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Keep your eye on the long road
The worlds of traditional finance and cryptocurrency/blockchain are still far apart. But we should keep our eyes open for signs of a longer-term convergence between legacy and decentralised finance, says Chris Thomas, an entrepreneur and former investment banker and asset manager. Blockchain can easily replicate some key functions of investment banks and asset managers at a much lower cost, says Thomas, who is our guest in the latest episode of the New Money Review podcast, ‘the future of money in thirty minutes’.
Cryptoeconomics’ radical potential
What do Wikipedia—an online encyclopedia—and bitcoin—internet money—have in common? Both are open-source projects. This type of initiative is playing an increasingly powerful role in many areas of life. Open-source networks function by having open collaboration between their participants. But what does that mean? An open-source system tends to have a clearly defined goal. In bitcoin’s case, it’s to serve as a peer-to-peer version of money: money that isn’t controlled by any particular government or entity In Wikipedia’s case it’s to provide a neutrally written summary of mainstream knowledge. But having a clear goal is not the same thing as having a formal organisational structure. In an open-source project there is no boss issuing directions from above. And there is also often very loose coordination between those taking part. All the same, these projects don’t run on autopilot. There must be some human politics involved. So what are those politics? To explore that question, New Money Review interviews Jaya Klara Brekke, a postdoctoral fellow at Durham University’s Geography Department, where she researches future cryptoeconomics.
The global fintech race
Fintech is not just about finance and technology. It’s the trade war between Trump and China. It’s about politics, history and culture. It’s the battle over privacy and money laundering. In an era when some politicians seek to exploit fears of immigration, fintech is also a global race for human talent. What are the next moves in this multi-dimensional chess game? In the latest New Money Review podcast, we ask Lex Sokolin, global co-head of fintech at ConsenSys, to respond to this question. Sokolin discusses the technological arms race and who’s winning it, crazy fintech valuations and why they might persist, and how the power imbalance between private and public equity markets can be corrected.
Towards a new financial infrastructure
In the latest New Money Review podcast, Paul Amery interviews Robert Sams, founder of chief executive of Clearmatics, a technology company based in London. In the podcast, Sams explains why he believes a shift away from the current centralised financial infrastructure is inevitable, and why initiatives such as Clearmatics’ own Utility Settlement Coin and Facebook’s new Libra project are only the start of a much bigger trend. In due course, says Sams, a more decentralised system could help address the moral hazard problem symbolised by the 2008 bailouts of big banks, as well as reducing the security risks inherent in the current infrastructure.
The profound impact of new digital currencies
New digital currencies will have a profound impact on our concept of money, the financial system and the broader economy, says a top regulatory lawyer. “No matter what you think of bitcoin, it’s an absolutely valid demonstration that it’s possible for something to be money without having anything to do with states or governments,” says Simon Gleeson, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance. Gleeson is one of the world's leading experts in the regulation of financial services and banking. During the podcast, Gleeson discusses: the legal concept of money the difference between money as a unit of account and money as a legal claim against a deposit institution the history of private currencies the impact of new digital currencies on banks and payments the structural changes in the financial system and challenges for policymakers Facebook's Libra project and inefficiencies in global payments oustanding legal challenges for those dealing in older and newer versions of money
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