Apple Bank?
Apple could be on the verge of bringing all of its financial activities together in a highly attractive, powerful way that will seriously threaten traditional institutions.
Back in 2016 venture capitalist Alessandro Hatami wrote about what he saw then as a possible Apple banking ecosystem evolving.
It seems like all the pieces of the puzzle are now falling together.
Apple has launched or announced seven key products and services, as enumerated by Johnson. This includes Apple Wallet, Apple Pay, Apple Card (offered with Goldman Sachs), and Apple Cash (offered with Green Dot). Joining this lineup are the newcomers, Apple Pay Later, Apple Pay Monthly Installments, and Apple Tap-to-Pay on iPhone, which turns the device into a POS terminal.
Recession?
Thanks to this year’s sell-off in US stocks, the unwind in margins provided by brokers is down by 30%, broadly in line with the 33% fall in Nasdaq 100 year to date. It’s very easy to read too much into this stat, but leverage tends to be procyclical—it goes up as markets go up and goes down as markets fall.
https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2022/12/22/margin-debt-down-0-9-in-november
Blockchain: how far are we from real world scalable application?
The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) uses a platform called CHESS - Clearing House Electronic Subregister System -to facilitate trades since 1994. After the March 2020 surge led regulators to cap trades because of processing delays, the Reserve Bank of Australia talked about replacing CHESS. At this time there was a global fascination with cryptocurrency and blockchain.
Ideally ASX should have chosen a steady and stable clearing and settlement system but chose a cutting edge, bleeding edge technology that was unproven and untried.
In November, ASX abandoned the project, citing dysfunctional management, concerns about the product’s complexity and scalability, and difficulty finding experts to support it. The axing came after new CEO Helen Lofthouse commissioned an Accenture review that found the rebuild was just 63% delivered and almost half the code needed to be rewritten.
So what went wrong?
Ramy Aziz a former ASX CFO said
It would have been easier, I guess, to just build a new version of CHESS in some other modern language, rather than blockchain.
Maybe blockchain needs to develop a bit more before it’s capable of doing what they want it to do for CHESS. Maybe it’ll never be able to do it.
interestingly soon after ASX shelved the project, A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S and IBM ended a blockchain-enabled shipping platform, citing a lack of global cooperation.
RBI Governor on Crypto
Unemployment at new highs
It is worrying to find out that unemployment in India is now higher than it was during the pandemic when millions lost their jobs. What is even more worrying is that the pace of addition of new jobs has also slowed down.
We keep hearing about our great demographic dividend but we need to provide employment to the scores of youth entering our workforce every year or we could be staring at a demographic nightmare instead!
Walk the talk
Did you tell yourself/ near and dears that you will get fit/fitter in 2023? Well, we’d suggest you walk the talk this time.
While walking is rightly lauded as a form of cardio exercise and its benefits for your heart health and mindset are widely understood, a good, long walk is also a great way to work your leg muscles and abs.
Habits to adopt in 2023
Talking of new year resolutions, here are some habits that you might want to inculcate in 2023. Remember, there are no shortcuts to becoming rich. Trust the process and be consistent.
Next gen entrepreneurs for a better world
Follow this twitter thread to see how the teen entrepreneurs are changing the world for better, one venture at a time.
https://twitter.com/jeff_weinstein/status/1605730892286001157?s=20