Dispatches from the frontiers of finance

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Latest stories

Fractional Reserve Banking onchain

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Stablecoins are, in essence, the first large-scale experiment in narrow banking. Every USDC or USDT is (or supposed to be) fully backed by reserves – cash or short-term Treasuries – sitting safely off-chain. This architecture is what makes these tokens stable, but it also sterilizes capital: every dollar deposited creates no new credit, no new economic activity. In contrast, the...

Stablecoins are rails, not tokens

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After several years publishing as Fintech Ruminations, I am introducing a new name: Lombard Notes. The change reflects a broader focus, extending beyond fintech to the wider architecture of financial systems — from historical innovations to emerging digital markets. The content remains consistent in spirit, with only the name evolving. A few months ago, in my post Stablecoins 2.0, I suggested...

The future of credit underwriting

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The process of underwriting a consumer or a small business has always been fascinating for me. I’ve always found it stimulating to determine someone’s creditworthiness using a more or less complicated formula. Money Changers by Salomon Koninck That’s why, over the last decade, I’ve consistently gravitated toward lending and credit—across different companies, geographies, and markets. In this...