💰 The big bitcoin bust

Bring on the Netflix drama... On Tuesday the Justice Department said it had seized $3.6B in bitcoin stolen in the 2016 hack of digital-currency exchange Bitfinex. The department said it had managed to recoup 80% — worth $71M at the time, but now worth $4.5B — in its largest financial seizure ever. That's not even the interesting part:

• The incident: The DOJ arrested married couple Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein in connection with plotting to launder 119,754 bitcoins stolen from Bitfinex. (It’s unclear whether the two were also behind the hack.)
• The characters: The NYC-based 30-somethings appear to be the crypto-bro versions of Bonnie and Clyde (cringe warning). Morgan is a rapper, "international economist," and "serial entrepreneur," so her Forbes contributor page says. If you're into finance rap, you might know her by "Versace Bedouin." Lichtenstein (nickname: "Dutch") is a self-described startup investor who’s active on Twitter.
• The plot: Prosecutors say the couple used “sophisticated laundering techniques” to convert stolen bitcoin into legit-seeming cash (and gold… and Walmart gift cards). But they were able to launder only a fraction of the coins before the DOJ stepped in.
• The denouement: The couple could face up to 25 years in prison. The DOJ says it’s working on ways to return the snatched crypto.

Digi-thug life… Crypto crimes are on the rise, and regulators are watching. Scammers took home a record $14B in crypto last year, while the DOJ set up a special enforcement team to target crypto crimes. In June, US officials recovered $2.3M in bitcoin paid as ransom.

And the Oscar goes to… your couch. Netflix stole the show on Tuesday at the Academy Award nominations. The Flix secured 27 noms — nearly half went to its drama “Power of the Dog,” including a coveted best-picture nom. Netflix’s star-studded "Don't Look Up" (feat. Leo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep) got four nods. HBO Max’s “Dune” and “King Richard” earned a combined 16.

• Other streamers with gold recognition: Apple received a record six Oscar noms, including best picture for “CODA.” Amazon scored six and Hulu one (womp).
• Half of this year's best-picture-nominated films were from streaming companies, but no streamer has ever won the top award.

Power of the popcorn… The Oscars are Hollywood's highest honor, but award-show viewership has fallen as people tire of seeing blockbuster faves snubbed (like: “Spider-Man” and “No Time to Die”). Plus, nearly half of pre-pandemic moviegoers have yet to return to the big screen, and almost 10% say they never will. So traditional studios have started testing popcorn-popping from the couch with the “hybrid model.”

• Last year WarnerMedia released all its movies on HBO Max at the same time they hit theaters, and Disney did hybrid Disney+ releases for a few of its blockbusters.
• This year Warner's "Dune" — which dropped in theaters and on HBO Max — pulled in $400M at the global box office (and got 10 Oscar nods).

• Oceanic: Maersk, the Danish shipping company that makes giant cargo ships and containers, says the supply-chain crisis is not easing. Wild shipping demand helped Maersk haul in $15.5B in extra profit last year, for a total of nearly $20B.
• Flipped: IAC — the holding company that used to own Tinder — is killing off print versions of magazines like Entertainment Weekly and InStyle. The mags will become digital-only brands, as readership and advertising continue to move online.
• Prius: Toyota and Honda were upbeat about their outlook this year, as the car shortage (triggered by a chips shortage) and high demand allowed them to hike prices. Still, scarce parts led to a dent in Toyota’s profits.
• KenTacoHut: Yum Brands — owner of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut — saw quarterly sales grow 8% from a year ago, but it took a hit on profit. Rising costs of ingredients and wages weighed on the bottom line.
• Connect: Microsoft’s LinkedIn is testing a “no politics” button that lets users block political content from their feeds, which could pressure Meta and Twitter to consider a similar feature.

• Weekly jobless claims
• Earnings expected from: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Twitter, AstraZeneca, Philip Morris, Expedia, Kellogg, Zillow, Cloudflare, and Duke Energy

Authors of this Snacks own: Bitcoin and shares of Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Disney, IAC, Microsoft

ID: 2033094