Hey Snackers,
Crypto island = not a British reality show. Real-estate developers are marketing a "crypto-native" luxury island in the Bahamas complete with NFT villas. The island previously hosted Fyre Fest. What could go wrong?
Stocks fell to close out the month as investors await tomorrow’s Fed rate decision, which is expected to be a fourth consecutive “jumbo” hike (think: 75 basis points). In October, the Dow had its best month since 1976, while the S&P 500 gained 8%.
Chuck your checkbook… Rent payments are entering the 21st century. Yesterday JPMorgan Chase said it's testing a digital platform called “Story” to automate rent payments, which are still often paid by check. Here’s how it’s supposed to work:
Rent tech is stuck in the dark ages… Today, 78% of US renters pay their rent by check — a paper technology that’s been used since the 1400s. One reason: most of America’s 12M landlords have relatively few units and collect payment just once a month, so they haven’t needed fancy systems. Now startups and banks are pushing for techier tools:
Banks are betting big on boring… Banking big shots like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are investing in more consistent revenue streams like specialty consumer loans and co-branded cards to offset volatility in their investment-banking and trading divisions — and rental payments are as consistent as it gets (though less exciting than IPOs). JPM is already the biggest lender to US landlords; now it aims to snag a chunk of the $500B/year that Americans spend on rent.
Venmo requesting JPowell… Everyday folks are struggling with higher interest rates, from mortgages to hefty credit-card payments. But Jack and Jill aren’t the only ones: central banks are suffering from their own medicine.
The name’s bond… Higher interest payments on bank deposits aren’t the only problem. The bond market is experiencing its worst selloff in a generation. As rates rise, the value of existing bonds falls. People are selling old bonds as new ones are issued at higher rates.
Pressure might not “break” the bank… but enough political backlash might make it adjust course. While losses don’t hamper central banks’ ability to conduct monetary policy (aka: do their job), they’re drawing concern from politicians. Without income from the Fed, the Treasury needs to borrow more to fund government spending. Now, calls are growing to slash the interest payments that central banks make to commercial banks.
🛹 If the “How do you do, fellow kids” meme were a crypto…
Creators like Satoshi Nakamoto and companies including Circle have launched cryptocurrencies. Now central banks want in on the fun with a digital currency they can issue and control (aka: a “central bank digital currency,” or CBDC). India's central bank plans to start its CBDC pilot today, and the US Fed is “exploring” CBDCs.
Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Amazon, Disney, Twitter, and Uber
ID: 2567279