Hello and welcome to Protocol Fintech. This Friday: Affirm stress test, Coinbase participates in polls and his NFT of top brands.
off the chains
Coinbase does not want its employees to discuss politics at work. But we want our customers to go vote. “Here at Coinbase, we don’t regularly talk about politics, but we’ve always said we get involved in the political process in moments that are relevant to our mission to increase economic freedom in the world,” said Chief Policy Officer Faryar. Shirzad writes. In a blog post about new voter education initiatives. With more crypto-friendly candidates running for office in 2022, Coinbase and others hope to scale and possibly change the tone of his blockchain caucus in Congress. This could be an uphill battle as some crypto-friendly candidates like Michelle Bond of the Association for Digital Asset Markets have failed to make it through the primaries.
— Owen Thomas (e-mail | | twitter)
Affirm stress test
It confirmed that it had terrorized Wall Street with its bleak outlook, confirming what many already suspected. CEO Max Levchin said the “buy now, pay later” company is seeing “early signs of consumer stress.” It is likely to continue and possibly even worse.
This is an important test for Affirm and for new payment methods. Levchin still argues that “buy now, pay later” is a better financing option for consumers, especially during a crisis, but his team has found it to be “significantly more stressful.” Pay close attention to the “signs of being unwell”.
“We are going to be cautious” Levchin said on Affirm’s earnings call: The company reported a weak earnings outlook as its stock price plunged late Thursday.
- Affirm said it expects revenue for the quarter to be between $345 million and $365 million. That’s well below Wall Street’s estimate of his $386 million. Affirm shares fell more than 20% Friday morning.
- Analyst Alex Johnson, author of the Fintech Takes newsletter, told Protocol: Other companies like Affirm and Shopify misunderstood the “pandemic surge in e-commerce” by “assuming it to be a more permanent leap,” he said.
- And the market slump, characterized by inflation, rising interest rates and layoffs, is clearly hurting consumers. Levchin said the economy “is likely in the early stages of a recession.” “It’s too early to tell how serious it is and how long it will last.”
Is “buy now, pay later” good for stressed consumers? Critics warn that short-term payment plans could lead to unhealthy increases in consumer debt.
- Levchin said Affirm is closely monitoring the data for signs of trouble. Affirm has scrutinized the data closely.
- One example of a “canary in the coal mine” is an early delinquency where a consumer basically says, “Look, I’m a little short right now, but I’ll be back in a little while.” It was supposed to be ‘”
- “If we see deterioration, we will take further action,” Chief Financial Officer Michael Linford told analysts.Levchin said these ‘levers’ included ‘tightening’ [loan] Request a down payment and request incremental income information. ”
Despite the murky road, Levchin is still a firm believer in “buy now, pay later.” Hard times are creating more challenges, but this may be your best opportunity to shine.
— Benjamin Pimentel (e-mail | | twitter)
Upwork Sponsored Content
Why on-demand talent is exactly what businesses need right now: If you think the rise of remote work, independent contractors, and agency workers has skyrocketed during the pandemic, wait until the next few months when you’ll see an increase in the on-demand talent economy.
Read more about Upwork
on the money
FTX has acquired Alameda Research’s venture capital business. The change was underway at the two companies founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, whose co-CEO Sam Trabucco announced Wednesday he was stepping down.
According to the company, there are now more Visa tokens than cards. The company’s chief product officer told Reuters that Visa has issued more than 4 billion tokens for digital payments such as Apple Pay.
Real estate startup Reali has shut down. The company, which offers a “buy before sell” product, said a combination of a difficult real estate market and a slow funding environment led to the decision.The company raised $100 million about a year ago.
CBOE has a long list of partners in the crypto business. The options exchange is working on crypto products with a list of financial firms that include market makers DRW, Jane Street and Virtu Financial.
NFTs are increasingly targeted by scammers. Elliptic reports that over 4,600 NFTs were stolen in July. This was the highest number ever since Elliptic began tracking data for him in 2017.
heard
Few traditional payment options for cannabis businesses bespoke financialof backers believe that “buy now, pay later” services in this space will be more profitable. get it? It’s a marijuana joke. anyway, Casa Verde Capitalof Karan WadelaThe people behind Bespoke don’t worry about competition. “We don’t see Affirm or Klarna, and we don’t see Apple entering our space anytime soon.”
previous SEC Chair Jay Clayton I wish Washington and cryptocurrencies got along: “Each group fears that by giving in to the other group, innocent victims will suffer losses and investors will miss out on opportunities that will cost them billions of dollars. In the environment, consensus is elusive.”
chart
The NFT market, which exploded in 2021, is now estimated to be worth around $19 billion, even after the frenzy subsides. While the world of NFTs initially focused on quirky digital art collections such as CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club, major companies are embracing the trend as a way to strengthen their brands while generating meaningful revenue. Below are the top five consumer brands that have capitalized on the NFT frenzy, with Nike holding a commanding lead.
Upwork Sponsored Content
Why on-demand talent is exactly what businesses need right now: The biggest advantage of leveraging on-demand talent is that companies often have access to talent and skills they can’t find elsewhere. A recent report from Upwork highlights that 53% of on-demand talent offers skills that many companies lack, such as IT, marketing, computer programming, and business consulting.
Read more about Upwork
Thanks for reading — see you Monday!