'Stablecoins' are typically viewed as a proxy for money, so we do need to be careful about their use and the potential risks that they create. To this end, the FSB has authored a paper on stablecoins: "Addressing the regulatory, supervisory and oversight challenges raised by “global stablecoin” arrangements”.

Do we need to change thinking on value-date i.e. the date on which a transaction actually takes place? We’d love to hear your views.

Blockchain is? Pick a headline: a) the global panacea for lots of ills, or b) all hype and more talked about than actually used. Does it matter? Unequivocally, it does. Well, at the very least, for those of us in Financial Services.

Is the DLT potential real, why haven’t we realised it, will we ever realise any of it? These are all questions worth examining. Here’s my view as we end 2019 and plan for progress in 2020. It’s a long piece; your feedback is really welcome.

We often read that we live in an increasingly polarised society, retreating too easily into digital echo chambers, inhabited only by like-minded souls. We also see divided opinions in the financial sector, such as over the adoption of technology innovations. When assailed on either side by fierce optimists and implacable sceptics, the pragmatist will remember that any new platform multiplies its chances of success by attracting a large and diverse range of participants.

Among the new technologies being explored, the crypto asset space is perhaps the most controversial. Certainly, it has earned many column inches, from Bitcoin’s surges in Q4 2017 and Q3 2019 to Libra’s recent launch. True...