📸 __Flashy…__ The SEC [charged](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/technology/sec-crypto-gemini-genesis.html) lender __Genesis__ and exchange __Gemini__ with offering unregistered securities. Regulators said 340K Gemini customers are out $900M that was sent to Genesis' lending program. 

🌶️ __Spicy…__ Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried [launched](https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/12/23551718/sam-bankman-fried-substack-newsletter-ftx-fraud-charges) a Substack newsletter while awaiting trial on fraud charges related to his exchange's collapse. In his first post SBF denied stealing customer funds.

🎤 __Braggy…__ __Binance__ CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said the 8K-person exchange is [planning](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/11/binance-plans-15-30percent-hiring-spree-in-2023-even-as-rivals-cut-jobs.html) a hiring spree. As other exchanges like __[Coinbase](https://robinhood.com/stocks/COIN/)__ announce fresh [layoffs](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/64ZuFLHX6YfnQ8QQYZICfn/articles/1R6BZzWQMJunSLoZpN1Ozj/), CZ said Binance expects to pump headcount by up to 30%.

Blog

The Crypto Catch-Up…

Snacks

 received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street ban...

J. Edward Moreno

Business Reporter

Markets

Which middle-aged comedian recently modeled underwear for Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS brand?

What is the only streaming platform whose original content gets more viewing time than older classics from its catalog?

Both the Sacramento Athletics and the Los Angeles Dodgers have a third baseman with which name?

How many indoor smoking areas are there in the Zurich airport?

What is America’s favorite fast food chain?

What is the average distance between employees and their workplace?

The US June jobs report had something for everyone: On the one hand, non-farm payrolls rose by just ...

Luke Kawa

Markets Editor

 is surging in early trading after Bloomberg reported that the social media giant is planning to joi...

Did  do it?  Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fou...

Paige Oamek

Markets Reporter

Shares of  are surging after announcing an $8 billion acquisition of satellite communications operat...

Helena Cheng

Even though DC’s “Supergirl” marked another disappointing outing for the superhero genre that once r...

Tom Jones

Culture

 rose on the news that the telecom behemoth is spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky from its cable port...

Jake Lahut

Contributing Reporter

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he would send a long-awaited housing bill to President T...

Personal Finance

Your inbox is ready

Subscribe and thrive

The former memestock  surged on blowout earnings this week — and the bull case has nothing to do wit...

What is the most popular color of soccer cleats worn by players at World Cup opening matches?

According to eurochange’s Aperol Spritz Index, which city has the cheapest Aperol Spritz in Europe?

What is the cheapest US holiday destination by average plane fare?

What percentage of American adults use Amazon Prime?

The new chief financial officer and chief strategy officer of Wendy’s was previously the CFO of which chain?

Which country has the largest climate change “perception gap” (i.e., the difference between how they feel about climate change personally versus how they feel other citizens perceive climate change)?

Which film studio is Google investing $75 million in?

Well, it’s that time of year again: many have made their wish lists, people are scraping together th...

Business

 might be the biggest stock in the world. But for Robinhood’s retail traders,  has become the most i...

From flipping burgers to being flipped by retail traders: It seems  may now be a meme stock? Shares ...

As the UK waved goodbye to one prime minister and waits expectantly to usher in a replacement who’ll...

World

The sharp selloff in South Korean stocks — with massive follow-through across US tech stocks on Tues...

 is investing roughly $75 million in independent film studio A24 as part of an AI partnership, accor...

How do you expand an advertising business that’s already grown almost 75% in the last year and doesn...

We’re starting to get to that stage of the year where the wintry dreams of sitting on a beach somewh...

 is surging in early trading after the company announced a multi-year licensing and product partners...

__Quitting the 9-to-5…__ to be your own boss. Black Americans are more likely to start businesses than any other group, and women of color start businesses at [4.5X](https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethmacbride/2021/05/23/white-men-are-now-the-minority-of-business-owners-in-the-united-states/?sh=526047ae1582) the rate of the overall population (as of 2021, white men comprised the *minority* of business owners). As the US’s fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, Black women are increasingly [leaving](https://www.businessinsider.com/black-women-leaving-corporate-america-entreprenurship-startups-2022-12) corporate roles to launch their own companies. A few factors boosting this trend:

- __Discrimination:__ Many are worn down by the effects of implicit or explicit bias in corporate America. [Nearly half](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2023/01/04/dei-policy-are-companies-just-trying-to-check-a-box/?sh=2241c7ae750a) of job seekers say they feel discriminated against during the hiring process, and 55% continue to experience discrimination after getting the job.

- __Job losses:__ Black women were the most affected by pandemic-related job losses. In 2020, the labor-force participation rate of Black women dropped sharply and is expected to keep falling, though it’s still higher than the rate for white women.

- __FYI:__ Diverse companies tend to outperform more homogenous orgs, both in profits and in innovation. For companies, losing Black female employees is a worrying trend. 

__Mind the gap…__ While the rate of Black entrepreneurship is high, bias and funding gaps pose roadblocks to growth. As of January 2022, just [4%](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/coronavirus-leading-through-the-crisis/charting-the-path-to-the-next-normal/growth-is-elusive-for-many-black-owned-brands) of Black businesses were still open after 3.5 years, compared to the national average of 55%. Fewer than half of Black businesses were considered healthy before the pandemic, versus 73% for white-owned businesses. Lack of capital is a major factor hampering growth for Black businesses.

Breaking out of the 9-to-5 (MoMo Productions/Getty Images)

Venture

__Closing the gap is key to unlocking growth…__ Loans and venture capital are critical to business growth, but Black startups (especially those run by women) tend to have less access to funding. Black individuals and communities have traditionally been the most likely to be denied access to capital. That’s partly why the racial wealth gap is still so wide: the typical white family has [8X times](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/disparities-in-wealth-by-race-and-ethnicity-in-the-2019-survey-of-consumer-finances-20200928.htm) the wealth of the typical Black family.

Black women are America’s fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, but funding challenges are hampering growth

__Coming in hot…__ during crypto winter. Last year saw a record $20B+ in illicit crypto transactions, [according](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-12/criminal-activity-thrived-in-otherwise-tough-year-for-crypto) to a Chainalysis report. Those came in the form of dark-net market sales, ransomware payments, scams, and hacks. Cross-chain [bridges](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/f8suYXqPD4YTOYUaoKShp/articles/75PhXHd2sIDVNK6TcV8jy4/) alone saw hundreds of millions stolen in hacks (most notably __Ronin__ and __Wormhole__). Note: that $20B+ doesn't include any crypto lost to failed exchanges like __FTX__ or bankrupt crypto lenders such as __Celsius__. 

__Getting bigger…__ while staying small. The total dollar value of illicit crypto transactions has been trending up for years. In 2017 it was $5B. In 2019 it hit $12B. And in 2021 it broke $18B. But that rapid climb doesn't tell the entire crypto-crime story. That's because criminal transactions have remained a relatively small percentage of the ~$1T crypto market: 

- __Not so big time:__ Last year's $20B crime record was just 0.24% of all crypto activity that year, and 2% of crypto's total market cap.

- __For some time:__ Illicit transactions have remained under 2% of total crypto-transaction volumes since 2017.

Coined

__Crypto winter didn't freeze crypto crime…__ but there wasn't a huge growth spurt either. Last year's market downturn saw $2T in investor value wiped out, which led to [trouble](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/5yKJ21nHWy8FlNAUn6e6yJ/articles/10KCJCjTVi37CddnkJSB65/) at behemoths like __DCG__ and __Gemini__. In this contracting environment, it's surprising that crime rose at all. But zooming out, that record high looks like crypto business as usual.

Crypto crime had a banner year as the industry stumbled, but it’s still a small slice of the pie

Black women are the US's fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, but funding remains scarce

Dow Jones

S&P 500

Nasdaq

Bitcoin

250K+ people attended MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial

The Crypto Catch-Up…

Get Your News

Subscribe and thrive

Latest Stories