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Female firefighter was pushed to the ground and boyfriend was threatened with a gun in row with their neighbours over where they were parking their VW campervan

From Couple threatened by neighbours in long-running feud over where they park their motorhomes | Daily Mail Online.

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As part of a series of digital projects in partnership with LaLiga, the Spanish football league, Real Betis has adopted wearable tech to enable paperless ticket entry, allowing season ticket holders to access the stadium by simply scanning a branded key fob that also doubles a contactless payment device, both inside or outside the venue.

Forming part of the club’s digital transformation, Real Betis has enjoyed a 50% rise in average stadium attendance, which currently sits at 48,000 – the fourth-highest in Spain. This is a prime example of how wearable tech is creating infinite opportunities for the future of stadium access, payment options, and drawing fans closer while also boosting revenues.

From FSM – Wearable Technology: What UEFA Can Learn From LaLiga:

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Whatever the fate of decentralised cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, other forms of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are here to stay. Decentralised finance can create innovative ways of delivering and broadening access to financial products and services, while the added competition forces traditional institutions to improve their efficiency.

From Crypto poses serious challenges for regulators | Financial Times:

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The starkest failing is fraud. Stealing money via cards, phones or the internet has in effect been decriminalised, so poorly is law enforcement equipped to respond. When money was taken from my account, the bank’s fraud team was startled when I suggested contacting the police: “People usually don’t bother.”

From Public services will wither unless the UK makes hard tax choices | Financial Times:

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Brazil’s central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto believes credit cards are on the brink of extinction due to growth in account-to-account based open payments.

From Brazil central bank chief predicts death of credit cards:

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More than five years after launching its first product, Goldman’s digital bank, Marcus, is burning cash with no signs of turning a profit. Executives expect it to lose another $1.2 billion this year,

From What’s Going Wrong at Goldman Sachs’ Marcus Consumer Bank Unit:

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When a money system no longer works, it ultimately gets replaced. The call of ‘King and Country’ in 1914 proved to be a hollow one, and the failure of empire went hand-in-hand with the demise of the gold standard. The ensuing fiat-money era has been a ‘mass’ one – mass democracy and mass consumerism. If the promises of the state again turn out to be hollow (unfunded government pension liabilities stand out) or if consumer culture no longer proves to be viable due to resource scarcity or ecological concerns, then does that mean the the fiat-money regime and the dollar currency which have dominated it are due for a reset?

From When does a bunch of big things happening add up to economic regime change?:

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While Fidelity has been offering digital asset custody services for nearly five years and in April added a bitcoin option to its retirement offerings, this summer’s activities signal a broader acceptance of digital assets, market analysts said.

From Asset managers bet big on crypto despite market rout | Financial Times:

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The data is now just as important as money. So how do financial institutions move from just being trusted stewards of money to also being trusted stewards of data?

From From trusted stewards of money to data | Bank Automation News:

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Believing they had found the latest formula for success, investors have ploughed about $9.8tn into unlisted equity, private credit and early stage or new venture funding. Alongside well-known problems — overvaluation, optimistic assumptions, aggressive accounting and high debt levels, there are additional concerns.

From Next financial crisis likely to centre on private markets | Financial Times:

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First, as private investments are inherently illiquid, investors cannot cauterise losses easily. Monetisation, largely reliant on initial public offerings and trade sales, is now difficult, especially at previously anticipated prices.

Where investments are made through funds, there may be mismatches between the redemption rights granted to ultimate investors and the ability to realise underlying assets. In such scenarios, investors can become exposed to forced distressed sales or trapped by restrictions on withdrawals resulting in opportunity costs.

Second, the lack of market prices means opaque valuations, which frequently misstate investment or fund values. Unlisted equity valuation models rely on comparable traded companies and private financing rounds. The discrepancies between these values and market prices can be large. After being valued in 2021 at $46bn, a 2022 $800mn funding round valued Klarna at $6.7bn (an 85 per cent fall). As the disappointing initial public offerings of Uber and WeWork highlight, the case is not isolated.

Private real estate or infrastructure, generally treated as leveraged bond-like investments, are sensitive to growing uncertainty over once predictable revenues, assumed “terminal” values at a point in time, funding costs and the often complex options embedded in the investment structures.

Subjective approaches and difficult to verify inputs can result in large variations in private investment valuations. Values derived from transactions between different in-house managed funds or with other asset managers are affected by potential conflicts of interest as manager remuneration is based on investment values and performance. Infrequent valuations mean prices lag behind changing market conditions, resulting in real gains and losses for investors buying into or withdrawing money from funds.

Third, private equity originally focused on long holding period investments purchased with substantial borrowings in traditional industries that offered undervalued shares, strong cash flows, low operating risk and the potential for business improvements. Today, many of these elements, other than leverage, are frequently absent.