successful standards bodies are independent. successful standards are developed for the greater good. so it has been with any engineering standards since the industrial revolution.

what with the current interest rate environment, Goldman will soon offer sweep services to bitcoin and eth...

the Vision fund is no more. late stage vc land is not happy i bet. time to bid up bitcoin and ether?

‪in as much as everyone lives in real life, geolocation is the ultimate gateway to digital jail sentences. ‬

‪capital requirements for every corp., liquidity stress testing for every corp., ubi or quasi ubi schemes for households, balancing privacy & data without building a hellish panopticon... ‬ ‪building resilience post pandemic while remaining relevant is going to be a wild ride. ‬ …see more

‪will a large bank fail in 2020 as a result of the extreme economic & market conditions we are experiencing? if so, which bank would that be?‬ ‪- Deutsche Bank‬ ‪- a UK bank‬ ‪- a Chinese bank‬ ‪- an Italian bank‬ ‪- no bank will fail‬ …see more

‪computational = formulaic‬ ‪formulaic ≠ behavioral ‬ ‪<therefore>‬ ‪computational ≠ behavioral ‬ …see more

til aggregate annual default rates on letters of credit (backing trade finance) were 0.08% in 2008-2017 compared to corporate lending default rates of 1.6%. is that correct? anyone? also trade finance generates very healthy transaction fees - so prone to disruption obv. but we have not seen much disruption yet coming from fintech startups. …see more

review of insightful book “Darkness by design”. “markets are political institutions governed by power relations” capital markets do not escape that rule & are indeed political utilities even. with manipulation and law breaking rampant, the “no transaction fees” of the Robinhood’s & the Schwab’s of the world are jocular gimmicks. financial technology makes things “efficient”, but politics & governance are the only things that can keep markets fair. ‪further, it is quite a provocative thought: in certain instances, a monopoly market that is well self-regulated & well supervised produces fairer outcomes than a balkanized market with little self-regulation or supervision. see the NYSE example.‬ #capitalmarkets #banking #governance #innovation #fintech …see more

‪Chilean peso‬ ‪Lebanese £‬ ‪Bolivian boliviano‬ ‪Euro (Spain, France, Czech)‬ ‪Iraqi dinar‬ ‪Russian ruble‬ ‪Algerian dinar ‬ ‪Sudanese £‬ ‪Hong Kong $‬ ‪Egyptian £‬ ‪(and a few i am sure i forget) ‬ ‪what do they have in common? ‪all these currencies (& economies) are impacted by mass protests driven by political aspirations, inequality, corruption, push back against elites & status quo. ‪several thoughts:‬ ‪- which country/currency next? these protests seem to be a global phenomenon, even hitting stable countries‬ ‪- impact on $? so far $ is strong.‬ ‪- impact on ¥? seems capital flight from China still occurring? ‪- impact on bitcoin? who the heck knows abt beauty contests. is bitcoin impacted at all?‬ ‪- impact on global stability? growth has to suffer ‪- impact on financial institutions? increased volatility in cap markets means big winners. corporate lending should be hit - impact on politics & economies? setting aside political aspirations (HK) it is hard to see more power concentration & inequality as outcome to these global unrests. so net positive says the optimist. net positive for health of finserv eventually - ‪impact on $ led global fin system? will these protests accelerate splintering of current system & usher a new global system? ‬ ‪please weigh in …see more

banking evolution musings (time frame needs to be fleshed out, both past, present and future): PAST - banking - international banking - universal banking PRESENT - banking unbundling - banking rebundling - platform banking - mashup banking FUTURE - ambient banking …see more

this post makes excellent points. take the three drivers of change: 1/ aging population in West, 2/ wealth inequality, 3/ access to noise/signal and apply to financial services, fintech. potential implications => shift in financing/lending (away from education and towards elderly care), shifts in taxes that will impact asset mgmt, shifts in data analytics/access to data/framework for access to data, shifts in what customer segments fin. institutions service & how, shifts in how housing is financed... iow, tech will not lead financial services dislocation. #fintech #financialservices #lending #banking #savings #assetmanagement …see more

i made the mistake of clicking on and reading an article on data by the IMF. basically, they miss that market power concentration exacerbates data hoarding & misuses and do not mention that the best insurance on data hacks & misuses is mega gigantic and crippling fines. …see more

we should expect a wave of similar startups being funded. all centered around data & privacy & legal or compliance requirements, whether b2b or d2c or hybrid models. financial services industry will be a prime target, amongst others of course. #fintech #bankjg #banks #insurance …see more

‪for a corporation achieve its goals in a sustained manner, it has to a) be well run by its management & b) be appropriately constrained by law, regulation or third parties.‬ all things being equal, the above is “easier” to achieve in an industrial world than a digital world. ‪as we have seen new business models for corporations such as aggregators, super aggregators, marketplaces failing to be appropriately constrained by law, regs or third parties. constraints are important! ‪now, blockchain tech at large promises us new organizational frameworks loosely summarized as more decentralized, autonomous & self-sovereign (code is law, executes on its own, aligned incentives...) which leads to the conclusion that these new organizational frameworks - in their ultimate forms - may not need outside constraints in same manner traditional corporations will as constraints are logically self imposed. ‪this is an issue imo. any system that does not believe in the need for exogenous constraints ultimately leads to totalitarianism. hence, how will exogenous constraints evolve to answer blockchain tech (should it lead to new organizational framework) is of paramount importance. #blockchain #crypto #regulation #tokens #protocols #corporations #stakeholders #cryptocurrencies #organizations …see more

‪it seems like bitcoin maximalism just died and splintered into two factions.‬ ‪welcome to :‬ ‪bitcoin as a fringe movement.‬ ‪AND‬ ‪bitcoin joining the establishment.‬ …see more

working hypothesis: there will be at least three main govt owned Digital Currency Networks (DCN). $, € and ¥. there will be many private but govt sponsored or approved DCNs. maybe a dozen, maybe two dozens? there will a plethora of private or super private DCNs. all navigating between being outright censored or figuring out how their protocol can be tolerated by the owners that be. some living in the fringes, some in open daylight. a few questions: - will second tier nations decide to launch their own DCN (eg the UK) or align with one of the main three govt DCNs - can an independent DCN survive, be global in nature, and be widely used? - how will all these DCNs collaborate with one another - given that intense competition between DCNs will brews volatility, how long will it take for the owners/sponsors of the main DCNs to get together and agree to some type of governance framework. a crypto Bratton Woods if you will. #ethereum #bitcoin #btc #token #cryptocurrency #cryptocurrencies #blockchain #payments #money …see more

what level of independence would Libra have to demonstrate in order to mitigate Facebook “controlling” a global identity standard? does that level even exist? …see more

heuristic: every period of financial liberalization ends up with a financial crisis. the crisis leads to a stop in financial liberalization and increased constraints on financial institutions, until a time where more financial liberalization flows back in the system... with the all out fight between China and the US, will this traditional ebb and flow persist? #china #fintech #cryptocurrencies #capitalmarkets #regulation #banking …see more

as it stands currently, the Libra “system” has been optimized for: - payment processing - data mining - core banking system of record - all the above …see more