The most interesting currency news of 2016
By James Allum on December 29th, 2016 in Editorial

It’s not all doom and gloom however; 2016 also saw London declared the fintech capital of the world, and consumers being given more choice and access to better rates than ever before thanks to a surge in financial technological innovations.
So lean back, relax, and relive some of the biggest FX, small business and currency news of the past year – before we launch ourselves into the next one.
In May we released our spoof FXgate video, highlighting preferential treatment given to wealthy customers by banks…
Oh dear, what has the government been up to? #FXGate https://t.co/ZeJpjxigDC
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 16 May 2016
… and, later that month, it was revealed that Lloyds bank had been giving preferential treatment to its wealthy customers, not to mention saddling those they deemed ‘less sophisticated’ with hidden fees .
Read this blog post for our take on Lloyds’ hidden #FX fees, and why #p2p is better https://t.co/4EKvS2Nhjy pic.twitter.com/JHZxCm19oz
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 10 May 2016
Also that month, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry encased a load of money in a giant phallus for his Channel 4 series All Man, clearly referencing the testosterone-driven greed causing banks to stiff(!) SMEs on currency exchanges.
Admire Grayson Perry’s penis, but sad to see all that currency trapped inside, screaming to be exchanged at 0.2% pic.twitter.com/vboNAfqJCL
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 20 May 2016
Our chairman Rich Ricci wrote a rousing piece in City A.M on the rise of fintech companies and the threat they pose to traditional banking services.
.@CityAM op-ed by our chairman Rich Ricci: #fintech is causing a fundamental shift in financial services https://t.co/BRNafgbbN2 #disruptive
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 26 May 2016
In June, we celebrated this beautiful, pixelated Norwegian currency due for release in 2017…
#Currency of the Day: Norwegian krone! Check out their stunningly abstract pixelated banknotes due for 2017 release pic.twitter.com/ksjn9HZ3B5
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 10 June 2016
… by contacting Norway’s national bank to congratulate them with a portrait we’d made of King Harald.
.@NorgesBank big fans of the upcoming kroner! Please accept our King Harald V portrait as a token of our admiration pic.twitter.com/BEOv602Rez
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 10 June 2016
In the run-up to Brexit, our spoof FXgate campaign highlighted the blurred lines between fact and fiction in the referendum debate when a surprising number of people took it seriously.
Our spoof government corruption video sparked debate about the EU from people who thought it was real. #EUreferendum https://t.co/IGcnO3fk9F
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 23 June 2016
In August, Nigeria’s football team were late for the Olympics because of FX complications related to buying their plane tickets:
Should’ve used freemarketFX – we guarantee zero “logistical mix-ups” in your #currency exchange https://t.co/ryGbku7uD9
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 3 August 2016
Later that month, it was announced that ramen had overtaken tobacco as the most popular currency in US prisons.
#Ramen has overtaken #tobacco as the most valuable US #prison #currency https://t.co/gkXwuhAQEd
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 24 August 2016
In September, a study by Capital Economics revealed that SMEs were losing £4.1bn to banks in hidden fees – news that was surprising only in terms of its sheer scale and the brazenness with which small businesses were being exploited.
#SMEs are losing billions to banks in their currency exchanges – without even realising it https://t.co/3iJRmqlLQn #smallbiz #smallbusiness
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 13 September 2016
And BBC’s John Humphrys went beserk, attempting to annihilate the new five pound note with his mouth:
Watch #r4today‘s John Humphrys trying to destroy the new £5 polymer banknote https://t.co/3RRb2dyq6e #fiver
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 14 September 2016
Chess grandmaster and renowned economist Ken Rogoff published a book about removing large banknotes from circulation to fight crime.
Read about a surprisingly simple #currency-based solution to #crime, #corruption and #exploitation https://t.co/XmuTiX9Roj
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 23 September 2016
An intriguing concept object was proposed as a means of making digital payments.
This strange device wants to make digital currency transactions tangible https://t.co/t7WQq8vMXV #bitcoin #cryptocurrency #fintech
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 26 September 2016
Organised criminals were revealed to be using art as currency in illicit transactions, raising questions about the intrinsic value of culture and instant noodles.
Criminals use #art as #currency in drug deals, and ramen as currency in prison. How many noodles for a #VanGogh? https://t.co/JcsrZSuKWZ
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 3 October 2016
In news that sounds like the plot of a latter day Jackie Chan adventure, an ancient Chinese sculpture was found to be hiding a currency secret in its brain.
Rare Ming dynasty banknote found hidden in cranial cavity of ancient Chinese sculpture!https://t.co/uvDiJEUypg
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 26 October 2016
People started to discover that the new fiver had some rather strange alternative uses…
Turns out you can use the UK’s new #fiver to play #vinyl records!https://t.co/Yf8mHceLai
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 29 October 2016
The US election resulted in some exciting currency volatility, and some cheeky topical gifs from us:
#Election2016 #FaceXchange! Here’s a #GIF contrasting how #Trump sees himself (a C15th king) with how he actually is (bloated, orange) pic.twitter.com/Mq57oQadks
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 8 November 2016
#Election2016 #FaceXchange! See girl on Yugoslavia’s 10k dinar note turn into much older #Hillary #Clinton, like Hillary did during campaign pic.twitter.com/e4JoZRVPZ9
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 8 November 2016
A survey revealed that over 50% of banking customers were turning to fintech startups for their financial services, underlining the fact that consumers are seeing tech platforms as an ever more viable competitor to large, unwieldy banks.
“More than half of all banking customers have turned to #fintech startups” https://t.co/DmyQoum5r4 via @Finextra #SME #SmallBusiness pic.twitter.com/j9qQnxnxkH
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 11 November 2016
The possibility arose that Sweden could be the first country to launch a national digital currency.
Sweden’s Riksbank could be first central bank to issue national digital #currency https://t.co/2Heqrd3IzF #fintech #cryptocurrency #banking
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 17 November 2016
India’s PM Modi made the shock November announcement that the vast majority of his country’s cash would become unspendable, causing large-scale panic.
What happens when a country is told 86% of all its #currency will soon be worthless? https://t.co/fvOCcT5ewa #blackmoney #corruption #India pic.twitter.com/9sFG4AIcsn
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 18 November 2016
Uproar followed the discovery that the new five pound note contained a bit of meaty tallow. Later, the Bank of England announced they would be looking for vegetarian-friendly ways to manufacture the denomination.
Vegetarians!! Stop eating your £5 notes! https://t.co/x26krrxLXp #vegetarian #vegan #fiver
— freemarket (@freemarketfx) 29 November 2016
We look forward to bringing you the most fascinating and vital currency news of 2017. Happy new year!