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Today we learned what a mastodon actually is, so the timing of AmandaThe piece ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Mastodon’ is perfect in every way.
Read it and then come see us on Mastodon. If you can – that’s another challenge. We’re confident in your cyberstalking skills, but here’s a hint: we’re both on Mastodon.Social. — Christine and hi.
The ukbusinessupdates.com Top 3
- This surprise was off the chain!: In a surprising twist today, Binance announced its intention to acquire FTX in a move that will eliminate some of the “liquidity problems” that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted, manish reports. This comes after the founders of the two companies recently had a very public feud. (More on that in Big Tech Inc. below).
- Unroll: There in ukbusinessupdates.com+ land, Becca writes about what Peloton co-founder John Foley has been up to. Apparently he’s “a carpet boy now.” Also, as Becca points out, his new company, Ernesta, is another example of VCs investing in people they knew, even if their last company took a few hits.
- A list that changes every day: Hey fellow Twitter users, are you on Team Verify or Team Leave My Stuff Alone? Anyway, Ivan has a list of features that Elon Musk has promised to bring to Twitter.
Startups and VC
While financial technology startups are having a moment when it comes to fewer venture capital deals and layoffs, Quona Capital, a venture capital firm investing in emerging markets that accelerate financial inclusion, has found that there is still interest in fintechs. Christine reports. The company had its final closing of $332 million in capital commitments for its Fund III, which focuses on financial inclusion.
Also from Christine today (in addition to our daily Daily Crunch newsletter wrangler, she’s a post-typewriter!) is a piece about Doola, a company that helps global founders start a limited liability company in the United States, even without a Social Security number. The company raised an $8 million funding round, less than a year after raising $3 million in seed funding.
Another handful, because we love you:
Here’s the overview of the Binance and FTX fiasco
Image Credits: wenjin chen (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Today we learned that the world’s largest crypto exchange is saving the third largest crypto exchange in the world. But why?
In a detailed explanation, Jacquelyn Melinek wrote about how a CoinDesk report last Thursday on crypto trading firm Alameda Research led Binance to liquidate a mountain of tokens backing many of Alameda’s loans.
Three more from the TC+ team:
ukbusinessupdates.com+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams stay ahead of the curve. You can register here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
As promised from above, Jacquelyn dives deeper into some of the things going on at FTX, including that crypto exchange withdrawals seemed to be slow. And that the potential new owner, Binance, would “slowly withdraw billions of its holdings in FTX’s native token, FTT”. Oh, you two!
And we have five more for you:
- Who has a new trivia game?: It’s Netflix! The streaming service is trying out a new trivia game – remember its venture in “Trivia Quest”? The new one is an interactive trivia experience called ‘Triviaverse’. Lauren has more.
- Video, Email, Calendar: Zoom adds email and calendar to its features, a move Ron reports is the path chosen for now, as the company wants to expand its offering.
- Step down: Grab Financial leader Reuben Lai plans to leave the company at the end of the year, Catherine writes.
- It’s a party, a third party, that is: Third-party sellers in India can now have Amazon-like logistics power thanks to the delivery giant opening it up to them, manish writes.
- Never say you’re locked outEuropean Union researchers now plan to take an even deeper dive into Microsoft’s $68.7 billion bid to acquire Activision and what it could mean for the competition, Natasha L reports.
