Pre-dongle era (Lambert/Getty Images)
Pre-dongle era (Lambert/Getty Images)
Hey Snackers,
In case you needed another list of things to leave in 2022: “GOAT” topped the Banished Words List for the new year. Runners-up included “inflection point” and, of course, “quiet quitting.”
Stocks rose yesterday but fizzled after the Fed’s latest minutes reaffirmed the central bank’s plan to keep hiking rates. US job openings hit a stronger-than-expected 10.5M in November. Next up, investors have eyes on tomorrow’s December jobs report.
The dongle has company… Ding-dong: it’s a TV. Streaming staple Roku is launching its own line of television sets. Refresher: Roku’s software-connected dongles are a cheaper alternative to Apple TV’s sleek black controllers. A third of America’s televisions run Roku software. But now it’s doubling down with its own small-screen hardware.
Laptop < flat screen… Streaming accounted for only a fourth of America’s TV viewing time in mid-’21. Read: most Americans were streaming from their laptops or phones, not TV sets. Things have changed: in July streamers got more TV view time than cable networks for the first time. As cord-cutting continues, 87% of US households had a streaming sub last year.
Streamers could replace channels… Companies like Roku and Apple are trying to make TV a streaming-first experience vs. a cable-first experience. Roku’s CEO said that its new TVs “are designed to be streaming first.” Instead of surfing channels, the goal is to have users toggling between streamers on Roku’s interface. TVs aren’t likely to go the way of cable; instead, they could play a key role in a future where consumers switch between Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and other services — changing streamers instead of channels.
Social net worth… The president of US crypto exchange Gemini, Cameron Winklevoss (refresher: sued Mark Zuckerberg over FB's origins), has new public beef. On Monday, Winklevoss accused Barry Silbert, the CEO of crypto conglomerate DCG, of "unconscionable" behavior. Winklevoss says that DCG's crypto-lending subsidiary, Genesis, won't return $900M that belongs to his Gemini customers. He gave Silbert a Sunday deadline to commit to making his customers whole.
Crypto lending meets contagion… Crypto is a highly leveraged industry (think: using borrowed assets to make trades). So when big players implode, contagion can spread. Genesis isn't the only crypto lender to freeze up during crypto winter. In June, Celsius paused redemptions on customer loans with advertised yields up to 18% — and filed for bankruptcy a month later. And in August, Singapore-based lender Hodlnaut froze customer withdrawals.
Crypto stopped being polite… and started getting real. Crypto winter and subsequent contagion could deal final blows to the industry's WAGMI ("we're all gonna make it") ethos. Now, at the very real risk of not making it, it's every firm — and customer class-action lawsuit — for itself. Winklevoss' public calling out of Silbert "for the final time" is what happens when the crypto tide goes out and everyone scrambles for a boat.
Click: Meta was fined $414M by EU regulators over 2018 complaints that it illegally forced users to accept targeted ads. The crackdown could spark costly changes to Meta’s ad biz in the EU, one of its biggest markets.
Rev: GM reclaimed its title as the US’s top-selling automaker last year, beating former leader Toyota. Meanwhile, Ford's F-Series trucks defended their 40+ year streak as America's best-sellers.
Stormy: Enterprise cloud titan Salesforce plans to cut 10% of staff as it tries to slash costs in preparation for an economic slowdown. FYI: tech layoffs are happening faster than at any time during the pandemic.
Coinpays: Coinbase agreed to pay $100M after NY regulators said it didn't do enough to prevent money laundering. Meanwhile, Binance is reportedly under investigation for its compliance with anti-money-laundering regs.
Shaky: Home prices grew at their slowest rate in two years in November, and are 2.5% below their spring break. As high mortgage rates drag on demand, prices are expected to cool further this year.
Elon Musk is the first person to lose $200B in wealth
Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Amazon, GM, and Roku
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