Hey Snackers,
Venmo. Uber. Google. When can/will "Libra" become a verb?
Facebook unveiled its crypto-details Tuesday. The Dow was busy jumping 353 points as President Trump and China's President Xi scheduled an "extended meeting" at next week's big G20 meeting in Japan.
Because we all want more Facebook in our lives... The social network just announced Libra, its own cryptocurrency. Like Bitcoin, Facebook's ZuckBucks run on the blockchain, not banking systems. And the digital wallet that holds Libra (its symbol is three exotic waves instead of "$" or "€") will be pre-installed in accounts of 2.4B Facebook users. If you can Venmo your roommate Laura $26 + emoji for brunch, you can send her Libra (starting in 2020).
"A new global currency on a new global network"... That's one of the (many) lofty claims from Facebook about what this could mean for the world.
This is targeting emerging markets... In the West, Facebook faces major distrust — Libra's combatting that with ID verification, fraud protection, and a promise not to use financial data to sell ads without users' consent. But even if Libra fails in the US, it could succeed in developing countries where there are more people, more trust for the 'Book, and huge needs for low-cost banking services.
"Put them where the DVDs were"... Best Buy's upgrading its shelf space — 100 stores will dedicate entire sections to fitness gear by year-end. That fits with the chain's "store-within-a-store" strategy (picture your local Best Buy's Apple, Samsung, and Google sections), but this isn't free weights. It's tech-infused workout gear. Here are our highlights:
Home FitnessTech is the new iPhone... so Best Buy wants in. Wearable tech like Fitbits have become one of its fastest-growing categories. Meanwhile, home-bike Peloton is planning an IPO and furniture-turned-workout-buddy Mirror just hit a nearly $300M valuation. Best Buy wants to become the resource for that “growing intersection between fitness and technology.”
Best Buy is trying to be the Apple Store for Baby Boomers... It's using the Millennial-powered wellness trend to become extra relevant for an aging Boomer population. Its two latest acquisitions show that its focus on FitnessTech is embedded in HealthTech:
Paris: City of Flights... Airline execs and fans of flying are gathered this week at the 53rd annual International Paris Air Show. Aside from some aerial acrobatics, cool new toys (electric planes), and we assume a lack of legroom, the show has high PR potential.
CEOs brought their most expensive pens... Here are the big deals that went down so far this week:
But what's up with that 737 Max?... Boeing's back to selling planes, but the problems with its former "best seller ever" aren't gone. Here's a status update on the flight delay: