Featured Article
Is web3 really the new phase of the internet?
Investors and startup founders are desperately trying to convince us that web3 is the next logical phase of the web. Is it?
7:00 am PST • November 17, 2022
We had to talk about the news that rocked the crypto world this week in our Thursday episode: the Binance/FTX deal that never was. To begin, we gave you a rundown of…
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week on the podcast, we talked about trouble brewing for bitcoin miners. This week, we had to tear up…
Crypto
Crypto’s biggest M&A deal, between Binance and FTX, looks unlikely to close
9:42 am PST • November 9, 2022
Crypto exchange Binance, the largest in the world by volume, signed a letter of intent Tuesday to purchase its troubled competitor, FTX, in what appears to be a potential bailout…
Crypto
Troubled crypto exchange FTX investigated by US regulators over customer funds
9:13 am PST • November 9, 2022
Crypto trading behemoth FTX fell from grace this week after the exchange experienced a liquidity crunch and agreed to give its rival, Binance, the option to purchase the company’s non-U.S.…
Crypto
Binance’s plan to acquire FTX is ‘real-life Game of Thrones’ as crypto winter winds blow
12:45 pm PST • November 8, 2022
Binance has signed a letter of intent to buy its closest competitor, FTX, making huge waves in the crypto community after the CEOs of the exchanges engaged in a multiday…
Crypto
Why the CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange backed Musk’s Twitter buyout
12:11 PM PDT • November 3, 2022
Binance’s CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao made headlines outside his typical wheelhouse of web3 as an investor in Elon Musk’s Twitter buyout. Zhao, who put…
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week on the podcast, we talked about Apple’s App Store tax and how it could hinder NFT adoption. This…
Crypto
Web3 infrastructure startup Tenderly takes on Infura, Alchemy with new node offering
12:46 pm PDT • November 2, 2022
Web3 developer tooling startup Tenderly is getting into the node game with a new product it announced today called Web3 Gateway. The product will help web3 developers read, stream and…
Crypto
Ex-Bain investor launches $30M web3 consumer VC fund as solo female founder
5:00 am PDT • November 2, 2022
Magdalena “Mags” Kala, a self-described “lifetime degen,” is no stranger to beating the odds. Before she became an investor, she co-founded an all-female blackjack team that sought to exploit gender…
Featured Article
Troop rallies retail investors to get out the proxy vote
Retail investors entered the stock market in droves over the past couple of years. Much ink has already been spilled analyzing competition between fintech companies such as Robinhood and Public.com to capture these new customers. But there’s another implication of this trend that’s less obvious: These new investors also have the power to introduce and…
5:00 am PDT • November 2, 2022
Gaming
Ralph Lauren redesigns Polo logo for first time ever in new digital collection with Fortnite
7:28 am PDT • November 1, 2022
Lauren now follows in the footsteps of Gucci and Balenciaga in blazing a couture path in the digital realm.
Crypto
OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer discusses staying on top of a turbulent NFT market at TC Sessions: Crypto
2:39 pm PDT • October 31, 2022
The NFT market is worth tens of billions of dollars and saw rapid growth throughout the crypto bull run. NFT exchange OpenSea, led by CEO and co-founder Devin Finzer, emerged…
Startups
I regret to inform you that Elon has something to do with this
7:00 AM PDT • October 28, 2022
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. We hope that…
Crypto
Apple doesn’t want you trading NFTs on your phone (unless it makes them money)
12:09 PM PDT • October 27, 2022
Apple is no stranger to asserting its dominance. That’s exactly what the tech giant did this week when it announced new, stringent guidelines for NFT…
Welcome back to Chain Reaction, TechCrunch’s weekly offering for the crypto curious.
Crypto
Dragonfly, Haun Ventures and Sequoia talk web3 and more at TC Sessions: Crypto
8:00 am PDT • October 24, 2022
While the overall crypto markets have been in a rough spot lately, web3 venture capitalists have never had more conviction — or more funding at their disposal — to back…
Crypto
Alchemy, Ava Labs and BlockFi break down funding in a bear market at TC Sessions: Crypto
9:40 am PDT • October 21, 2022
Bears hibernate during the coldest months, but there’s nowhere to hide from a bear market during a crypto winter. As the entire sector faces what looks to be a long…
Featured Article
Staax thinks peer-to-peer payments can onboard a new generation of stock investors
For better or for worse, Robinhood helped inspire a new generation of investors to enter the stock market. Now that investing is cool again, upstarts like Staax, which pitched today at TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield, are finding new ways to cash in on its cachet, particularly among young people. Nikki Varanasi, Staax’s founder and CEO,…
3:35 pm PDT • October 18, 2022
Venture
‘We do our own research’: a16z GP on investing millions in Adam Neumann
12:12 pm PDT • October 18, 2022
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) general partner Chris Dixon shed some light on the firm’s recent investments in controversial WeWork founder Adam Neumann onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022. Neumann raised $350 million…
Crypto
a16z’s Chris Dixon announces new accelerator program for crypto founders in LA
12:02 pm PDT • October 18, 2022
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is one of the most influential players in the web3 ecosystem, funding entrepreneurs in the space amid “crypto winter.” Founded and helmed by general partner Chris Dixon,…
Featured Article
Former Everyrealm execs sue company for sexual harassment, race discrimination
Everyrealm, a metaverse real estate company that spun out of Republic’s crypto arm in February, is facing two lawsuits first filed in August from former directors at the company who allege they each faced numerous, separate instances of discrimination and harassment while working there. In addition to the company itself, multiple Everyrealm executives are also…
2:40 pm PDT • October 14, 2022
Fintech
Got $5? These startups allow for investments in slices of real estate
7:30 am PDT • October 14, 2022
As U.S. homeownership declines, startups like Landa and Fintor are helping people invest in real estate without much upfront capital.
Fintech
Roboadvisor Betterment launches crypto offering with four themed portfolios
6:00 am PDT • October 12, 2022
Betterment, a roboadvisory platform that manages more than $30 billion in assets, has finally launched its crypto offering after completing a private beta phase. The fintech acquired Makara, a crypto…
Featured Podcast
Kraken’s Jesse Powell on why he’s stepping down as CEO of the crypto exchange
Jesse Powell is stepping down from the CEO role at U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken, The Wall Street Journal reported last month. Co-founded by Powell and Thanh Luu in 2011, Kraken is now the fourth-largest crypto exchange by volume, according to CoinMarketCap. It’s a critical inflection point for the company, which was valued at $10 billion…
1:22 PM PDT • October 11, 2022
Fintech
Charli D’Amelio-endorsed fintech Step borrows $300M to bring crypto to teens
6:00 am PDT • October 11, 2022
The last bull market created a new wave of investors as more and more people decided to make their first foray into the markets. Step, a digital banking service geared…
Fintech
Real estate investing app Fintor raises $6.2M at $80M valuation
1:25 pm PDT • October 7, 2022
Fintor, a fintech startup making it easier for non-accredited investors to invest in real estate properties, has just launched its mobile app for both iOS and Android. It also just…
This week was a weird one for crypto, as reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian was one of the first celebrities to get an SEC fine…
Featured Article
Investing app Stash adds crypto offering, passes $125M in annual revenue
Investing app Stash, which last raised $125 million from investors in a Series G round last year, is adding crypto to the set of products it offers its 2 million users. The startup sees itself as different from competitors because of its focus on cultivating customers who are long-term investors rather than encouraging more frequent,…
5:22 am PDT • October 4, 2022
Featured Article
Let’s not defend Kim Kardashian for shilling crypto
Rather than an unfairly targeted outlier, count Kim Kardashian as the first of many celebrities who should start facing the consequences of their actions.
12:00 pm PDT • October 3, 2022
