guardian Trump’s embrace of meme coin sours mood in crypto industry – ABC News Trump pardons Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht – BBC News Cryptocurrency Market to Grow by USD 39.75 Billion (2025-2029), Fueled by Digital... The post Things worth reading: 22nd January 2025 appeared...