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Crypto

Just when you think that crypto has failed …

Just when you think that cryptocurrencies are unregulated and ridiculous, the industry spends four years to work out a set of standards to ensure trust. Who would have thought it? Global cryptoasset standards This set of global principles of good practice in the Global Cryptoasset Standards has been developed to provide a common set of…

Crypto 2023: Stronger (what doesn’t kill you)

After 2022’s bloodbath of the crypto world where so many firms were lost – FTX, Celsius, Terra, Three Arrows Capital, Voyager and Vauld to name just a few – this year will be sorting out the mess. Regulations will come to the crypto markets as will consolidation and organisation. It’s interesting that Coin Market Cap…

The future of money, according to Vitalik Buterin

What excites Vitalik Buterin (Mr. Ethereum)? Vitalik Buterin is the leading thinker around smart contracts and blockchain, as well as being the inventor of ETH, the currency, and Ethereum, the platform. A really bright guy and always worth a listen. So, I was interested in his latest blog about the future of where all this…

The whole point of money is to NOT know your customer

I really did not want to write about this article on the ECB’s website but, after so much coverage (including our discussion on this week’s FU), I feel I have to. So, the ECB say bitcoin is irrelevant. Why? Well, on the back of the collapse of Terra-Luna, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, FTX, BlockFi and more,…

You cannot have money without government … the question is: what government?

It amazes me how many people misread, half-read or assume things based on what you say. There were two instances in the last week. The first: There is an error in @Chris_Skinner’sreasoning. High quality crypto assets absolutely do have fundamental value (all currencies don’t have intrinsic value.) https://t.co/vCWqi00VQV — Gene Hoffman hoffmang.xch 🌱 (@hoffmang) November…

The Crypto House of Cards

Building on Friday’s blog, everyone is asking whether the house of crypto is falling apart like a house of cards. People are saying that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and faller at FTX, was running a Ponzi scheme. What is the definition of a Ponzi scheme? According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is “a form of…

FTX? Short for FinTech eXplosion …

This year is proving a testing year for everyone, but particularly for those in the cryptocurrency space. We’ve seen the collapse of Celsius,  Terra-Luna, and now FTX and possibly Genesis. It just reinforces the Wild West of Crypto, which I’ve referred to often. The Financial Times commented on the collapse of FTX – surely you’ve heard…

Are fiat currencies dead? [CeFi or DeFi, Part Two]

I said yesterday that, for the moment, I’ll stick with fiat currencies as cryptocurrencies are generally quite messy when used for retail purchases. And no, I’m not speaking as an observer but as a user. To buy my Watford football shirt, I had to open an account with a crypto app – which I’ve never…

Arguments for and against CeFi [Part One]

Russell Brand had a big rant against Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) the other day, claiming that digital, programmable money combined with a digital identity is a fantastic way for governments to place you in a digital straitjacket. It’s a very convincing discussion with over a million views in just a few days. Russell’s humorous…

The great FTX collapse, and the role Binance played

I was tempted to write about this, but many others have. In particular, I received a post from Dan Ashmore, crypto analyst at Invezz, which I thought was worth sharing. To begin with, if you’re not aware, there’s a massive war taking place in cryptoland. As bitcoin and other crypto prices dive, exchanges and key figures…

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