Carlos Francisco

Today at @tradefinglobal Geneva I'm on the panel asking whether bitcoin can finance the metals trade. My answer is no. But blockchain can make the trade itself easier to finance. If you're there, the FinkaMetals booth is open all day.

Last month in London we presented FinkaMetals for the first time. One shared view of the concentrate trade, from mine to offtake. Tomorrow I’m in Geneva to make the case to trade finance.

On Thursday I'm on the digital assets panel at @tradefinglobal Geneva. My view: bitcoin won't finance the metals trade. Dollar stablecoins might settle part of it. But first, the trade needs a record every party can trust. FinkaMetals will have a booth there. Come by if you want to see how it works.

We presented FinkaMetals in London during LME Week. Here's what we heard from the people who run the concentrate trade every day. The reception from miners and traders was very positive. Three things stood out. 1. Traceability isn't just for end buyers. Companies want it for their own internal processes. Which lot. Which assay. Which version of the contract. Who changed what, and when. In concentrate, that information is spread across emails, PDFs and spreadsheets. One shared record helps everyone, starting with the company itself. 2. Trade finance banks are paying attention. Some of the strongest interest came from outside the buy and sell side. Banks that finance the trade need verified data they can rely on. A signed record of lots, assays and contracts gives them that. 3. Data protection comes first. Everyone asked the same question: who sees my data? Our answer starts with the law. We are bound by the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection and by our client terms to use data only for the purpose we state: running the platform and meeting compliance obligations. We can't widen that without explicit consent. Data is never sold or passed to third parties. Each client's data is walled off. Lots, bids and contracts are signed on a Swiss blockchain, so any change shows up. Only a fingerprint of each record goes on-chain, never the data itself. Thank you to everyone who made time for us in London. The event recap is coming next week. Want a walkthrough? Send me a DM.

State capital is backing projects private money won't. The structures that work keep pricing transparent and know exactly where the metal goes.

One lot. Three labs. Three assay results. And payment waits until they agree. There's a better way to run that process.

The price is rarely the problem in a concentrate deal. The problems are the assay disputes, the late penalty findings and the capital locked between loading and final settlement.

Copper has the LME. Concentrate has emails, PDFs and assay disputes. From the @ftlive FT Metals & Mining Summit: the price-discovery gap is a valuation gap.

Joined the Dealmaking 2026 panel at the @ftlive Metals & Mining Summit in London today. My takeaway: every mining deal is ultimately a bet on the offtake. In metals without transparent pricing, the price-discovery gap is a valuation gap. Thanks Alex Hamer and fellow panellists.

Metals concentrate trading still runs on email, PDFs, and Excel, the same as 25 years ago. I spoke with @LaRazon_Bolivia about bringing it into 2026 larazon.bo/energias-negocios…

One week to the FT Metals & Mining Summit, then straight into LME Week. Two weeks in London with the metals industry. If you'd like to meet, my DMs are open.

Next week I'm speaking at the FT Metals & Mining Summit in London. Dealmaking 2026 panel, Thu 15 Oct, 10:50 BST, The Landmark. Looking forward to the discussion. If you're there, let me know. mining.live.ft.com/home

FinkaMetals in the news Presenting our platform in Bolivia, from tender to payment. Interview below

We're heading to LME Week — and for the first time, we're opening early access to FinkaMetals during the event. If you're attending, this is your chance to see the platform live: how it removes operational bottlenecks, gives you full lifecycle visibility, and connects the moving parts that slow concentrate trading down. Come find us: finkametals.com/

We'll be in London for #LMEWeek, 19–23 October, ahead of the launch of the FinkaMetals institutional platform for end-to-end metals concentrate trading. Trading, financing or refining concentrates? Let's meet. finkametals.com

A new chapter for FinkaMetals is close. Metals trading is changing — and we've built a platform that brings the entire trading lifecycle into one connected environment, instead of the fragmented handoffs the trade runs on today. Launch is around the corner. Be among the first to test it: finkametals.com/