Return of a credit derivative London whale?
The great thing about having premium subscribers is that occasionally when you come across RAW unfiltered market gossip, you can publish it in a discrete but still timestamped manner. The below is not verified. The gossip pertains to the fact that the credit derivative markets are feeling the presence of a new and potentially very […]
Checking in on blockchain hype, Blythe Masters edition
The Blind Spot gave evidence before the House of Commons science and technology committee on blockchain on Wednesday. There’s a good write-up of the whole thing here. Though one oversight of that piece is that it fails to mention Aaron Bell MP’s masterful insertion of the term “shitcoins” into the parliamentary record. “… forgive me, […]
US oil is approaching Mad Max mode
Cushing Oklahoma is where crude that settles under the CME’s West Texas Intermediate contract must be delivered. Whenever there is a big discrepancy between the price of WTI and Brent (the latter of which trades more internationally) there is often a big incentive to store US crude there. The tankage system at Cushing, however, has […]
Is the ECB’s anti-fragmentation tool a CBDC?
The most intriguing news that came out of the ECB’s ad hoc meeting on Wednesday was that the governing council had accelerated work on a new “anti-fragmentation instrument” to help it cope with diverging sovereign bond valuations as it moves into a tightening phase. The exact wording was this: In addition, the Governing Council decided […]
What the Fed giveth, the Fed taketh away
The outcome of Wednesday’s FOMC decision could possibly end up being one of the most important in recent history. Thanks to some tactically positioned media guidance, the market is, as of Monday, expecting the Fed to go as far as a 75 basis points hike when It concludes its June FOMC meeting. The up-turn in […]
Coinbase as a pathway to “tradfi” crypto contagion
When Coinbase direct-listed on the Nasdaq on April 14, 2021, it did so with a valuation of $85.8bn. The listing came at what might retrospectively be considered the peak of crypto market exuberence and the height of the NFT craze. The nuts price tag at the time somewhat remarkably put the crypto trading platform ahead […]
Top Gun and the struggle to get enough 5G fighters
This is a guest post by “the Data Artist”, an author who hails from the fintech world and is a believer in beautiful rather than big data. The esteemed editor of The Blind Spot and I were both enthusiastic viewers of the Top Gun sequel, “Top Gun- Maverick”. But while I was keen to absorb […]
The Celsius crypto meltdown is linked to the Terra debacle
If you’re not knee deep in crypto goings on, the news this Monday morning that the Celsius network is in trouble might not mean very much to you. But what’s going on may have serious repercussions for the entire crypto network. Bitcoin is down 10.46 per cent in the last 24 hours on the news. […]
How many Cbankers does it take to do meaningful CBDC research in the Bahamas?
Why the Bahamian sand dollar is particularly well studied by central bankers.
Is Substack exposed to gig economy headwinds?
A lot of people ask me why I never opted for Substack when choosing my independent path. I had my reasons. Now that it has emerged that Substack has ditched plans to raise a Series C round due to souring market conditions, I thought it might be a good time to explain my rationale. First […]