Category Archives: Uncategorized

Too long, in my opinion, has Ethereum been considered the “poor cousin” of Bitcoin.  Too much the sidekick, not enough the actual star: more Robin that Batman, more Spock than Captain Kirk, more Gromit than Wallace.  It seems, however Ethereum is finally holding its own.  Frustratingly Bitcoin is the posterchild of crypto: a few years older andContinue reading “Ethereum: finally out of the shadows!”

As the crypto industry matures, we expect to see consolidation; frankly, with over 9000 crypto currencies and over 500 crypto exchanges the field is crowded.   In terms of exchanges there are already some winners in terms of pure size – binance, kraken, coinbase are well known, but there aren’t many with a differentiated offering; they allContinue reading “The Rise and Rise of Exchange Tokens”

Many moons ago, my colleagues and I used to get very excited whenever crypto appeared in the mainstream press; we’d excitedly shared the newspaper online links over whatsapp at weird times of day and night.  Now, I’m glad to say, we don’t bother, because crypto appears in national publications daily!  Annoyingly, that press coverage can still vergeContinue reading “Crypto: What more proof do the neighsayers need?”

Last week Boris Johnson announced the intended, cautious, timetable to exit from lockdown.  Assuming that the vaccination program is victorious over this dreadful virus, it is hoped that it is our last lockdown.   We cannot underestimate the human cost; 123,000 deaths so far with undoubtedly more to come, missed education for children, families and friends unable toContinue reading “End of lockdown euphoria!”

The story of bitcoin over the last 12 months is a fairy tale for the poster child of crypto.  It has conquered both retail investors enthused by the 1,137% growth, and payment businesses alike, with Paypal and VISA integrating cryptocurrencies into their platforms.  Banks, hedge funds, and asset managers seem to have paused on their normal scornContinue reading “Crypto: The corporate asset of choice?”

This week Elon Musk announced that Tesla was purchasing $1.5bn worth of bitcoin, and intends to accept bitcoin as a form of payment.  The market reacted rapturously, flying to an all-time high over $48,200 appreciating a jaw-dropping 20% in one day, a record single-day dollar growth.   What this news means for the crypto industry more broadly, cannotContinue reading “Elon Musk: Crypto’s most important fan”

Financial institutions and the cryptocurrency have a long and complex history, marked by mutual mistrust and misunderstanding.  On the one hand, for banks, asset managers and hedge funds, I can appreciate that the new kid on the block can be seen as a plucky upstart intent on “eating their  lunch”.  The crypto industry seeks to be the anthesisContinue reading “Financial Institutions & Crypto: Unlikely friends”

Owning cryptocurrency can feel a bit like riding a roller coaster.  It goes up, it goes down, and just when you think things are calm, round again we go.  The volatility is framed by the media as the bogeyman: every time crypto goes up solidly, the underinformed and poorly researched journalists in mainstream media vociferously protest “BUBBLE”Continue reading “Opportunity in Volatility”

It has been an odd year for recruiting; trying to find amazing team members without  physically meeting them is a tall order.  So much of our communication, up to 93%, is non-verbal, so reading body language, checking for emotional intelligence, and working out potential culture fit, via zoom can be challenging!   Pre COVID I joined a business lastContinue reading “Onboarding during a pandemic”

This week saw the start of the third UK lockdown, and the closure of all schools – at 12 hours’ notice!  Along with around 8 million families in the UK who have dependent children, I have spent this week trying to combine home schooling with a demanding full-time job.  There is little doubt we are in someContinue reading “Lockdown Home-schooling: A survival guide”