Writes Rafi A. (L6ths)
Last Thursday marked the fourth edition of the Lower Sixth Lecture Series, where the School welcomed back OMT Varun Paul for an exciting look at fintech, digital assets, and the future of money.
Drawing on his high-level experience in central banking and finance, he shared insights into the potential of blockchain technology. His talk gave us a look into a fast-changing financial world, highlighting the shift toward digital currencies that will soon transform how we all spend, save, and invest.
To open the lecture, Varun grounded the discussion in financial history by examining the real, physical value of money over time. As an engaging example, he posed a question tailored to the School’s heritage: what an investment of £20 (made back in 1561 during the school’s founding year) would translate to in today’s economy when factoring in interest over time. While the final number is an incredibly large sum on paper today, he explained that inflation and compound interest must be factored in to understand true purchasing power, showing us that currency is always changing.
The latter part of the talk shifted focus toward modern technological infrastructure, emphasising the importance of blockchains and tokenisation. Varun explained how converting physical assets into secure digital tokens changes old ideas about our trade efficiency and ownership. By connecting these new digital systems to how modern markets operate, he showed how these are transitioning us into the next generation of finance.
We are incredibly grateful to Varun for returning to the School and taking the time to share his expertise. It is always great to see the different success of OMTs across the professional world, which is especially useful to us as Lower Sixths as we start to explore different sectors such as the financial one.
