~chris-skinner-s-blo | Bookmarks (178)

The year is 2100. Earth is still here, but the Elon Musk vision is now delivered. What is that vision? Read on … Earth in 2100 is a place of automation. Everything is connected. Robots are everywhere. Self-driving aeroplanes and cars move goods and services. More than this, the world is run on a network.... The post Elon Musk’s dream of life in 2100...

Things we’re reading today include … Federal Reserve issues rare statement asserting independence amid Trump pressure Reform backs cryptocurrency tax cut as party receives first Bitcoin donations Tech adaptability helps Zopa unwrap current account and test generative AI No Suits, No Branches, No Problem: Inside The Rise Of Fintech Government sells final shares in NatWest... The post Things worth reading: 2nd June 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … The rise and rise of ransomware There’s a very interesting analysis of the cyber attacks on Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods on the BBC this week. If you have access to their iPlayer, then it’s well worth a watch. If you don’t, then here’s the summary as... The post The Finanser’s Week: 26th May – 1st...

I don’t have a trading background and am not a mathematician, but just went down a rabbit hole. Somehow, someway, someone sent me a Fibonacci T-shirt and I went WTF? Thanks to the t-shirt I stumbled across the Fibonacci principles, and my world changed. What’s that all about? Well, let’s start with asking: Who was... The post I just learned how to trade thanks...

Things we’re reading today include: ‘The ultimate liberty’: how Nigel Farage became a cryptocurrency convert Cryptocurrency Seems Futuristic. The Crimes Around It Are Not. Citigroup’s EU hub becomes largest bank in Ireland HSBC moves to attract rich customers with ‘VIP experience’ Starling Bank: The rise and fall of a fintech darling What is happening with... The post Things worth reading: 30th May 2025 appeared...

Some years ago an elderly gentleman entered the lobby of one of Britain’s biggest banks demanding to talk to someone about the £5 million he had been given by David Cameron. A senior manager at the bank took the gentleman to a consultation room, and it turned out that the man had been notified of... The post Don’t trust until you see the whites...

Things we’re reading today include: The $1tn shadow bank lending boom If stablecoins are banks, what’s a bank? Worldpay Teams Up With BVNK to Offer USDC Stablecoin Payouts Starling Bank profits hit by regulator fine, despite rising customer numbers Tink and Adyen Partner to Bring Pay by Bank to Vodafone Customers in Germany US FinTech... The post Things worth reading: 29th May 2025 appeared...

I hate criticising other people’s work, but I do read some complete claptrap about the future. For example, I just got a report about the future of payments in 2040, that starts with a term Order-to-Cash cycle and then paints a scenario of someone buying an automated car. That was the first few paragraphs and,... The post No-one cares about payments in 2040 except...

Things we’re reading today include … EBAday 2025: Building the banking ecosystems of the future UK fintech Starling’s profit tumbles as regulatory failings linger How Fintech’s Recruitment Crisis Is Breaking Candidates UK Fintech Giant Revolut Surges Amid Regulatory Challenges More than a dozen arrests over French cryptocurrency kidnapping plots How Trump will make the US... The post Things worth reading: 28th May 2025 appeared...

I just ran across an item from 1994 written by Carmen Hermosillo talking about cyberspace, the internet and the future. It is quite something but TL:DR, so here are a few highlights: Introducing Humdog: Pandora’s Vox Redux (1994) “When I went into cyberspace I went into it thinking that it was a place like any... The post Some people knew the internet would NOT...

Things we’re reading today include … Open Banking Transactions Dwarfed by Card Payments in UK Why Britain’s fintech dream is faltering NatWest Eyes Acquisitions, Wealth Management Growth As UK Bank Enters New Era The fundamental flaw at the heart of the Bank of England Global central banks talk harsh new economic realities in Tokyo China... The post Things worth reading: 27th May 2025 appeared...

There’s a very interesting analysis of the cyber attacks on Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods on the BBC this week. If you have access to their iPlayer, then it’s well worth a watch: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002d2lh/inside-the-high-street-cyberattacks If you don’t, then here’s the summary as it illustrates our fragile digital world today. In April, Marks &... The post The rise and rise of ransomware appeared...

Things we’re reading today include … How crypto is going to cause the next great financial crisis ‘Roadmap for corruption’: Trump dive into cryptocurrency raises ethics alarm Keep some cash under your mattress, says Dutch central bank Taxpayers set for £10bn loss on NatWest as disgraced ex-boss takes £600k-a-year pension London vs New York: Who... The post Things worth reading: 26th May 2025 appeared...

This week’s main blog discussions include … What economy would machines create? We talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI... The post The Finanser’s Week: 19th May – 25th...

After lots of discussions about how AI is transforming financial services as a new, foundational technology that has massive granularity of use cases, it doesn’t always work. In a very major public about face, Klarna says it doesn’t work. This is the company that saved millions by getting rid of two of five staff. Now,... The post #Klarna discovers that AI is not working...

Things we’re reading today include … Babies to be given $1k ‘Trump bank accounts’ Will Jamie Dimon build the first trillion-dollar bank? Fintech group launches industry-first ‘programmable money’ Big Banks Explore Venturing Into Crypto World Together With Joint Stablecoin NYC Mayor Goes Full Crypto With Council Launch and Tax Plan HSBC UK to slash bonuses... The post Things worth reading: 23rd May 2025 appeared...

Just continuing the AI theme, it’s really interesting to see what Stripe – latest valuation over $90 billion – is doing with the technology. Effectively, it’s tried to create a GPT for payments. The reason they are pushing the envelope is after seeing great results in earlier developments using traditional machine learning models. These resulted... The post Moving from ML to LLM GPT in...

Things we’re reading today include … Bitcoin tops $110,000 for first time as US optimism lifts cryptocurrencies HMRC crackdown on anyone who buys or sells cryptocurrency – YorkshireLive Santander’s US Digital Banking Platform Gains 100,000 Customers Could your new bank branch be a community banking hub? ‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Major bank sounds alarm... The post Things worth reading: 22nd May 2025 appeared...

I’ve followed Clara Durodié’s Decoding AI for some time. Decoding AI is a digital publication dedicated to AI in financial services and, in her most recent update, she delves deep into Trust, Ethics and the Rise of AI in Financial Services, which is my specialist subject of the moment. I won’t repost the whole article... The post Ethics, trust and the rise of AI...

Things we’re reading today include … ‘Worse than Greece’: The debt crisis threatening to blow up the global economy The cryptocurrency that buys access to Trump Cyber attack threat keeps me awake at night, bank boss says Online criminals attacking HSBC ‘all the time’, says head of UK arm nCino’s Research Institute Analyse 10 Million... The post Things worth reading: 21st May 2025 appeared...

We talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI which stands for Artificial General Intelligence. The thing is that these terms... The post What economy would machines create? appeared first...

Things we’re reading today include … Revolut dumps Britain for France US Senate set to debate crypto bill as bitcoin nears all-time high How the Bank of England’s £900bn money-printing spree went horribly wrong Government to clamp down on ‘buy now pay later’ services Consumers to get more protection from ‘wild west’ of buy now,... The post Things worth reading: 20th May 2025 appeared...

Like the United States, Europe is trying to create a united region of cross-border trade that works. In America, this is 50 member states who work in a federated structure. My impression after the recent meeting on CRD VI (Capital Requirements Directive) is that Europe’s long-term aim is to achieve the same and, today, there... The post The United States of Europe? appeared first...

Things we’re reading today include … Donald Trump’s US turmoil could make City great again Crypto-Related Abductions Are on the Rise Globally Cryptocurrency platform Coinbase warns of up to $400m hit from cyber attack Binance and Kraken Reportedly Fend Off Social Engineering Hack More than 13m customers still rely on bank branches US reportedly plans... The post Things worth reading: 19th May 2025 appeared...