Welcome back to Fintech Takes. Listeners may remember my first audiobook experiment…well, we’re back, by popular demand! 

In our second ever Fintech Takes audiobook podcast episode, I take on the subject I can’t stop writing, thinking, and podcasting about (if you know, you know): gambling.

In March, I published my deep dive essay on The Biggest Threat to Consumers’ Financial Health, which is gambling. In the piece, I also explored how the rise of what I’ve previously called Speculation-as-a-Service poses a direct threat to banks, credit unions, and consumer-facing fintechs.

By August, the landscape had only accelerated. That’s when I wrote The War That Banks Don’t Know They’re Fighting, a short piece responding to the industry’s shoulder-shrugging (even as Robinhood, Coinbase, DraftKings, and others kept doubling down).

If you haven’t read the essays, you’ll hear both, start to finish (featuring stats you can’t ignore and fintech CEOs sounding more like bookies than bankers).

Plus, fresh updates on what Robinhood, Coinbase, and others are up to now, and what those moves tell us about the future of consumer finance. 

Gambling may be “winning” in the moment, but long-term, financial health is the better business to be in.

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