Author | Lightnews

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 1d

New on the not-a-newsletter...
Fintech On The Front Line buff.ly/oSNKFGG

Adam Anderson, writing in 1787, said that the defeating of the Spanish Armada “does equal honour to commerce“. Let us hope that victory in the coming cyberwar will do equal honour to fintech!

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 4d

Goodness me, have these people never heard of Bitcoin?

Drugs baron who paid for school fees with envelopes of cash is jailed

Gregory Bell, 43, from the village of Scottmount in Prestbury, made millions providing some of Britain's most dangerous criminals with Class A narcotics such as cocaine and ketamine.

buff.ly

Reposted by David G.W. Birch

Guildford Shakespeare Company @guildfordbard.bsky.social · 4d

As the curtain rises on our final production of 2025 — marking our 19th extraordinary year — we pause to extend a tremendous thank you to our 2025 Premier Sponsor, Chapters Financial Limited. Your unwavering support has been the heartbeat of our stage and the spark behind our creative spirit.

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 4d

New on Forbes: Stablecoins Will Change Payments, But Will Change Banking Even More buff.ly/Mgh76dM

Stablecoins are a trigger for a wider rethink of institutional structures dating from a previous age.

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 5d

Here's an interesting number...

Walmart partners with OpenAI for ChatGPT shopping feature buff.ly/8ZGlolM

"About 15% of total referral traffic for Walmart in September was from ChatGPT, up from 9.5% in August"

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 5d

This is what social media is for. Lovely.

Tube Mapper- Luke Agbaimoni @tubemapper.bsky.social · 5d

Under Over Over - West Hampstead

So it's taken a while, but I've finally found a location where you can clearly see London Underground trains traveling over London Overground trains.

The vantage point is at West Hampstead Overground station at the end of the platform.

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 5d

Hey thanks for remember this Dave. Here's the story for anyone who is curious dgwbirch.substack.com/p/regina-non...

Regina Non Vocavit

My new Latin motto, and why I am so proud of it.

dgwbirch.substack.com

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 6d

Divining the Witch of York: Propaganda and Prophecy
buff.ly/JP3bOMG

"
“The prophet is, first and foremost, a media phenomenon"

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 6d

I often wonder why politicians go on about the fishing industry when it employs so few people.

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 6d

New on the not-a-newsletter...

Layers and Layers buff.ly/XntBZ9T

In this world, the next-generation financial market infrastructure of distributed ledgers, tokens and protocols will in essence become critical national infrastructure. Can this really be provided by Circle or Stripe?

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 7d

Love’s Costly Con buff.ly/qTpBZ2p

This has to be a massive underestimate. I am sure that quite possibly the majority of these scams go unreported.

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 7d

OpenAI’s Growing Ecosystem Play buff.ly/C9cRJeD

"OpenAI has a novel idea for tying the sign-in arrangement to how startups that use OpenAI’s models would pay for that usage."

Interesting to see new business models emerging.

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 8d

Your browser is up to date youtu.be/5VPH16rrBN4

Great informed discussion.

“Identity cards are a 20th century solution” +1

Your browser is up to date

You can use YouTube's latest features!

youtu.be

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 8d

Over at CIFAS learning all about Just Me www.just-me.uk

Home

JustMe puts identity fraud prevention in consumers’ hands, allowing them to verify whether product applications are them or not.

www.just-me.uk

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 10d

Visa launches Trusted Agent Protocol for AI commerce buff.ly/kK25BI1

"Visa says its Trusted Agent Protocol aims to address the unique challenges facing agent-driven commerce "

Is there anyone who hasn't launched an agentic commerce protocol yet ?

Visa launches Trusted Agent Protocol for AI commerce

Visa has become the latest firm to introduce a protocol designed to act as a foundational framework needed to enable AI agents to transact payments on behalf of users and merchants.

buff.ly

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 10d

Stablecoins’ Infrastructure Moment buff.ly/Lkrz0GF

"Translation: lots of companies will issue stablecoins. Most won’t matter.

What matters is the infrastructure that makes those stablecoins useful."

Spot on from Dwayne.

Stablecoins’ Infrastructure Moment

Why Payment Giants Are Commoditizing Money (And Capturing Value Elsewhere)

buff.ly

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 11d

Scammers are using AI to lure shoppers to fake businesses - BBC News buff.ly/XotOabR

"The company did not reply to a request for comment"

Of course it didn't, because IT DOESN"T EXIST. It's time bring in mandatory KYB for organisations placing advertisements on social media.

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 11d

Why I have to buy doughnuts with cash buff.ly/BmU3JP1

"Much of what we think of as innovation in the US is just private duct tape applied to the country’s uniquely bad payments system."

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 12d

New on Forbes: Great Customer Service Will Be People And Bots Working Together buff.ly/V9a8JzC

I think we are still a long way from understanding what kind of customer service it will take to surprise and delight my AI agent as opposed to what it will take to surprise and delight me.

Reposted by David G.W. Birch

Paul Lewis @paullewismoney.bsky.social · 13d

Replace stamp duty on homes with a land value tax bit.ly/474UkfC says @DanNeidle an idea as sensible as it is unlikely.

Scrap stamp duty: there’s a new tax that could make us richer

The tax expert warns that Kemi Badenoch’s plan risks handing a windfall to today’s homeowners without helping tomorrow’s… but there is a better solution

bit.ly

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 12d

UK telcos step up efforts to combat ‘epidemic’ of handset fraud buff.ly/PMzeLUF

Perhaps some sort of digital identity of one kind or another might be helpful.

UK telcos step up efforts to combat ‘epidemic’ of handset fraud

Surge in scams forces VodafoneThree, EE and Virgin Media O2 to tighten controls on mobile phone purchases

buff.ly

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 13d

Rethinking Identity Security WSJ buff.ly/nayZIn2

"User ownership... individuals store their credentials—such as driver’s licenses, diplomas, and bank verifications—in secure digital wallets"

Personally, I think "self sovereign" ultimately means holding the private key, not the credentials.

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 14d

Community First buff.ly/aOZ6i4u

"North Dakota alone has more banks than Canada"

Fascinating.

David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 14d

Accounting and the end of the business cycle buff.ly/GYvElRt

"For those with long memories of the ‘round tripping’ sales scandals of the dotcom era, the last few months’ developments in the AI / chip / datacentre world will of course have raised a few eyebrows."

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David G.W. Birch @dgwbirch.bsky.social · 14d

"Why cash alone won’t cut it: Practical strategies to increase resilience in European payment infrastructure."

David Birch and Lionel Grosclaude.

Journal of Payments Strategies & System, Volume 19, Number 3, pages 234-246 (Fall 2025).

via Ingenta Connect buff.ly/hKBlNQP