Author Archives: David Birch

xxx Criminals who steal others’ electronic IDs can manipulate information in public registers, apply for loans, transfer money, set up companies, and receive public benefits on false grounds. This leads to major losses for individuals, companies, and the public sector. From: Digital Identity Management in Norway is a Success but also a Disaster – ResearchContinue reading “Digital Identity Management in Norway is a Success but also a Disaster – Research News”

xxx Five centuries ago, Pope Gregory XIV waged war on prediction markets. The reason? Back then merchants and priests were betting on papal elections, sparking tales of insider trading. So in 1591 the Pope excommunicated these gamblers. You could see this as one of the first attacks on market manipulation in history. From: Don’t betContinue reading “Don’t bet on Trump reining in the prediction markets”

xxx None of this comes without tradeoffs. Smart contract bugs are a real attack surface. Programmability that enables legitimate logic can also enable exploits. The history of DeFi is littered with protocols that had sound economic logic but nuanced vulnerabilities that left them vulnerable to exploits. Audits help but don’t eliminate risk. There’s also theContinue reading “Why banks can’t retrofit their way to programmable money — The Financial Revolutionist”

xxx 4. Fees are unpredictable and can vary widely – for example, Solana is known for low fees but in just three USDT payments in my test they varied from 0.001% to 0.43% of a $40 payment. Such large and unpredictable swings make it difficult to develop commercial stablecoin propositions for retail and consumer paymentsContinue reading “(12) Blockchain Reaction – by Jeremy Light – Agenda: Payments”

Meanwhile, in a developed country… Berlin here: Today, a pharmacy generated an invoice on-screen and I scanned their QR code and sent the money via instant payment from my bank account because their card payments were down…. veeery interesting experience, but it worked. Felt a little smug for suggesting the solution – I don’t carryContinue reading “It just keeps happening… Seems cash will remain the back up until we can get digital payments that are reliable. ATM was down as well. Lucky there’s a Post Office. John Howells Nick Quin David… | Faith Reynolds | 13 comments”

I have long argued that giving non-banks risk-free (ie, pre-funded) access to central bank settlement accounts would be good for competition and therefore good for consumers and businesses. This is one area where the Bank of England did come down on the side of innovation. Their “omnibus” account was introduced in 2021 to spur innovationContinue reading “Fedwire for Fintechs – Opportunities | Noyes Payments Blog”

Polymarket is enticing users to provide identifying information by offering them faster trading speeds. Earlier this month, it rolled out an online portal where individual customers can submit information including passports, licenses and proof of residence. Submitting the information isn’t mandatory. But customers who complete the forms can access Polymarket’s U.K.-based server, which offers theContinue reading “Polymarket Wants Traders to ID Themselves as It Faces Sanctions, Legal Risks — The Information”

xxx Reid Hoffman, a LinkedIn co-founder and partner at venture firm Greylock Partners, mostly uses his digital twin, Reid AI, for public appearances and media interviews. The system—trained on 22 years of Hoffman’s books, speeches, podcasts and articles—has delivered more than 75 addresses and presentations since its 2024 launch. From: Employ an AI Twin toContinue reading “Employ an AI Twin to Handle Your Piles of Busy Work – WSJ”

xxx In response to customer complaints, senior Polymarket engineer Mustafa Aljadery said in a post on X that the KYC checks targeted customers accessing Polymarket’s application programming interface “in certain jurisdictions” and that Polymarket “remains kyc free for all other users.” But if Polymarket doesn’t start enforcing its policy on prohibited jurisdictions, it risks regulatoryContinue reading “Polymarket Wants Traders to ID Themselves as It Faces Sanctions, Legal Risks — The Information”

xxx The firm is letting users open a dedicated agentic trading account, separate from the rest of their portfolio, meaning the agent only has access to the funds deposit into its account. Users get push notifications any time the agent makes a trade and can see a real-time activity feed and P&L directly in theContinue reading “Robinhood customers can now let AI agents make trades and credit card purchases”