Tag Archives: blockchain

Fintech for Breakfast (CSFI, September 2019)

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Last week I went to the CSFI breakfast event and it was great. I’ve been to a CSFI event before (I was one of the panellists), but it was a different format back then.

Last week we went through a document of web links and discussed each one. It was much more interesting than it sounds. Jemima Kelly, the FT journalist who wrote many of those articles was one of the panellists.

Facebook Libra

What’s in it for anyone except for Facebook? (Left unanswered but with some good points made:

  1. It could be extremely disruptive and put massive pressure on the big currencies, making them look volatile.
  2. Governments will try to squash it – and if they do, Facebook might use this as an opportunity to show that it’s not evil.
  3. Facebook needs to find another revenue stream other than marketing, this might be the first.
  4. It’s simply/ only an ETF on Fiat currencies).

Continue reading Fintech for Breakfast (CSFI, September 2019) →

Reading tab list for July

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Sales of the Apple Watch haven't been released, but stocks continue to soar
Sales of the Apple Watch haven’t been released, but stocks continue to soar. Photo courtesy of Michael Roth

It should be holiday season by now, but the Christmas and Summer holidays productivity downturn seemed to cease two to three years ago (I’m basing this on my experience in the UK).

This is what I’ve read recently:

Banks could be sheepdogs (like Apple) – A great article describing how banks are utilities, but could become extremely important in the Identity revolution
Drone shooting: US home-owner faces charges – BBC News – A surprising story about a man who shot down a drone in the US, which flew over his house several times

Continue reading Reading tab list for July →

Reading list for May

Business, Reading links, Site review, Technology, Trends, , , , ,
The Buffer outdoor office - customer service Buffer style
The Buffer outdoor office – customer service Buffer style

Lots of interesting links below, across a whole host of subjects from SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), crypto-currencies, Minecraft and an amusing (inept) bank robbery.

Meet the Egyptian Repairman who outranked Google and doesn’t even know! – A lovely story about accidental SEO (optimisation is an understatement)
11 Things About The Apple Watch That May Surprise You – Content Loop – Some of these points are items to look out for in the next few years across other devices
How Big is Minecraft? Really, Really, Really Big – thanks to a colleague for pointing this out. Minecraft really is extraordinarily big

Continue reading Reading list for May →

The June CSFI breakfast meeting on Blockchain, fintech and regulation

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View from the CSFI June breakfast meeting at Dentons. Image from Paul on Twitter fred
View from the CSFI June breakfast meeting at Dentons. Image from Paul Parboteeah on Twitter

At the June CSFI breakfast round table we discussed some of the recent technology and market innovations in the Fintech industry. In fact, it wasn’t a round table at all – there were so many attendees that it ended up more like a lecture theatre layout. Credit to the panel for keeping the conversation two-way with the audience.

CSFI round tables are always interesting, and due to the Chatham House rule, I can only report on the main headlines and not who said them.

The key points were Blockchain, fintech, regulation and other innovation. Continue reading The June CSFI breakfast meeting on Blockchain, fintech and regulation →

Reading tabs for the week

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It’s been another busy week, including a couple of days in Frankfurt presenting to colleagues and customers:

And here’s a list of articles I’ve read – well, the ones worth passing on: Continue reading Reading tabs for the week →

Trends snapshot: Blockchain, self-service and digital platforms

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Blockchain, self-service and single digital platforms are the key trends we are seeing across industry verticals (media, financial services and insurance) at the moment.

Blockchain

Get your Blockchain T-shirt here while it's still cool
Get your Blockchain T-shirt from Zazzle to show the World you know what it is

Blockchain is a centralised, distributed ledger. Its most famous use is Bitcoin to track all the individual ‘bits’ of Bitcoin.

In Insurance it might be a list of all insurable assets. In media the chain can store media assets. In Financial Services it can store equities. Continue reading Trends snapshot: Blockchain, self-service and digital platforms →