This month I returned to moneyconf, a yearly meeting of fintech enthusiasts. Apart from a pair of trendy LHoFT sunglasses I came back with a bunch of insights and inspiration to fuel me until next year.

Insights from moneyconf:

1. 20 million SME in the USA don’t accept electronic payments today @thefriley @Square CFO
2. The finance part of fintech hasn’t been disrupted yet (as opposed to retail) there’s a lot of legacy just signing an nda can take 3months. @thefriley @Square CFO
3. “When we work with the banks it is slow going…” @thefriley @Square CFO
4. The internet deserves a native currency (bitcoin) cashapp allows to seamlessly buy/sell bitcoin. Fiat has a lot of friction, a lot of value lost in sending money overseas. This shouldn’t be the case. I’m all in to disrupt that. @thefriley @Square CFO
5. I believe the way to get great decisions is to have diversity. If everyone agrees, someone is not thinking. Inclusion is needed for diversity to stay. Feminine role models in leadership inspire. Only 5% women in leadership, there is systemic bias @thefriley @Square CFO
6. If you only interview women you will be able to find a woman (surely in the whole world there will be one woman for the job) push your hr team to find them. @thefriley @Square CFO
7. The internet is broken. It has no digital identity construct. With blockchain we can have identity. Social context can attest they are a citizen. Zug in switzerland is an experiment on cryptovoting @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
8. Blockchain is a force for universal disintermediation. Intermediaries will be right-sized as to how much value they extract from a transaction. @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
9. com disintermediation for music. Civil, fake news control. Data storage, heavy conputation, kwh… all is being disintermediated @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
10. Web 3.0 will bring native digital money, greater security, trusted transactions, decentralised storage, bandwidth, heavy compute… @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
11. Bullshit sharing economy (uber, lyft, airbnb…) vs. actual sharing economy will happen thanks to ethereum smart contracts with networked business models @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
12. Siloed infrastructure is moving towards collaborative, distributed infrastructures. Enterprise ethereum alliance has over 500 members building this shared infrastructure @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
13. We can imagine a dystopian world where we have no privacy. We can imagine a world where privacy is everywhere. Regulators have a big role on this. @JoelKatz Chief Cryptographer at Ripple
14. Xrapid is a ripple product which exchanges usd for xrp. Xrp is sent to an exchange that takes mexican pesos. These xrp are then changed for pesos. This is done in under two minutes in a way which is cheaper and faster with current remmitance systems @JoelKatz Chief Cryptographer at Ripple
15. Volatility if xrp is lower in two minutes than the mexican peso over two days. @JoelKatz Chief Cryptographer at Ripple
16. The real utility of blockchain hasn’t happened yet. This is the reason for the big volatility. @JoelKatz Chief Cryptographer at Ripple
17. In 20 years payments will be invisible, inexpensive, and seamlesss. Similar to opening a webpage today @JoelKatz Chief Cryptographer at Ripple
18. Utility tokens are an aberration. If you are raising capital it’s a security. I’m surprised it took so long for the SEC to step in. Patrick Byrne @OverstockCEO
19. ICOs enable financial inclusion. Access to capital for any enterpreneur in a third world country. This is groundbreaking. @jeffpulver
20. It’ll be possible for the underbanked to receive loans peer to peer without a bank Patrick Byrne @OverstockCEO
21. Blockchain will bring more chain than the internet did. It’s a bigger disruption than the internet was Patrick Byrne @OverstockCEO
22. Formation of capital, central banking, cap markets, identity, supply chains,voting will be disrupted by blockchain. We will be able to give a collapsing economy a central bank as a service. Patrick Byrne @OverstockCEO
23. Regulators have good understanding of the blockchain revolution. It’s too late to stop it. In some countries the regulators work for the companies they should regulate. Patrick Byrne @OverstockCEO
24. Bitcoin’s been through 6 booms and busts. If you zoom out it doesn’t look like a bubble. There’s more and more widespread, infrastructure is growing. @DavidFBailey CEO at BTC Media
25. Bitcoin offers decentralised trust. Censorship resistant. There is an intrinsic value in this. @DavidFBailey CEO at BTC Media
26. Bitcoin either is or is not a store of value. If it is the upside is huge. Email is much bigger than the postal+fax industry. If bitcoin is not a store of value the value will be zero. @DavidFBailey CEO at BTC Media
27. The bitcoin blockchain is extremely secure. Hacks have happened in the perifery infrastructure. @DavidFBailey CEO at BTC Media
28. Usdtether has counterparty risk. If the assets backing it are seized the value would drop. @DavidFBailey CEO at BTC Media
29. If the price of bitcoin booms 10x or 100x, more people will spend more money on mining and the energy consumption of the bitcoin blockchain will go from 0.5% of the world consumption to maybe 10%. What then? @DavidFBailey CEO at BTC Media
30. Ethereum helps build better business models. This scares incumbents at first. @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
31. R3 is running out of gas. They built a blockchain-like infrastructure. @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
32. Master node in dash is a PoW algorithm. We have instant confirmations. Part of the block rewards go to treasury which can be used to pay for development. Stakeholders can vote on how the rewards get used. @fernando Dash CMO
33. There is space for many crypto projects. Dash and ethereum can coexist and interoperate. @ethereumJoseph @fernando
34. Forks are good, it allows for better systems to compete. @ethereumJoseph Consensys Founder
35. Layer two tech (lightning network) has problems of its own. @fernando Dash CMO
36. The spark of crypto is still alive and growing thanks to it becoming a reality @fernando Dash CMO
37. Switzerland is welcoming for ICOs due to their liberal approach to financial innovation @OlgaFeldmeier Smartvalor CEO
38. In the us there is no clarity on ICOs whereas in switzerland the guidelines are clear and they are welcoming. @ShapeShiftCOO
39. Different cryptotokens need to be regulated differently we need to understand what they are. @ShapeShiftCOO
40. Security dealer licenses, banking licenses, money transfer licenses… the regulator needs to simplify @OlgaFeldmeier Smartvalor CEO
41. The business models for crypto are new. The industry needs to self-regulate with oversight from authorities. Regulator needs to empower the industry players. @OlgaFeldmeier Smartvalor CEO
42. Digital pictures of cats are not securities. Regulators are struggling to understand how crypto works. @ShapeShiftCOO
43. Legacy regulation does not catch the bad actors. They are able to evade it anyway. It impedes the good actors and does not allow for fast advance. @ShapeShiftCOO
44. $300bn market cap on ICO. Bitcoin 38%. @edithyeung Partner at 500Startups
45. 10 Things to Look for in a Token Project @edithyeung Partner at 500Startups
46. Avalanche family. New consensus protocol that came out a month ago. Uses montecarlo polling sufficient times for the probability of an incorrect output is insignificant. @el33th4xor Professor at Cornell University
47. Bitcoin solves the problem of making uncensorable inconfiscable money @ToneVays Derivatives Trader.
48. fmwill have it’s own crypto. If you have a question fos someone you can offer a payment in crypto in exchange for a response @askfmio
49. Bitstamp found a regulatory home in luxembourg @nejc_kodric Bitstamp CEO
50. We started targeting banks. But we realised they were moving too slow so we had to change the strategy. @marcusswanepoel Luno CEO
51. The biggest struggle is bridging the legacy banking system with the crypto system. Banks are slow and sometimes hostile. @bitstamp @nejc_kodric Bitstamp CEO
52. In 1980s we went from open outcry markets to electronic markets. Reducing friction and increasing velocity. Next step is the digital age of securities making it 24/7/365 worldwide. Get rid of paper certificates into the blockchain. Tokenize real assets. @APompliano Founder at Morgan Creek Digital Assets
53. In the future we’ll say: “I bought a share of apple”. The blockchain settlement part will be transparent. @APompliano Founder at Morgan Creek Digital Assets
54. Ledger is working on Ledgerboard saas solution for enterprise investors who want to manage cryptocurrencies. @EricLarch Ledger CEO
55. PSD2 is making banks reassess their technical infrastructure. There is an opportunity there. Cabannes @SocieteGenerale Deputy CEO
56. Psd2 gave banks a kick in the butt. Anyone can come along and access your clients data. This gave banks a wake up call and pushed them to colllaborate with the fintech echosystem @RWandhofer Global Head of Regulatory Strategy at Citigroup
57. Psd2 increases the surface open to hacker attack. Cabannes @SocieteGenerale Deputy CEO
58. Psd2 opens the opportunity for collaboration/acquisition of fintechs. This brings innovation to banks. Cabannes @SocieteGenerale Deputy CEO
59. Banks were reticent to psd2. Now it’s a given so it has been accepted. Psd2 will evolve banking into platforms. There will be competition with winners and losers. This will create a new ecosystem. @deBrouwerEBF Chief Policy Officer at European Banking Federation
60. Banks have to move from years long IT projects to months, weeks, or even days. Cabannes @SocieteGenerale Deputy CEO
61. We have to digitize, cleanse, secure, redesign data in big banks @RWandhofer Global Head of Regulatory Strategy at Citigroup
62. Non-cash payments are growing 82% in india in 2018. India has tripled digital payments in the last three years. @ceouaeexchange CEO at UAE exchange
63. Millenials care about the experience. Cashless is more intuitive for them. @ceouaeexchange CEO at UAE exchange
64. In africa most people have cellphones, and few have bank accounts. @ceouaeexchange CEO at UAE exchange
65. Security issues could pose threats towards cashless societies. Nathan Gill @Verifone Head of Solutions
66. The simple things that can scale are the things that will proliferate. Nfc works, qr code works. Retina scanning, vein scanning are sexy, but they are more complex. Nathan Gill @Verifone Head of Solutions
67. Bitcoin fulfills aristotle’s 4 conditions for sound money @maxkeiser CIO Heisenberg Capital
68. The banking system as we know it will not exist in the next 10-50 years. @maxkeiser CIO Heisenberg Capital
69. Ireland aspires to be the main tech hub for europe. @campaignforleo Prime minister of Ireland
70. This year, the Irish central bank will start a fintech innovation hub. @campaignforleo Prime minister of Ireland
71. Credit karma has 80 million users in usa. Helping millenials find financial instruments @kennethlin Founder of Credit Karma
72. Through autonomous finance we could give a way for financially illiterate people to make better financial decisions. Similar to the gps helping us reach our destination. @kennethlin Founder of Credit Karma
73. Worldremit helps the unbanked send and receive money via mobile phone @Ismail_WR Worldremit CEO
74. 3bn (half of the world) people are invisible to the global financial system. Poor farmers get paid once a year with the harvest and don’t have a way to safely store their money. They need to walk for miles to pay an utility bill to keep the lights on @MichaelSchlein Accion CEO
75. We use financial tools every day. The underbanked live in a cash world and don’t have access to these tools. @MichaelSchlein Accion CEO
76. World bank’s report on financial inclusion focuses in bank accounts. There are many underbanked people which created an account and use it less than once a year (they received a government grant and cashed it out, they have an account but don’t use it) @MichaelSchlein Accion CEO
77. Blockchain can make a difference for cheap remittances without going through the slow and expensive bank based system @Ismail_WR Worldremit CEO
78. Blockchain is a fundamental new layer to the internet. It enables value exchange, governance and trust. Every fiduciary and record keeping industry will be affected by it. @jerallaire Circle CEO
79. Accounting. Insurance. Corporate and commercial law. Voting and governance. Record keeping. These will be transformed by the blockchain. @jerallaire Circle CEO
80. Crypto tokens can be currencies, commodities, and securities. @jerallaire Circle CEO
81. Stablecoins tether, usd coin, maker, basis can enable settlement without volatility risk @jerallaire Circle CEO
82. Crypto securities represent some rules based financial contract. @jerallaire Circle CEO
83. We are at the start of a “tokenisation of everything”. Bonds, fiat currency, insurance contracts, property tokens (land, houses, cars), decision tokens (votes, governance) @jerallaire Circle CEO
84. To realise the tokenisation of everything we need: 1) mature and scalable public blockchains. 2) fiat backed stablecoins. 3) mature marketplaces 4) regulatory clarity @jerallaire Circle CEO
85. Fiat stablecoins are mandatory for this to work. We need to control the volatility. @jerallaire Circle CEO
86. Sharing value globally in the same way we can share information. Cheap. Fast. Easy. Fundamental economic integration. @jerallaire Circle CEO
87. In China a lot of merchants don’t accept cash any more. Visa, wechat, alipay, but no cash. @AlainFalys Chairman Yoyo Wallet
88. I just came back from china. I was at a restaurant and some people just stood up and left, some walked to the cashier, some needed the waiter to charge. Everyone paying with the mobile phone. @AlainFalys Chairman Yoyo Wallet
89. We believe voice is the next frontier. Today 50bn/month searches are done by voice. Voice enables a natural experience. Giulio Montemagno. Director Europe @amazonpay
90. Mobile topping can be done worldwide in an unregulated way. I can send mobile balance to any phone in the world. This is a workaround for remittances. @MRding Executive Chairman at Ding
91. Remittances are unfairly expensive. @cwinesLondon Founder at WorldRemit
92. Gdpr and blockchain don’t work together at all. Blockchain is immutable while gdpr requires user data to allow to be deleted. @DariaRippingale CEO at billpro
93. Customer demand for cryprocurrency trading has massively exploded. @yoniassia CEO at eToro
94. Traditional markets are too regulated with too many entry barriers. Crypto markets are the wild west, trial and error. @yoniassia CEO at eToro
95. You can’t expect to make 40x on all of your investments, right? But you are 27 so you do @yoniassia CEO at eToro
96. I’m optimistic. In 20 years any financial asset and central bank money will be tokenised in a blockchain. @yoniassia CEO at eToro
97. Bitcoin has the brand awareness of cocacola. @yoniassia CEO at eToro
98. Compliance protects the business to avoid risk. Learn to love the audits. Create a team that focuses on responding to audit and loves it. Jacqueline Molnar, Chief Compliance Officer at @WesternUnion
99. Fintech in europe is very exciting. In europe there is a lot of interest to increase the 5% of online payments. @chughesjohnson COO at Stripe
100. Governments want to enable startups because they will enable job creation and GDP growth. @chughesjohnson COO at Stripe
101. Stripe wants to level the playing field allowing any startup to send and receive cross border payments. @chughesjohnson COO at Stripe
102. Availability of developer resources is according to nielsen the biggest constraint for companies. @chughesjohnson COO at Stripe
103. Payments is extremely local. Regulation, banking, tradition … Stripe is trying to make it uniform globally for startups to sell worldwide seamlessly @chughesjohnson COO at Stripe
104. 1) find your product and focus on it full speed 2) If you don’t hire the right talent your company will not grow. 3) tempo. Keep the speed as you grow. @chughesjohnson COO at Stripe
105. The developer is increasingly the decision maker. The technical decisions you take are integral to your business strategy. Developers should be at the decision making table. If you treat them as a service they will leave. @chughesjohnson COO at Stripe
106. Before wechatpay and alipay people in china has no credit card. These services leapfrogged and today it’s difficult to be able to pay with cash in china. @edithyeung Partner at 500Startups
107. Chinese people leave china for hongkong, malta, japan, san francisco… to avoid chinese regulatory blocking and continue their blockchain projects. @edithyeung Partner at 500Startups
108. We have a process we follow whenever we open up in a new country. If the process does not work we tweak it. We are hungry. @NStoronsky CEO at Revolut.