The removal of the middle man function in an exchange based on the bitcoin protocol does not automatically lead to the disappearance of the companies (and their interests) performing these today. The middle man function will slowly but surely erode with the advent of the bitcoin protocol, the middle man of today (parties) will be the gate(way)keepers of tomorrow.
(2 minutes reading time) Since having spend some early years of my professional life in a technical wholesale company I have been following the incredible developments of Amazon with great [...]
A long time friend who had just returned from a business trip to the USA to discuss various business development opportunities on two sides of the big point. He was wondering why certain types of innovation are typically initiated in the USA and not in the EU (or ROW). He pointed at PayPal as an example. I think I understand where his question is coming from and at first glance would agree to the gut feel expressed with this question that the conditions in the EU for innovation especially in payments are less favourable. But once you start thinking about it various inroads are possible:
The payments landscape is characterised by profound fragmentation, getting worse everyday. In payments, especially in Europe, regulators and banks have successfully tried to prevent fragmentation for decades. But the spirit [...]
One of the cornerstones of my speech at the conference on the Future of Payments in June 2012 (Amsterdam), which I delivered on behalf of Enigma Consulting, was that the [...]
