12 May 2021
Central banks have been looking at cryptocurrencies for some time not without trepidation. Bank of England and Swedish Riksbank among others have contributed papers and declared their intent to participate in the emerging crypto universe. After years of talking it down, trashing and dismissing it, governments (and central banks) continue to be myst...
06 Dec 2018
Ban them? Block them? Back them? Governments and central bankers have long been exercised by the disruptive nonsense of cryptocurrencies. Some countries are actively experimenting with cryptocurrencies with rather unimpressive results. These include Uruguay, Senegal, Tunisia, and Venezuela. Venezuela’s cryptocurrency, the petro, backed by the coun...
02 Nov 2017
Years ago, at a banking conference in New Orleans, I attended a presentation by Michael Porter, the legendary Harvard Business School professor of strategy. Porter was presenting his theory of competitive strategy to a hall full of bankers. Whatever you want to be, he said, be different. A “me too” strategy is no strategy and an un-differentiated ...
14 Aug 2017
Reforming a dubious past Can the notorious, high-flying, volatile, and unpredictable Bitcoin system be gainfully deployed for legal and legitimate business models that have the potential of disrupting the existing world of banking and finance? This article explores an interesting attempt by a start-up called Abra to develop a master plan for a glob...