Bitcoin and Financial Systems

Let me explain... ▶️ Attackers Are Weaponizing Trust Itself Cyber criminals are increasingly focusing on getting better at hijacking trust signals that fool users into taking harmful actions, developers into downloading harmful packages, etc. Worse off, we've spent years, training users to rely on and look out for the very trust signals that attackers are getting better at convincingly mimicking. Consequently, traditional security tools are being bypassed ever more often. Trust is broken! ▶️ Trust Transcends Perimeters In modern architectures, trust lives in identities, tokens, APIs, supply chains, and even human relationships. When we grant an application, partner, or employee a high level of trust, we're effectively enlarging our “attack surface” to WHEREVER that trust extends. A compromised cloud credential or an abused API token can bypass traditional defenses undetected, because the system assumes “trusted” traffic is not harmful. ▶️Supply-Chain Dependencies Each third-party library, managed service, or vendor relationship is a trust link; a vulnerability or breach in any link immediately widens the attacker’s reach into your environment. ▶️The Zero Trust Paradox The rise of “zero trust” architectures means every request must be authenticated, every session evaluated, every transaction authorized. Ironically, the constant negotiation of trust doubles as an attack surface. Here's why; if your policy engine or identity provider is misconfigured, overloaded, or compromised, attackers can gain unfettered access. So here's my prognosis: - Expect adversaries to increasingly target IAM systems, API gateways, and CI/CD pipelines, exploiting the very mechanisms organizations rely on to grant access and permissions. - Personalized deep fake attacks will surpass mass phishing by 2027. - Discerning leaders will deploy tools that operationalize context at scale. CONTEXT IS NOW KING!!! Organizations will shift to context-aware trust assessments; monitoring behavioral anomalies, device posture, and risk signals at every transaction to detect misuse of “trusted” assets. - As orchestration tools become universal, attackers will shift to poisoning CI/CD pipelines. A malicious change to a shared workflow or action could inject backdoors into every deployment, turning your “automation trust” into a systemic vulnerability. In fact, Gartner predicts a 50% rise in breaches traceable to vendor software flaws or misconfigurations. - By 2026, both defenders and attackers will leverage AI for behavior modeling. Attackers will focus on “data poisoning”, through faux-legitimate actions making anomaly detection. Building Trust Is The Only Future That Matters!

🚨Recent Standard Chartered bank's credit card fraud incidents in Bangladesh aren’t just individual cases- they expose industry-wide trust gaps. In multiple reports, BDT 50K+ was transferred to MFS accounts within seconds -without customers ever sharing their OTPs. The response from banks? 👉”Since it was OTP verified, it’s not fraud.” But as Product Managers, we know the issue isn’t that simple. This is a product trust challenge, security issues- not just a compliance checklist. 🔎Probable Loopholes I see as a PM: • SMS Gateway Leak → Banks rely on 3rd-party SMS providers. If OTPs leak there, fraud is inevitable. • Excessive 3rd-Party Access → Outsourced vendors (like BPOs) sometimes get full database access. That’s a massive risk. • Weak Fraud Detection → Same High-value, unusual card-to-MFS transfers aren’t flagged in real time. ✅Possible Solutions (Tech + Product): • Shift from sms based OTP → adopt stronger MFA (biometric, facial recognition, in-app approvals). • AI/ML fraud models → detect similar transaction predict as scam alert in real-time and block suspicious transactions. • Fraud scoring system → device, location & transaction velocity checks before approval. • Joint monitoring frameworks → Bank + MFS + Telco working in sync. • Access governance → limit & audit vendor access instead of full DB exposure. ❇️But It is evident that these fraud incidents may involve internal collusion- whether through bank employees, OTP gateway providers, or outsourced BPO companies. In such cases, the bank must acknowledge the issue and take full responsibility, rather than denying accountability. 💡Digital finance adoption is growing — but without security & trust, growth won’t sustain. As PMs, our role isn’t just building features. It’s safeguarding user trust at every touchpoint.

Transforming Trade Finance with Advanced OCR and Agentic AI Trade finance is plagued by document-heavy processes, manual scrutiny, and compliance bottlenecks. Banks and financial institutions struggle to verify documents efficiently while ensuring regulatory compliance. This is where Advanced OCR and Agentic AI step in to revolutionize document scrutiny at scale. 🔍 Advanced Optical Character Recognition, extracts structured and unstructured data from invoices, bills of lading, letters of credit, and other trade documents with high accuracy, even when dealing with handwritten notes, stamps, or low-quality scans. 🤖 Agentic AI takes it further by: ✅ Contextually analyzing extracted data to detect inconsistencies, fraud, and regulatory breaches ✅ Automating compliance checks against global trade sanctions and AML regulations ✅ Seamlessly integrating with existing trade finance platforms for real-time decision-making By combining OCR and Agentic AI, banks can significantly reduce processing times, mitigate trade-based money laundering risks, and enhance operational efficiency—unlocking faster, safer, and more scalable trade finance. The future of trade finance is autonomous, intelligent, and risk-aware. Are you ready to embrace it? 🚀 #TradeFinance #AI #OCR #Automation #BankingInnovation #Fintech

Banks have a narrow window to establish themselves as trustworthy players before purely digital, agent-native competitors emerge. Success won't belong to institutions that simply optimise for seamless interactions, but to those that solve the harder problem: maintaining trust when "no human made the decision."  Whilst we appear to be solving for frictionless banking while accelerating 'delegated responsibility without accountability.' The more seamless AI agents become, the thinner our threshold for questioning them grows. This isn't just a compliance issue; I believe there is a whole new risk category. Your AI agent thinks it's optimising perfectly, but it doesn't understand that your customer's 'emergency fund' is actually their psychological security blanket. Technical success is experiential failure. Welcome to the trust chasm, where culture matters. As banking enters the age of autonomous agents that negotiate, decide, and execute without human oversight, we face a paradox: the more perfect the automation, the more opaque the accountability. These aren't chatbots, they're autonomous entities with verified digital wallets making novel financial decisions that weren't explicitly programmed. explored at length ... Collaboration with Karen Elliott Gam Dias and Ammar Younas

𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐔𝐏𝐈. 😇 UPI just crossed 20 billion monthly transactions. Amazing 🤩… then why so much cash ? 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. In countries like 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗻, 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸, cash has almost vanished from daily life. Even in traditionally cash-loving economies like 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 and 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮, digital adoption is rising. The direction is clear , less cash, more digital. On one hand, we proudly showcases its digital revolution through 𝗨𝗣𝗜, which processed nearly 𝟮𝟬 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 alone, setting global benchmarks for real-time payments. From large malls to roadside chaiwalas, QR codes have become a daily habit. 𝐘𝐞𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 🔶 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 has jumped to around ₹38.1 lakh crore as of early May 2025. https://lnkd.in/e7sEXsvU 🔶 In 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀, 𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀, cash continues to dominate—often linked to 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. So, while we are the 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, we are also one of the 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐱? 💡 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗽: People see digital as convenient, but still keep cash as “real money.” 💡 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆: A large share of GDP operates outside formal channels. 💡 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀: “Digital India” is showcased abroad, but cash fuels elections and shadow wealth at home. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 👉 Are we truly serious about reducing cash, or it will keep increasing over time? 👉 Can India ever curb the use of cash in 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀? 👉 If cash keeps growing, can we ever be real adopters of 𝗖𝗕𝗗𝗖 (𝗲₹), or will it remain symbolic while cash rules on the ground? India today is both 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 and 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥. The future depends on whether we resolve this contradiction, or continue living with a twisted picture of progress. #DigitalIndia #UPI #Payments #Fintech #CBDC #CashlessEconomy #FinancialInclusion

Headline: 💥 Trust in Banking Under Fire: Capital One Faces Dual Crises 💥 Capital One The banking industry thrives on trust, but recent events at Capital One highlight just how fragile that trust can be. A $2 billion lawsuit alleging customer exploitation, followed by widespread deposit outages, paints a troubling picture for consumers and regulators alike. These two crises may seem unrelated, but they share a common thread: the erosion of transparency and accountability. In my latest article, I explore the parallels between these events, their impact on customer confidence, and what they mean for the future of banking. 🚨 Why it matters: Hidden fees? Missed deposits? These are more than operational failures—they’re breaches of trust. Both issues underscore the urgent need for stronger consumer protections and operational resilience in the financial sector. 🔗 Read the full article here: [Insert Link] Let's start a conversation! How can banks rebuild trust in times like this? What role do transparency and robust systems play in regaining customer confidence? #Banking #CapitalOne #TrustIssues #FinancialIndustry #ConsumerProtection #Transparency #OperationalResilience

Can we have this conversation? Nigerians don’t necessarily have a problem with access to payment solutions, but trust in the system. Think about it. Why do businesses still prefer cash despite having multiple digital payment options? Why do people transfer money and still call to confirm “you don see am?” The real issue isn’t the number of fintech solutions, it’s that trust in digital payments remains fragile. Here are some things that keep digital payments from reaching their full potential: 1. Failed Transactions, No Reversals – Ever sent money, and it vanished into thin air? Banks say “wait 24-48 hours,” but for many small businesses, that delay is a deal-breaker. 2. Fraud & Scams – From fake alerts to unauthorized deductions, people feel safer holding cash than trusting digital platforms that don’t guarantee protection. 3. Unreliable Infrastructure – POS networks go down, USSD stops working, and mobile apps freeze at peak hours. If businesses can’t trust the system to work 24/7, they won’t fully embrace it. 4. Hidden Charges & Fees – Customers don’t just want a payment method; they want a transparent one. Confusing fees make people hesitant to adopt digital payments fully. Fixing the Trust Problem: What Fintechs Can  Do Work Towards Instant Refunds People will trust digital payments when failed transactions are reversed immediately, not in 5-7 working days. Prioritize Security & Consumer Protection Build fraud-resistant systems. Integrate real-time alerts for suspicious transactions. If people feel protected, they’ll transact more confidently. Improve Payment Reliability No more “network issues.” Payment platforms must guarantee uptime and have backup systems to prevent downtime. Communicate Fees Clearly Transparent pricing builds loyalty. No one likes surprise deductions. If fintechs want mass adoption, honesty in pricing is non-negotiable. A truly cashless Nigeria won’t happen because of new fintech apps; it’ll happen when people trust that payments will work smoothly, every time. #DigitalPayments #FinancialInclusion #OlaDaramola

Trust in the Age of Algorithms At the core of every stable society lies trust — in money, in information, and in one another. Money works because we trust it isn’t counterfeit. Democracy works because we trust that information is real and that the voices we hear belong to humans, not machines. But that foundation is eroding. Counterfeit currency once threatened economies; now, counterfeit people threaten truth itself. Artificial voices and algorithmic opinions — crafted to mimic humanity — infiltrate public discourse, shaping belief without accountability. It should be illegal for any nonhuman entity to pass itself off as human. Democracies must defend the integrity of dialogue by banning bots, AI, and algorithms from participating in human discussions without clear disclosure. In the digital world, as in finance, trust is the currency that sustains everything. If we allow it to be devalued, we risk losing not just truth — but the very possibility of collective understanding.

Most people think financial infrastructure has caught up to the rest of technology. It hasn't. Here’s the current flow of funds on a marketplace: A buyer's card is charged instantly to purchase a seller’s product, and the seller waits 3-5 days to get their money. This makes no sense given the state of financial technology and the advent of stablecoins. Building payment systems has taught me that the feedback loop of consumers spending money and sellers getting paid instantly is the biggest trust signal in digital commerce. Marketplaces make a mistake thinking slow payouts help retention. The exact opposite is true. If you make it super, super easy to withdraw, the feeling of security and the ability to withdraw faster will actually get you more sellers. Sellers vote with their wallets, so you can bet they'll choose platforms that respect their time and their money. The question isn't "should we offer instant payouts?" It's "how long until we’re the last man standing?" The businesses that win in the next 5 years will be those who built operational trust. Instant payout = credibility = greater trust.

Banks are sleepwalking into a synthetic fraud crisis. Still asking customers to “say their name” to verify identity— while AI can clone that voice in seconds. Sam Altman just said it plainly: “AI has fully defeated that.” And yet, voiceprints remain part of critical financial infrastructure. It’s not just outdated. It’s dangerous. We’re watching the collapse of digital trust in real time: → Deepfaked executives authorizing multi-million dollar transfers → Synthetic children calling parents in fake emergencies → Political leaders cloned to destabilize entire nations This isn’t science fiction. It’s billions in losses—and we’re only seeing the tip. Voice? Broken. Passwords? Bypassed. Video? On the edge of indistinguishable. Digital identity needs a total reboot. Here’s how banks must respond: → Kill voiceprint authentication now → Layer MFA with behavioral biometrics and hardware tokens → Deploy AI to detect AI—deepfakes, voice clones, visual manipulation → Build cross-sector alliances—CyberTech, FinTech, regulators → Make AI scam education part of onboarding and ops → Explore self-sovereign identity and verifiable credentials on blockchain This is bigger than fraud. We’re entering a post-truth economy, where reality is easily manufactured and identity is your most valuable currency. The question is no longer how we authenticate users— but how we rebuild trust in a world where nothing can be trusted.