In promoting stablecoin regulation and adoption, Build Canada is repeating patterns of hype similar to Facebook’s ill-fated Libra project. Libra, a private stablecoin later renamed Diem, had an ambitious vision that collided with real-world realities: a fragmented and highly regulated global payments landscape, subordination to fiat currency policies, competing goals, and grand ambitions to solve... Continue Reading →
Few companies have embraced artificial intelligence (AI) as fervently as Klarna. Over the past year, the Swedish fintech giant has undertaken a live experiment: an aggressive replacement of a significant portion of its workforce with AI, followed by a realization of the enduring importance of human-centric work. Klarna’s story is a fascinating case study as... Continue Reading →
Recently, a group of entrepreneurs launched the Build Canada initiative in response to Canada's economic malaise and the recent upending of its trade relationship with the U.S. Two of Build Canada's published memos struck me; my notes are below: Notes on "Great People, Greater Canada: A Talent-First Immigration Strategy for Canada," by Martin Basiri Martin suggests... Continue Reading →
Like many other foreign journalists descending on Japan amid a resurging pandemic to cover the Tokyo Olympics, Cathal Kelly had to endure nonsensical airport procedures on arrival: …verify forms, verify apps, get new forms, verify those forms, get our forms all mixed up, get them unmixed, spit in a tube, wait to hear how that... Continue Reading →
The claims of what quantum computing can do are dizzying: from forecasting financial crashes to solving optimization problems to leading to an “apocalypse.” There is, however, a wide schism between those who boost quantum computing and others who are more grounded. This schism exposes how the incredibly difficult to understand technology, through a process of... Continue Reading →
Bitcoin’s self-appointed talking heads have gone on yet another aggressive campaign to defend the cryptocurrency. This time the casus belli is the bitcoin network’s excessive electricity consumption, estimated at 116 TWh/year, a bit more than the annual electricity consumption of the Netherlands. The campaign went into overdrive after Tesla announced its quick reversal from accepting... Continue Reading →
[Disclaimer: the analysis and views expressed in this article are solely my own unless stated otherwise.] Maple Leaf Angels (MLA) just concluded a banner year, despite the pandemic (fiscal year ended on March 31st). Total dollar investments were 32% bigger than the previous year, making this one of the most active years in MLA history.... Continue Reading →
[Acknowledgemet: I’d like to thank the artist Samar Hejazi for taking the time to walk me through her experiences and reflections on Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs). You can check out her own NFT (shown above) here and the rest of her amazing work here.] Chris Dixon, a VC partner at Andreessen-Horowitz, theorized that activity within the crypto space evolves... Continue Reading →
Earlier this month, Coindesk reported on how IBM’s blockchain team has all but vanished. Missed revenue targets, reorganizations, and layoffs seem to have deprioritized IBM’s blockchain efforts and blended its offerings into the rest of the business. Is this yet another sign pointing to the elusiveness of enterprise blockchain? — Blockchains enable value exchange and shared... Continue Reading →
Around the globe, digital financial services (fintechs) that claim to serve the underrepresented (unbaked or underbanked) are causing widespread hardships. While ostensibly “democratizing” and speeding access to financial services, time and time again, fintechs are taking advantage of regulatory gray areas and exploiting users, who tend to be vulnerable. For example, in India and Kenya,... Continue Reading →
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