As active venture capital investors, we regularly participate in unpriced rounds, often through SAFEs. The SAFE, which is shorthand for Simple Agreement for Forward Equity was popularized by Y Combinator back in 2013 and has become a very popular method for raising financing without too much to-and-fro on trying to establish a valuation for the company. SAFEs… Continue reading SAFEs: Not as safe as you think?
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Universal Basic Income: Time to be Brave
The summer edition of Britain’s The Critic Magazine featured a pair of very interesting articles on Universal Basic Income (one pro, one con). This is a subject I’ve been pondering for several years and I’ve found my thinking on the topic over that period has developed significantly and (for me, from a personal perspective) surprisingly. Although as… Continue reading Universal Basic Income: Time to be Brave
A Deep Dive Into Payments
At CoinShares, one area we’ve been very focused on recently is payments, the different ways that digital assets including cryptocurrencies and stablecoins could play a role in the development of a global, digital payment system, and what platforms and infrastructure will be needed to support this type of activity. We thought it would be interesting… Continue reading A Deep Dive Into Payments
Crypto & Commodities: The Arc Seems to Rhyme More Everyday…
Before discovering cryptocurrencies in 2013, my partner Daniel Masters and I were involved in commodity trading for almost three decades. At that time, one of the features of bitcoin that appealed to us was the limited issuance, as only 21 million bitcoin will ever be issued. This made it feel quite similar to gold or silver. The longer… Continue reading Crypto & Commodities: The Arc Seems to Rhyme More Everyday…
Crisis in Hyperbole
Type “UK Crisis” into Google Search and you’ll get 183 million items. According to Google, the UK is currently experiencing crises in Social Care, Financial Services, Constitution, Housing, Policing and Teaching, to name but six. Is it really possible that so many key areas are in crisis, or are we actually suffering from a crisis in… Continue reading Crisis in Hyperbole
Quick Take on Brexit
Here’s my very quick take on UK’s vote to leave EU. I think a lot of voters felt very patronised by the political ‘elite’ of UK, EU and further afield over this subject. “Project Fear” inasmuch as it existed therefore probably backfired. It won’t be the financial cataclysm George Osborne suggested — weaker GBP great… Continue reading Quick Take on Brexit
Mobile Data Roaming: How To Get Your Money Back
I first wrote this piece back in November 2014. I’ve edited it now to reflect the final resolution of the dispute with my mobile telephone provider, more than a year after I first questioned my Data Roaming bills from them. After much argument, they agreed to refund all my charges for a roughly seventeen month… Continue reading Mobile Data Roaming: How To Get Your Money Back
In Richard’s Footsteps
As a young teen I read Philip Jose Farmer’s SciFi novel, “To Your Scattered Bodies Go”. Without going into too much detail, it’s about a world where all of Humankind is resurrected — amongst them, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton. The portrayal of Burton captivated me and ever since I have been fascinated by this… Continue reading In Richard’s Footsteps