1. Tell me a bit about yourself, your background, and how you got into fintech and payments journalism.

“If I had to describe myself in one word, it would probably be continuity. I tend to hold on to a small number of core values and follow them consistently, without forcing things, but with patience and curiosity. I believe the journey should also bring pleasure, reflection, and learning, not just endurance or sacrifice.

My main ‘north stars’ are quite simple:

• Being true to oneself – striving for authenticity, truth, and genuine connection
• Belief in the power of words – language and communication can genuinely shape the world
• Finding meaning – in spirituality, family, and human connection, which keep life vivid and grounded.

With this mindset, journalism felt like a natural path. What was less obvious, even to me, was how payments entered the picture.

The entry point was quite pragmatic: I interviewed at The Paypers, didn’t get the role the first time, and was later hired after a second interview. That experience taught me persistence, but at that stage, payments themselves were not yet a passion.

What changed came after I joined. Initially, I assumed payments were simple: tap a card, move money, done. But working daily with banks, fintechs, regulators, and infrastructure providers revealed something very different. Finance, and especially payments, turned out to be a complex system of invisible plumbing: technical, regulatory, behavioural, philosophical, and even anthropological.

Only then did I realise that payments are not just about transactions; they are about trust, access, power, inclusion, and how societies function. That realisation didn’t come at the interview stage; it emerged through the work itself.

Of course, I could have imagined myself covering sports, arts, nutrition, or literature. But payments touch all of those worlds. Whether it’s wearables enabling runners to pay mid-run, or Bitcoin opening discussions about money, privacy, and access, finance turns out to be deeply human. That’s what keeps me here … and curious.”

2. When you say “signal beneath the noise,” what are the clearest signals you’re watching right now in payments or digital finance that most people are missing?

“The clearest signal in digital finance right now is the urgent need for a robust digital identity layer. Most people are missing that the current system is a ‘mess’ inherited from Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, which was never designed for secure, global transactions.

A secure digital identity infrastructure isn’t just about smooth payments; it’s the foundational fix for some fraud issues. Once we solve for trusted, verifiable identity, whether through Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) models or verifiable credentials, payments will become:

•  Frictionless: Onboarding users will be faster and less invasive.
• Safe: Fraud rates will plummet because true identity can be confirmed instantly.

The core signal to watch is the shift from centralized, data-hoarding identity systems to user-controlled, decentralized identity solutions. That’s the real infrastructure play that will unlock the safe future of payments, regardless of the underlying currency.”

3. What’s a narrative in fintech or crypto that gets disproportionate attention, and what deserves more focus instead?

“I believe the crypto industry focuses disproportionately on the benefits of speed, low cost, and transparency while largely neglecting the critical narratives of governance, fraud prevention, and regulation. While blockchain analytics provide some level of transparency, criminals are increasingly exploiting ‘blind spots’ at the intersection of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).

For example, a recent DataVisor webinar highlighted sophisticated schemes where illicit actors use legitimate bank accounts to fund crypto wallets and then leverage techniques like:

• ACH Kiting: Exploiting settlement delays to move non-existent funds.
• ATO (Account Takeover) at Off-ramps: Stealing user credentials to withdraw crypto into fiat.
• Chain Hopping: Rapidly moving assets across multiple blockchains to break the tracing trail.
• Incentive Farming: Gaming DeFi reward systems through coordinated bot activity.

Even with advanced tracking, criminals are successfully mixing social engineering with complex cross-chain maneuvers. The industry needs to pivot its focus toward these operational gaps if it wants to build true, long-term trust.”

4. Why have payments and financial infrastructure become so central to crypto and real-world adoption?

“Payments should do more than oil the global economy. They need to be accessible, affordable, transparent, inclusive, and increasingly sustainable.

Technologies such as blockchain, stablecoins, programmability, and tokenisation may be part of the solution for a new financial system, but they are not universally applicable. There are simply too many variables at play: regulation, culture, geopolitics, financial literacy, and public trust.

This complexity was clearly visible at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, where leaders spoke openly about the ongoing paradigm shifts:

• AI reshaping jobs, education, and entire economies
• Stablecoins and tokenisation entering mainstream financial agendas
• African economies highlighting how digital assets support inclusion and inflation control
• Emerging countries’ governments encouraged to experiment with sovereign data and open-source AI
• Climate commitments, such as China’s carbon neutrality pledge by 2060
• Predictions of AI surpassing human intelligence within this decade

At the same time, we’re still talking about wars, fragmentation, and inequality. That contrast is striking.

To me, two things are essential if financial innovation is to work:

1. A solid digital identity and trust layer, without this, no digital infrastructure can scale safely.
   
2. Authentic, curious dialogue, between public and private sectors, technologists and policymakers, experts and citizens.

Too often, stakeholders speak different languages or hesitate to ask ‘basic’ questions. Explaining what a stablecoin, wallet, or blockchain actually is should not be taboo. Real user stories, especially about fraud, exclusion, or failure, matter as much as technical whitepapers.

Innovation is also not just about speed. Someone once said: for cars to go faster, they need better brakes. Finance is similar. Sometimes we must slow down, reflect, and ensure technology serves people, not the other way around.

When the problem is clearly defined, solutions become clearer

That brings me back to my original values:

• Authenticity and truth
• The power of language
• Meaning through connection.

At The Paypers, my role is to apply these consistently: helping our audience follow how money moves, understand why it matters, and distinguish signal from noise in a world full of complexity.

Because words shape understanding. And payments, at their core, shape society.”

5. When founders or companies approach you today, what instantly signals credibility, and what raises red flags?

“Credibility is signalled by a relentless focus on problem-solving rather than feature-praising. I look for founders who lead with tangible case studies, specific examples of how their solution has empowered a community or optimized a partner’s business.

Red flags often appear in the form of ‘superlative traps.’ When a founder claims their solution is the ‘fastest,’ ‘cheapest,’ or ‘best’ (the -est trap) without backing it up with data, it signals a lack of depth. Furthermore, I am cautious when a company is in ‘perpetual fundraising mode.’ If their primary goal is to satisfy investors or chase the next round, they often lose sight of the end consumer and the actual product-market fit. I prioritize founders who are product-passionate over those who are merely PR-driven.”

6. What’s one question you wish more founders asked themselves before pitching a payments or crypto story?

“I wish more founders would ask themselves: ‘Why should people care?’ Founders need to look beyond making life just ‘easier’ and focus on creating meaningful impact. This means demonstrating how their solution adds genuine value to the user’s community and the environment. We live in a time where people are increasingly disconnected from the consequences of our digital world on the physical one. True innovation in fintech should address this degradation, offering solutions that give back rather than just take more.”