The Book
Digital Street murky financial dealings with huge effects
A single house stolen through title fraud, is a personal tragedy.
Thousands of UK homes appropriated by international terrorists, would be a national disaster.
It’s 2030, and the UK has followed Donald Trump’s America in backing crypto and blockchain companies to the hilt. The UK government’s initiative to digitalise the Land Registry has been transformative and houses are now transacted in minutes rather than months by using blockchain technology and smart contracts that automatically update the Land Register.
However, the mastermind behind a small equity-release mortgage company has hacked the system and large swathes of the UK housing market are now unable to be sold. It is revealed that criminals, drug lords and international terrorists now own parts of country’s housing stock. As a result, the economy grinds to a halt, the equity market collapses and those people unable to sell their homes face financial Armageddon, with horrifying consequences.
But all it not what it seems …
Digital Street thrusts Kate Bishop into a maelstrom of political intrigue and personal turmoil.
As her husband, Richard, vies for the Prime Minister’s seat, Kate’s life unravels when her job as a private banker intertwines with a sinister plot against the British government,
orchestrated by her vengeful Russian client. With her family’s safety in jeopardy, Kate must
navigate dangerous waters. But can she risk everything to prove her innocence while
protecting those she loves?
The Story Behind The Book
Neil explains: “Blockchain technology is playing an increasingly important role in the world of real estate transactions. Used properly, it will transform the way people record and verify property ownership. However, like all innovations in the financial sector, if an idea is abused or pushed too far, the results can be catastrophic.”
Neil continues: “There is an analogy here with the global financial crisis in 2009. The original purpose of mortgage-backed securities had been to redistribute risk associated with home mortgage lending. The slicing of the risks (from virtually zero-chance of default to higher levels of default) allowed the market to efficiently allocate risks around the global financial market place. This worked and was a laudable concept. However, by the time we got to the early-mid-2000s, the game had changed completely. At that point, they were being used to conceal risk by wrapping the mortgages up in evermore complicated structures. The result was mortgage-backed securities that were purportedly low-risk were anything but. They were blatantly mis-sold, they were very high risk and their subsequent collapse was a major contributing factor to the GFC. My point is that, whenever the industry witness’s innovation, it is beholden upon regulators to monitor the situation very carefully.”
The Author
Neil Turner began his investment career in the mid-1990s and has worked at various fund management firms in London and Frankfurt. He is both a Chartered Surveyor and Chartered Financial Analyst. Since retiring in 2016, he has focused on writing fiction. Digital Street is his third financial thriller, following Pass the Parcel (2021) and The Alpha Portfolio(2023). www.neilturnerauthor.co.uk
RELEASE DATE: 28/03/2025 ISBN: 9781835741689 Price: £9.99