Important note to annual subscribers!
To all my highly appreciated annual subscribers who are still signed up on WordPress, This is a quick note to say thank you for your continued custom. Dario and I really do appreciate it. As previously noted, The Blind Spot is in the process of migrating to Substack full-time. While I am still copying key […]
Parlez-vous oil trader?
Everyone’s suddenly talking about backwardation, physical differentials and time-spreads. But what do any of these terms really mean? And why do they matter?
A Q&A about the ‘petrodollar’
From oil power to security power.
The reports of the dollar’s death are greatly exaggerated
Being an extortionist’s preferred currency does not a reserve currency make.
A compendium of counternarratives
Because that’s what the Blind Spot was made for. Today we assess the emerging anti ‘energy lockdown’ narrative and the Trumpian market manipulation grift that may just be a cover for dual-use finance.
Meet Qivalis: The bank-led effort to internationalise the euro with stablecoins
Policymakers are beginning to recognise the importance of homegrown private-sector initiatives in countering dollar-backed stablecoins.
LONG READ: Steelmanning Trump’s war strategy (as an intellectual exercise)
In an information war that’s gone kinetic, the first casualty is still the truth.
Did you hear the one about China’s ‘M&A Guidance Fund’?
Of course not. All attention has been on Iran. But it’s important, because it’s a mirror of the West’s private credit crisis.
Banks should probably stop trying to mint their own stablecoins
Under the OCC’s proposed framework it might make more sense to enter into issuer-parnterships.
Bank of England signals flexibility on stablecoin rules as consultation continues
BoE’s Breeden says the Bank’s shift from 100 percent to a 60/40 percentage split on remunerated holdings shows it is listening to industry.