|
|
Googling: "How to NFT art heist"
|
Last Weeks Market Moves
Dow Jones
32,628 (-0.57%)
|
|
|
|
|
Hey Snackers,
|
The adult-world equivalent of a professor pushing back the big
essay due date: the IRS
extending the tax
filing deadline (FYI: May 17th).
|
After hitting fresh highs last Monday, stocks dipped for the
week as interest rate
worries continued
and jobless claims unexpectedly jumped. Back in DC, President
Biden is
urging
Congress to pass hate crime legislation in response to rising
violence against Asian Americans.
|
On the pod:
The NFL just inked a $113B deal... which could kill the cable
bundle. More on our 15-minute
daily pod
|
Want to start getting Snacks daily? Or prefer to unsubscribe?
Manage your subscription preferences
here.
|
Cryptic collectables: NFTs are having a pre-mainstream,
mainstream moment
Can't funge this...
What do Jack Dorsey's first tweet, Nyan Cat meme, and a viral
skateboarding
TikTok have in
common? They're all NFTs, aka: non-fungible tokens. NFTs are
like one-of-a-kind trading cards (but digital) — instead of
living in a glass case, they live on a crypto blockchain. But
unlike bitcoin and other currencies, they can't be exchanged
like-for-like. Hence, "non-fungible." You can trade $1 for $1,
but you can't trade Dorsey's first tweet for Dorsey's first
tweet (you can
sell it for
$2.5M, though).
Nyan Cat is a crypto star...
so are Logan Paul Pokémon cards (really). NFTs can be tied to any digital asset, from songs to video
clips. And they’ve been tied to physical objects, too (see: Nike CryptoKicks). While they've been around for years,
NFTs have blown up recently — especially in the art world
-
$69.3M: How much an NFT jpeg by Beeple
sold for at a
Christie's auction earlier this month. Now he's one of the
three most valuable living artists.
-
$6M: How much musician Grimes
got for 10 NFTs
of digital art
Fungible flex factor...
NFTs certify your ownership of the original asset... even
though everyone can see and download the same Beeple jpeg for
$0. Also: the artist can
retain all usage
rights to the work. While buyers don't get paid from views,
they do get the knowledge that somewhere in the blockchain
their name is written in permanent crypto Sharpie on an asset.
And if the hype continues, they might be able to sell their
NFT at a profit (but it could lose value, too).
|
THE TAKEAWAY
|
NFTs could revolutionize the creator economy...
if they become more than a fad. There are already
marketplaces that allow people to buy and sell NFTs,
including
Nifty Gateway
and
OpenSea (which
just
raised $23M
in funding). NFT creators can even enable a feature that
gets them paid each time their work changes hands. Now,
smaller artists are NFT-i-fying their work. And people
are willing to shell out $$$ to claim ownership and
support their fave creators: the NFT market quadrupled
to $250M in
2020, and has soared this year. If they stick, NFTs
could be a new avenue for creators to monetize their
work.
|
|
Whos Up...
Take me to your lidar...
Luminar
makes lidar tech that lets self-driving cars "see" their
surroundings. By shining lasers at objects, Luminar's tech can
prevent autonomous whips from hitting light poles. Luminar
stock jumped 17% on Friday, after it
delivered a
reassuring business update — and notched a key partnership
with one of China's largest carmakers:
SAIC Motor
plans to use
Luminar's lidar sensors in its new line of cars. Luminar also
recently sealed a
deal to provide tech for Volvo's self-driving subsidiary.
|
...and who's down
Bank on it... Bank
stocks including
Chase,
Citi, and
Wells Fargo
dipped on Friday after the Fed
declined to
extend a pandemic-era exemption that lowered their capital
requirements. This means banks could have to keep more $$$ in
their coffers to meet requirements each night. That could
lower the amount of cash banks have available to lend out.
Generally, the less available something is, the pricier it
becomes — so the cost of borrowing cash could rise (read:
higher interest rates on loans). Banks had been lobbying for
an extension.
Black Cab vs. Uber Black...
Last month,
Uber
lost a major labor battle in the UK (one of its largest
markets). Last week, Uber made it official by
reclassifying its
70K UK drivers as "workers." The less gig-y new employment
status includes vacation pay, pensions, and a minimum wage.
These fresh benefits could be pricey for Uber, but they're not
as expansive as they sound. Still, they set a precedent that
could inspire more labor activists in other countries to push
for change. That's likely why Uber stock dipped 5% for the
week.
|
What else we're Snackin'
-
Learn: Spring officially started on Saturday —
here's what makes seasons happen.
-
Do: Why we procrastinate on the smallest
tasks, but waste time worrying about them
-
Work: 22 side gigs that could make you richer
than a full-time job.
-
Read: How to survive encounters with dangerous
animals (you never know).
-
Watch: A mesmerizing 30-day time lapse of a
cargo ship’s voyage from the Red Sea.
-
Live: An ode to low expectations — happiness
lies in the mundane.
|
Want to start Snacking daily?
Sign up
here
for our daily market newsletter.
|
|
The Snacks Daily Podcast
Hungry for more on the NFT craze?
We whipped up a non-fungible episode on our
snackable 15-minute-pod.
|
|
|
Snack Fact Of the Day
Mothers are the sole or primary breadwinner in ~40% of
American households with children
|
What else we're Snackin'
-
Monday: World Water Day.
-
Tuesday: Earnings expected from
Adobe
and
GameStop. Treasury Secretary Yellen and Fed Chair Powell
testify to the
House Financial Services Committee on their pandemic
response.
-
Wednesday: Equal Pay Day. Earnings expected from
General Mills,
KB Home, and
Tencent
-
Thursday: Weekly jobless claims. Earnings expected
from
Darden Resturants
-
Friday: Consumer sentiment index
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Uber and JPMorgan Chase
Robinhood
Snacks newsletters and podcasts reflect the opinions of only
the authors who are associated persons of
Robinhood
Financial LLC and do not reflect the views of
Robinhood
Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They
are meant for informational purposes only, are not intended to
serve as a recommendation to buy or sell any security in a
self-directed
Robinhood
account or any other account, and are not an offer or sale of
a security. They are also not research reports and are not
intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision.
Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect
the views of
Robinhood
Markets, Inc.,
Robinhood
Financial LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. All
investments involve risk and the past performance of a
security or financial product does not guarantee future
results or returns. Keep in mind that while diversification
may help spread risk, it does not assure a profit or protect
against loss. There is always the potential of losing money
when you invest in securities or other financial products.
Investors should consider their investment objectives and
risks carefully before investing. The price of a given
security may increase or decrease based on market conditions
and customers may lose money, including their original
investment.
Robinhood
Financial LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Testimonials may not be
representative of the experience of other customers and are
not guarantees of future performance or success.
Robinhood
Financial LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.
|
Terms and Conditions
• Disclosure
Library
• Our
Editorial Principles
• Contact Us
• FAQ Manage
Your Subscription Preferences
To unsubscribe from all commercial emails, click
here
|
|