Jonathan G. Blanco 🛠

I wrote about the different builder personas one can find in web3: - corporate - mercenary - app builders - tinkerers Descriptions are in the X thread (because Linkedin limits post length). Can you think of any others? https://lnkd.in/dph-5drV

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NFT/'web3' cleanup: DraftKings was sued under the claim that their NFTs were unregistered securities. The Judge applied the Howey test and allowed the lawsuit to go forward. DraftKings shut their NFT collection and platform down THE NEXT DAY to avoid discovery and the possible impacts. The Howey test worked. Read the full article ----- Defector: "DraftKings Abruptly Shuts Down NFT Operation, Panicking Collectors With Vast Holdings Of Digital Tokens" (Chris Thompson) (August 1, 2024) (excerpt): "DraftKings, the daily fantasy sports and sports betting company, abruptly shut down a program called Reignmakers on Tuesday. Reignmakers, which the company launched in 2021. The decision to wipe the entire program, says DraftKings, was not made lightly, but was forced "due to recent legal developments." "DraftKings has not yet specified what "recent legal developments" are troubling its now dead Reignmakers product. The company was sued in U.S. District Court in 2023 by a Reignmakers player named Justin Dufoe, who accuses the company of dealing in unregistered securities, of taking advantage of relatively unsophisticated "retail investors," and of failing to market and support Reignmakers to the degree necessary to return to its users the expected financial benefits. DraftKings filed a motion in September to dismiss Dufoe's complaint, but that motion was denied on July 2. A scheduling conference was held by the parties on July 29; Reignmakers was shut down for good on July 30. A DraftKings spokesperson contacted by Defector Wednesday declined to confirm whether the Dufoe complaint is the "recent legal development" that forced the company's hand." Reignmakers users purchased NFTs at the assorted levels with the expectation that possession of them would convey better odds of winning contests hosted on DraftKings. That was the gamification element of Reignmakers, which came along several months after DraftKings began to market and mint their NFTs. But as with all NFTs, some too-large part of the real appeal to their purchasers was the expectation, however baldly insane, that these pointless and practically useless and infinitely duplicable digital images would grow in value over time." Defector: https://lnkd.in/gsuk9tdh #web3 #scam #nft #rugpull #howeytest #ponzi #cryptocurrency #blockchain #useless

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🌆 Looking for funding in the Big Apple? We've compiled a comprehensive list of 220 New York VC firms! Find everything from portfolio links to social media handles. Start your journey here:https://lnkd.in/d89M9Kjz #startup #startups #venturecapital #funding #vc #B2B

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Packed house for #ATSL24 and a great discussion between Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk and our own Ciarán O'Kane of FPC and ExchangeWire. The discussion touched on the lack of VC participation in AdTech (despite being a $1 Trillion addressable market). “Generalist VCs avoided AdTech because it’s complex. They often don’t understand why they’d win or lose”. This summed up exactly why FirstPartyCapital exists. A $1T+ complex sector needs specialists to fund innovation, provide deeper DD, illuminating context, access to networks and relevant portfolio support. Over time we hope this provides a stronger signal to generalist VCs and PEs. Look out for Rich Ashton Jack Tunney Alex Powell Mike Follett Mark Giblin Dan Jones Rafael Michelucci Ed French Shane Shevlin Lumen Research LightBox TV Contxt Media Bedrock Platform Exiber Pixels AI

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Exactly why team first. Pivots occur more often than most think or want to admit. It doesn’t mean we failed as founders, we are reacting to real information based on a direction and course we set. Our actions prompt the cause and effect that guide our next action, to ignore this would be a failure in our mindset. Let’s praise our founders for having the courage to set sail with many unknowns, having the self confidence to tackle whatever is throw their way, even if it means changing courses.

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Hi All, #BaaS is evolving so fast that it’s a challenge just to keep up. I suspect I’m not alone. So, in partnership with my friends at Infinant | Grow Your Bank, I’m launching a regular LinkedIn series to share my top-of-mind thoughts on BaaS. Consider it my Captain’s Log. 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱’𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐚𝐒 (𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 Infinant | Grow Your Bank) 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐠, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝟕𝟖𝟎𝟗𝟎.𝟓 — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐚𝐒 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 Since reading the bank regulatory agencies' RFI on bank-fintech partnerships, I've been trying to come up with a visual framework to map out the BaaS market. Here’s my newest attempt. First, we segment the market by product type — deposits, payment cards, lending, and non-card payments (think ACH). Next, we layer on the various regulatory and compliance requirements for these products, like: 🏦 Federal bank regulations (covering safety, soundness, financial crime prevention, and more) 🏦 State money transmitter and lending licenses 🏦 PCI DSS standards (not technically regulation, but sure cosplays like it) I also had to include a black hole to represent the regulatory gaps that swallowed Synapse. It’s a fitting analogy—there’s definitely something big and scary there, but I can’t quite see it 👀 Then, come the banks. Community banks under $10B in assets tend to focus on deposits and debit cards, whereas larger banks emphasize credit cards, lending, and non-card payments, especially for commercial clients. (Obviously, with state lending and money transmitter licenses, you can bypass banks entirely.) Next up, is the infrastructure connecting suppliers and buyers (regulators favorite layer!). Think: 🏦 Intermediate platforms (AKA BaaS middleware) 🏦 Classic issuer processors (now branching into non-card products too) 🏦 Lending-as-a-Service providers (partnering with banks or leveraging state licenses) 🏦 Open banking data aggregators (leading the charge on bank-to-bank payments in the U.S.) Finally, consider the nonbank users of these services. Generally, fintech companies flock to the deposits/debit/credit card side of the market, while the non-finance brands experimenting with embedded finance tend to dabble in lending and non-card payments. To paraphrase George Box, all graphics are wrong. Some are useful. Is this one useful? Let me know what you think in the comments!👇

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We just dropped a new Rehash episode today with Sean McCaffery, co-founder of jokerace, who talks about real life implications of crypto from various angles, including smart contract design, onchain data, crypto politics, and novel use cases for tokens. Tune into my full conversation with Sean at the links in the comments below.

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These fintech companies are hiring, despite a rough market in 2024 https://ift.tt/JOPYHfC The fintech segment, which saw massive growth during the pandemic and immediately after, has had a fairly rough 2024. But while the rapid pace of funding has slowed, many fintechs are continuing to see growth and expand their teams. In an effort to better understand just how many fintechs might fit into this category, I put out a call asking for fintech companies that are hiring. After just over an hour, I had received more than a dozen responses. After just a few days, I heard from dozens more. The sheer number — and quality — of responses was surprising even to me, someone who writes about this space on a regular basis. TechCrunch isn’t a job board, of course. This isn’t a listing of all available roles in fintech. But if you were recently laid off, are a recent graduate or are just looking for a change, this will be a good place to start. And we plan to update this page regularly over time.  Oh, and if you end up finding a job through this post, let me know on Twitter. Everyone likes a happy ending. AngelList (14 roles) Anna (5 roles) Avra (1 role) Brico (1 role) Cape (4 roles) Chariot (2 roles) Empower (27 roles) FinanceHQ (1 role) Firstcard (4 roles) Flex (30 roles) Fragment (2 roles) Jeeves (24 roles) Kard Financial (2 roles) Knot (9 roles) LearnLux (15 roles) Lightspark (9 roles) Marble (4 roles) Mesa (6 roles) Neon (3 roles) Next Insurance (19 roles) Pave Financial (3 roles) Plenty (2 roles) Ramp (63 roles) Rho (10 roles) Snap Finance (27 roles) Steadily (14 roles) Symmetry Software (2 roles) Tala (25 roles) Vanilla (4 roles) Vinovest (1 role) Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up for TechCrunch Fintech here. Want to reach out with a tip? Email me at maryann@techcrunch.com or send me a message on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew at tips@techcrunch.com. For more secure communications, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop and links to encrypted messaging apps. Business News via TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/ August 18, 2024 at 07:01AM

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Jupiter Exchange plans to burn $2.37B $JUP after a governance vote. Will this boost $JUP's value? How will the community react to this significant move? Stay tuned! #CryptoNews #JupiterExchange #TokenBurn #CryptoCommunity #TheAfricanCrypto

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The VC/DNVB honeymoon is over. 🥀 Here's why: both sides have realized that DTC brands aren’t really tech companies. Recently, the "DTC darlings" have taken a hit: Bonobos was resold for $75M after Walmart bought it for $300M 📉 Unilever parted ways with Dollar Shave Club seven years after buying it for $1 billion 💸 And that's just the start—other brands like Casper, Outdoor Voices, and Smile Direct Club have faced similar fates. These brands thrived during the early 2010s VC boom. 🚀 Since 2006, venture capital investments skyrocketed from $30 billion to over $340 billion in 2021. With limited SaaS options to invest in, VCs turned to startups with similar growth potential. DTC brands fit the bill perfectly, wooing investors with three key points: 1️⃣ Tech-savvy teams: In the early 2010s, selling online required a strong dev team, and competition for talent was fierce. 2️⃣ Cutting out the middlemen: Facebook and Google allowed these brands to reach customers directly at a low cost, bypassing traditional distribution channels. 3️⃣ Attractive business models: Gross margins were high, similar to software, and recurring revenue from subscriptions offered an impressive LTV/CAC ratio thanks to low distribution costs via Facebook. But several changes exposed flaws in this model: 1️⃣ E-commerce tech became accessible to everyone through platforms like Shopify and Klaviyo, removing the unique advantage of in-house tech. 2️⃣ Facebook and Google increased ad costs, replacing one middleman with another. Then, iOS 14 made targeted advertising even harder. 3️⃣ Post-COVID, e-commerce growth slowed, and to sustain their growth, vertical SaaS platforms raised their prices. 4️⃣ Rising raw material costs squeezed margins further. 📈 5️⃣ VCs realized that big companies like Unilever and P&G (potential buyers) didn’t care about LTV/CAC ratios since multiple sales channels (including retail) complicated these metrics. This undermined the growth acceleration strategy VCs had envisioned. In the end, e-commerce is more about logistics, product, and marketing than pure tech. 📦🛍️📢 All this makes it a less appealing investment for venture capitalists.

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💰Robinhood is planning to buy Bitstamp for only $200 Million, in the first half of 2025, as a strategy to expand outside of the USA and have an increased global presence.🌍 By being one of Europe's largest crypto exchanges, offering over 85 cryptocurrencies and holding more than 50 global licenses you’d think Bitstamp would be worth a lot more.🤔 Do you use Bitstamp? #crypto #cryptocurrency #currency #blockchain

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'DePIN' Is Venture Capitalists' Latest Crypto Obsession. CoinDesk "Projects that do have potential, according to Pranav, are ones where demand for the underlying service is clearly identifiable, meaning that the customers already exist. The end goal of these types of protocols is usership that will be using public blockchains without actually realizing they are interacting with a crypto product, according to Pranav." https://lnkd.in/eqDpZnNu "The end goal of these types of protocols is usership that will be using public blockchains without actually realizing they are interacting with a crypto product, according to Pranav." Access Control Management on #XCB is just one of the few use cases from CoDeTech. A short demonstration: ↘️ https://lnkd.in/e-rsCMkW

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Lots of fintech news to start your week off right ... 1.) Capital One acts a bit more like a network and less like a bank that thinks it's smarter than everyone else. 2.) Plaid launches its first CRA product, and it's not all built by Plaid! 3.) LoanPro integrates with Visa DPS to make it easier to launch credit cards. You can find it right here: https://lnkd.in/gfT8Cd9e

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Exciting news! Knot has teamed up with Plaid, a Knot investor, as a preferred referral partner for card-on-file switching. With Knot's CardSwitcher™, users can set their credit or debit cards as the default payment across 100+ online merchants with just a few taps. Plaid customers can now import transaction history into Knot's SDK for even more seamless card switching ✨. This partnership aligns perfectly with our mission to create a user-centric financial ecosystem. Plaid's Transaction History, combined with Knot's CardSwitcher™, offers solutions for card issuers, merchants, and consumers. 🏦 Card Issuers: Achieve quick and efficient top-of-wallet placement 🏪 Merchants: Reduce transaction declines and improve customer retention by preventing involuntary churn 🏡 Consumers: Gain control over where cards are stored and how payment information is shared Thanks to Plaid for believing in our vision. Link in the comments for the full press release. If you want to utilize Plaid's Transaction Data with Knot, feel free to reach out!

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