Happy Friday. Welcome to The Chaos Coordinator! We are Brain Candy's snarky little sister, delivering carefully curated news happening across the industry (that you should probably care about) right to your inbox, with a hefty dose of irreverence.
In this issue, we dive into:
FTX: The Reboot
Introducing Apple Savings
Elon Musk's Woes
Crypto: Between the SEC and a Hard Place
AI, Drake-Style
Bic + 4/20 Marketing
What's happening in.....
PE/VC
The Return Of FTX?
Like a phoenix from the ashes...
The notorious crypto firm could possibly have operations resumed if it can amass enough capital. Tribe Capital, a San Francisco-based VC firm, is reportedly interested in funding FTX 2.0 and has invested in the exchange previously pre-implosion. Beyond the ridiculously large amount of capital FTX would need to restart, the question of its ability to reinstate trust with investors looms large over any attempt at resurrection.
....a high-yield savings account that lets Apple fans extend brand loyalty to every part of their lives.
Apple has rolled out Apple Savings, their first high-yield savings account offering associated with Apple Card, with the goal of making saving easy. Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said in a statement; "our goal is to build tools that help users lead healthier financial lives, and building Savings into Apple Card in Wallet enables them to spend, send, and save Daily Cash directly and seamlessly — all from one place." Goldman Sachs, Apple's partner on Apple Card, is servicing the finances for this offering.
Elon Musk has certainly been busy these days; who else can say they launched a rocket or makes fancy EVs? Well, unfortunately for Musk, that Space X rocket exploded several minutes into taking flight and Tesla stock tanked about 10%. Despite still being super rich, Musk's wealth has decreased following his Twitter acquisition and slowing sales and price cuts at Tesla.
In a continuation of the hyper-regulation following its wild west era, a new SEC staff bulletin details specific policies around crypto and the duties financial advisers have to customers. Due to the complexity of crypto and the high risk associated with investing in it, the SEC stressed that advisers must carefully ensure any crypto recommendations are ideal for their client and follow regulations.
A viral AI song that replicates Drake and The Weeknd's voices has been removed from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, TikTok, and more after a complaint from Universal Music Group. "Heart on My Sleeve" was played 600,000 times on Spotify and streamed 15 million times on TikTok after being uploaded by user Ghostwriter977. While there are definitely some intellectual property issues with bumping AI Drake songs, it's not too clear that this would fall under traditional copyright law, since the artists in question never wrote or sang the song.
Martha Stewart + Snoop Dog + Willie Nelson = 4/20 Heaven
In 2023, brands aren't afraid to pay homage to the iconic stoners' holiday; an increasing number of companies have activated campaigns around the date. To celebrate the role the humble lighter plays in stoner culture, Bic launched a virtual scavenger hunt where fans search for a lighter Willie Nelson borrowed from Snoop Dog and released ads featuring Snoop and Martha Stewart. While it's not quite as good as lighting up with the three celebrities, clever fans who chose the right location can win exclusive merch signed by them.
ICYMI; 4/20 refers to smoking marijuana and has become a big part of cannabis culture. For all those who partake on April 20th, happy holiblaze! This year, RG marked the day with a viewing of the Hip Hop event at Fotografiska, and drinks at the Chapel Bar.
