Over two years ago, in the early days of the ICO boom of 2017, we launched the Blockchain Weekly. When we started the newsletter, there was a plethora of misinformation in the space and we wanted to create a trusted source to sift through it and provide commentary when needed. Since then, many more publications are covering the sector. Articles and sources have proliferated while the frenzy has died down – leading to better coverage. Taking this into account, I have decided to discontinue publishing the “weekly” newsletter (which as I’m sure you have noticed, has become more infrequent as time passed). We will pivot to publishing more in-depth coverage for those interested in what’s next and provide a view on what I’m seeing “behind the scenes”. FPV’s original 2014 thesis around the intersection of blockchain, AI, marketplaces and Internet of Things is materializing rapidly, and we look forward to exploring this convergence in context of broader societal trends.

Along those lines, I have been spending time thinking of the the continued digitization of the financial services sector. The recently announced $5.3B acquisition of Plaid by Visa, in a highly competitive deal, shows how even the largest incumbents are feeling pressure to innovate and need to think outside of their current business models. I had alluded to this in a piece I wrote in 2015 – Are Banks the Next Dinosaurs?:

“Twenty years from now, we will see disintermediation of banks, and millenials will no longer recognize the current banking (Read more...)