Bits on Blocks - Thoughts on blockchain technology
banking / blockchain / fintech / payments
I have a simple mental model for financial services and blockchains. Before blockchains, customers (people, businesses) would instruct their bank, which would interact with financial rails to execute the instruction. Customers did not have...
With the talk of PayPal issuing a stablecoin, the idea of cheapening cross-border payments is bound to come up again. But it’s not really about crossing borders, it’s a little more complex than that....
The sweet spot for programmable money is: On a blockchain, aimed at businesses, issued by a central bank. Here’s why.
Everyone seems to be interested in programmable money (and assets), but what exactly does this mean? This post explores the concept of programmable money – what is possible today, and what is possible with...
central banks / fintech / money / payments / stablecoins
This short blog post describes three different types of currency wars that seem to be happening at the moment. The phrase “currency wars” is not new – typically is has referred to deliberate devaluation...
blockchain / Corda / money / payments / tokens
Last week I went out with for a beer and pizza with Colin G Platt of Blockchain Insider fame after we did a podcast interview about my book The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains...
We’re gonna need another intermediary… In 2013-15 it was trendy for online merchants to pretend to accept bitcoin as payment. It was a very cheap way to get positive media mentions and seem innovative....
I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to write about the open sourcing of Project Ubin Phase II, a key project that our team has been working on for the past seven months with the...
banking / fintech / introductions / payments
How do banks pay each other? In most countries, when banks want to transfer money to each other, perhaps upon instruction from a customer, they don’t put bundles of banknotes in vans, they pay...
This post aims to explain the various common forms of money that exist today, and the words we use to describe them.
Bits on Blocks by Antony Lewis is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
