Federal Reserve

Where are the customers' rate increases?

U.S. banks are at it again. Inflation is at its highest level in decades. At the same time, interest rates on deposits at the Fed, Treasury bills, bo…

What's the marketing strategy for the Fed's CBDC?

Last month the Federal Reserve published it's long awaited report on central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Here's my quick response. The p…

A dark world where bitcoin payments have gone mainstream

[This is an adaptation of an article I wrote last year for CoinDesk] Satoshi Nakamoto's electronic cash system – Bitcoin – was originally intend…

What happens to the Afghanistan central bank's assets?

The Afghanistan story is a tragic one and I don't have much to add to it apart from my ability to read central bank financial statements and bala…

The dollar isn't a meme

"Currencies are not memes that only have value because governments say they do," writes Brendan Greeley for the Financial Times. I agree …

Judy Shelton at the Bank of Canada? No thanks

How would I feel if Judy Shelton was a candidate for Governor of the Bank of Canada? Here are my thoughts. A bit of background first. Judy Shelton w…

Stablecoins as a route into Venezuela?

Over the last decade, few nations have experienced as much monetary and payments chaos as Venezuela has. Fans of bitcoin, Dash, and other cryptocurre…

Programmable money isn't new, we've had it for ages

I often hear that modern money just isn't up to snuff because it isn't programmable. That's why we need Ethereum, stablecoins, and other …

Is fiat money to blame for the Iraq war, police brutality, and the war on drugs?

I often encounter memes claiming that fiat money is to blame for all sorts of government evils. Here is one example from Kraken bitcoin strategist sp…