AI, Superapp, And Crypto Card Sharks: Exposing The Hidden Cards
Real-time payments, banks pull the fear card out of their sleeve.
Artwork of the day: The Cardsharps, Caravaggio, c. 1595
Caravaggio was one of the pivotal figures in the history of Western art. In his short lifetime, he created a theatrical style that was as shocking to some as it was new, inspiring others to probe their subject matter for the drama of psychological relationships.
In The Cardsharps, the players are engaged in a game of primero, a forerunner of poker. Engrossed in his cards at left is the dupe, unaware that the older cardsharp signals his accomplice with a raised, gloved hand (the fingertips exposed, better to feel marked cards). At right, the young cheat looks expectantly toward the boy and reaches behind his back to pull a hidden card from his breeches. Caravaggio has treated this subject not as a caricature of vice but in a novelistic way, in which the interaction of gesture and glance evokes the drama of deception and lost innocence in the most human of terms.
Why Today’s Stories Matter
Today’s art of “card sharps” or “card sharks” is the perfect theme for this week’s stories, where a sleight of hand and hidden card are prominent features in deception.
With AI, we are being told through AI hype that all banks are diving into AI with gusto when in reality, there is a striking AI divide growing within the sector. Big banks hold almost all the cards.
Banks building superapps are inevitable, and is building one easy? If there were ever a cardshark, it would be the author of this paper, and I show how neither is true.
We move onto real-time payments, which banks frequently pose as a threat when, in fact, they are an opportunity. Banks are pulling their ace card of fear from behind their back.
Then a brief look at crypto, the ultimate card shark, and how crypto fraud remains the norm, despite bold proclamations that it is the financial system of the future.
FBI: Americans Lost $5.6 Billion In Cryptocurrency Scams Last Year!
Crypto needs to clean up its act if it is to become the financial system of the future, as it boldly claims.
Regular readers will know that I've stopped writing about crypto, aside from covering stablecoins, and this FBI report shows why.
Crypto is still just too dirty to deal with.
Now before crypto fans attack me with the argument that non-crypto markets are dirty too, which they are, consider these figures for the US:
👉FBI: $5.6 bn in fraud on a crypto market cap of $2.2 trillion
👉FTC: $4.6 bn in investment fraud on a US equity market of $50 trillion
To show how pervasive crypto fraud is, look at it relative to its relatively small market size.
🔥In rough numbers, crypto fraud exceeds non-crypto investment fraud by a factor of over 25!🔥
👉TAKEAWAYS
🔹 Americans lost more than $5.6 billion to cryptocurrency fraud in 2023.
🔹 The FBI received more than 69,000 complaints involving cryptocurrency fraud, a 45% increase in losses over the previous year
🔹 Investment fraud was the most significant contributor to these losses, accounting for $3.96 billion, or 71% of all cryptocurrency-related losses.
🔹 Investment fraud scammers use social media platforms, dating apps, and networking sites to build trust with victims before convincing them to invest in fake cryptocurrency schemes.
🔹 Other forms of fraud, including tech support scams, government impersonation, and call center fraud, were also notable.
🔹 Cryptocurrency scams hit older Americans especially hard with people over 60 making up just 24% of the total complaints, but reporting the highest financial losses, at $1.65 billion.
👊STRAIGHT TALK👊
I don't write about crypto because I am always accused of hating it when pointing out its glaring shortcomings.
For the record, I don't hate crypto and regularly credit crypto for giving us CBDCs and stablecoins and forcing positive changes in banking and money transfers.
That said, I have no patience for the ingrained culture of corruption in crypto that gave us the Terra/Luna collapse, FTX bankruptcy, and a steady stream of fraud that makes it too toxic to touch.
Crypto needs to clean up its act, and no amount of "self-regulation" will do that.
✍️ Where am I going wrong?
You made it this far, so subscribe! Here are the six benefits waiting for you when you subscribe:
Save time: Get the expert insights on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), AI, Payments, and Financial Inclusion that you need to stay ahead of the curve, all delivered directly to your inbox weekly;
Know the future and profit: Get real payback from a unique point of view directly from Asia that focuses on how the region is “leapfrogging” the West and showing you the future;
Be prepared: CBDCs are no longer theoretical but coming soon, so keep up with the latest developments on the digital euro, yuan, sterling and dollar;
Manage your personal AI risk: Don’t be disrupted; be the disruptor. In-depth analysis of how our AI revolution impacts finance so that you can be in front of this great transformation, not behind it;
Stay objective, avoid hype: My writing doesn’t follow corporate diktats. It’s a message that doesn’t conform with mainstream media and is gritty, practical, hype-free, and, on occasion, controversial;
Stay safe: My writing is trusted by nearly 60,000 executives, innovators, investors, policymakers, journalists, academics, and open-minded crypto hodlers daily.
Readers like you make my work possible! Subscribing is free, but I am honored when readers opt for a paid subscription to recognize my high-quality writing and help keep it flowing. Thank you!
Sponsor Cashless and reach a targeted audience of over 50,000 fintech and CBDC aficionados who would love to know more about what you do!
