About
Alexander Webb is a writer, finance researcher, and lecturer working across journalism, financial markets, technology, and ideas.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, National Geographic, Business Insider, and Investopedia. He holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Wollongong, where he has taught FinTech, and his academic research has been published in The Journal of Futures Markets, Finance Research Letters, Financial Innovation, and other journals.
He has been shortlisted three times for the Financial Times/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize (since renamed the Bracken Prize).
Selected Writing
The New York Times
You Could Die Today. Here’s How to Reduce That Risk
An evidence-based look at everyday mortality risk and how people can reduce it.
The Difference Between Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents
A look at the major forms of intellectual property protection.
WIRED
How to Promote Your Music Online
How musicians can build audiences and navigate an increasingly digital music industry.
Business Insider
3 Steps to Start Building Your Own Retirement Plan
A practical framework for thinking about saving, investing, and retirement.
GoPoint Ventures
Synthetic Data, Real Insights
On synthetic data and its growing role in enterprise software and artificial intelligence.
Investing in the Age of National Security
How geopolitics and national-security priorities are reshaping startup investment.
Alexander has also written for National Geographic, including authoring a special issue with a six-figure initial print run.
Books
Shock Markets: Trading Lessons for Volatile Times
Financial Times Press — co-author
Published in Chinese translation as 交易真规则: 黑天鹅时刻的七种逆袭.
The Civil War: A Traveler’s Guide
National Geographic — contributing writer (~40,000 words)
The Zika Prevention Handbook
Skyhorse — author
Research & Teaching
Alexander completed a PhD in Finance at the University of Wollongong in 2025.
His dissertation, Trust: Four Studies on Innovation, Risk, and Market Dynamics in Decentralized Finance, examined trust and asset valuation in crises, cryptocurrency markets, financial innovation, market structure, and risk.
He has taught or tutored multiple FinTech classes at the University of Wollongong, in both Sydney and Wollongong.
Selected Academic Research
Financial contagion in cryptocurrency exchanges: Evidence from the FTT collapse
Finance Research Letters, 2024
with Luca Galati and Robert Webb
Market behaviors around bankruptcy and frozen funds withdrawal: Trading stranded assets on FTX
Journal of Economics and Business, 2024
with Luca Galati and Robert Webb
Intelligent design: Stablecoins (in)stability and collateral during market turbulence
Financial Innovation, 2023
with Riccardo De Blasis, Luca Galati, and Robert I. Webb
Arbitrage, contract design, and market structure in Bitcoin futures markets
The Journal of Futures Markets, 2022
with Riccardo De Blasis
Liquidity of Futures Markets Over the Last Quarter of a Century: Technology & Market Structure Versus Economic Influences
Applied Finance Letters, 2022
with Alex Frino and Luca Galati
Awards
Alexander was shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize in 2015, 2016, and 2020.
Original Concepts:
The Quiet CV: A workbook and writing exercise to help people reclaim their inner value by rewriting their resume or CV.
Symbols vs. Sources: A framework for understanding what humans desire, versus what brings them happiness.
Contemporary Time Travel: Seeking out places and pockets of culture that represent different eras.
get in touch: alex (at) alxndrwbb.com