Crypto

Dec 6, 2013

Bitcoin: all hype and bluster or a brave new world

The biggest question about Bitcoin is whether it’s really important or just a bubble that’s about to burst. Advocates would obviously claim the former and critics the latter, and both have some substance. On the advocate’s side, the economy is in its early days and, like any new form of commerce, will have its challenges. …

Dec 5, 2013

What is this thing called Bitcoin?

Some of us know the numbers. If you’d invested $1,000 in Bitcoins in summer 2011, you would be sitting on around $500,000 today. That’s because we didn’t invest $1,000 in summer 2011. Nevertheless, some of us did invest $1,000 in summer 2013 and by December, that investment is worth $10,000. What is this benign conundrum…

Dec 5, 2013

What is this thing called Bitcoin?

Dec 4, 2013

The relationship between Bitcoin and Mount Everest

We were talking about Bitcoin yesterday at the Financial Services Club Vienna, and there was a great dialogue about the difficulties of buying and then using Bitcoins. I’ll talk more about the practicalities and details of that conversation later this week, but one thing did occur to me: Bitcoin, or something like it, will soon…

Nov 13, 2013

The challenge of being a Bitcoin trader

I spotted a blog entry by Tom Gullen this week regarding the challenges of being a Bitcoin company in the UK. It is interesting, as I have heard the same issues with several other Bitcoin companies in Britain so I asked Tom if he'd mind me reproducing his blog entry here. He said it's ok,…

Sep 16, 2013

Is banking being fundamentally disrupted by technology change? (#Sibos 3)

Another year, another SIBOS, but this one’s not the same. Yes, there are all the normal first morning frustrations: Where do I go? What time’s the next shuttle bus? Why the long queue to get in? Do you really have to shove your security buzzer up there? Why is the Wi-Fi so rubbish (2.4GHZ does…

Sep 16, 2013

Is banking being fundamentally disrupted by technology change? (#Sibos 3)

Jul 4, 2013

That rocky rollercoaster called #Bitcoin

I keep thinking I should stop blogging about Bitcoin, as I’ve written so much about it already: Is Bitcoin the future of money … or are we smoking dope? (October 2011) Bitcoin: immersive or subversive? (January 2012) You should take Bitcoin seriously (September 2012) A new currency payment system is about to explode (February 2013) The latest stats on…

Jul 4, 2013

That rocky rollercoaster called #Bitcoin

Apr 15, 2013

The real cause of the Bitcoin bubble and burst

All the media has finally woken up to the Bitcoin phenomena when the value of Bitcoins rose from a steady $20 per coin to $266 last week … only to crash to $100 by the end of the week. What caused this? The general consensus is that the financial crisis in Cyprus, which led to…