OpenSea Phishing Trip 🎣

What an eventful weekend. $1.7M of NFTs were stolen from the wallets of some OpenSea users, Biden & Putin might chat about Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth caught covid, the Fed banned itself from day trading, Tesla faces trouble in Germany over autopilot, two men were killed in a Tulum shooting, Ford may spin off its EV division, Trump's social media app hits the App Store today, and a DAO wants to buy the Denver Broncos.

Together with

Good Morning,

And happy President's Day! 

What an eventful weekend. $1.7M of NFTs were stolen from the wallets of some OpenSea users, Biden & Putin might chat about Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth caught covid, the Fed banned itself from day trading, Tesla faces trouble in Germany over autopilot, two men were killed in a Tulum shooting, Ford may spin off its EV division, Trump's social media app hits the App Store today, and a DAO wants to buy the Denver Broncos.

DAOnver Broncos has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? The US markets might be taking today off, but we aren't 😤

If you're a current (or aspiring) fintech startup founder, be sure to check out today's sponsor, Plaid. They've got a great white paper on the importance of ACH integrations.

Speaking of fintech startups, we've got a new seed round investment opportunity circulating this AM. If you're an accredited investor / qualified purchaser and want access to LitVentures deal flow, fill out this quick survey.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 2/18/2022 market close.

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

  • US markets took another hit Friday as the Russia-Ukraine conflict left investors on edge

    • US officials expect an attack from Russia in a few days, and Biden is expected to move more US troops closer to Ukraine

  • Friday was particularly volatile due to it being an option expiration day; OPEX days often yield increased volatility as positions are closed 

  • Political tensions, a tight labor market, supply chain disruptions, inflation, and possible Fed actions continue to be important factors for investors

Earnings

  • What we’re watching this week:

    • Tues: Home Depot, Macy’s

    • Wed: Lowe’s, eBay, Hertz

    • Thurs: Moderna, Etsy, Beyond Meat

    • Fri: Foot Locker

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Biden agrees to meet with Putin 'in principle' if Russia has not invaded Ukraine (CNBC)

  • Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II tests positive for mild covid (BBG)

  • Tiger Global and D1 Capital signal pullback from big private tech deals amid market rout (TI)

  • Fed approves rules banning its officials from trading stocks, bonds, and also cryptocurrencies (CNBC)

  • Tesla faces scrutiny from German regulator over autopilot feature (BBG)

  • Chamath Palihapitiya steps down from Virgin Galactic's board (CNBC)

  • Ford’s CEO is exploring ways to separate its EV business to unlock Tesla-like value (BBG)

  • India gets $20B in investment proposals for chip production (BBG)

  • Russia extends Belarus drills for thousands of troops as Ukraine violence escalates (WSJ)

  • Russia-Ukraine tensions power Gold to eight-month highs (WSJ)

  • Massive Credit Suisse leak reportedly reveals possible criminal ties among 18,000 accounts (CNBC)

  • Trump’s Truth Social app set for Monday release in Apple App Store (CNBC)

  • Lufthansa Group to suspend Kyiv, Odessa flights (CNBC)

  • Carl Icahn nominates 2 directors for McDonald's board over pig policy (BBG)

A Message From Plaid

The Biggest Fintech Goliaths are powered by ACH 

From 2020 to 2021, there was a 30% increase in Fintech adoption. ACH integrations are a big reason why.

For those of you spinning up a new Fintech app, or leveling up an existing one, ACH is one of the most effective and reliable ways for you and your customers to move quiche.

It provides customer’s a streamlined approach to…

  • Fund new accounts

  • Set-up recurring payments

  • Pay for goods and services, and more. 

But just like any other payment rail, it isn’t perfect and carries some risk.

A Modern Guide to ACH helps you understand how and why the leading Fintech apps harness ACH to make customers happy. 

In a nutshell: Fintech is taking over and this report tells you how ACH is gas in the tank

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Specialty materials company Celanese agreed to buy the majority of DuPont’s mobility and materials arm for $11B (​​BBG)

  • Brookfield Asset Management and Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes submitted a joint bid for AGL Energy at a ~$5.7B valuation (BBG)

  • South African miner Exxaro and Chinese state fund CNIC are among potential buyers in the final round of bidding for ~$2B African renewable energy firm Lekela Power (RT)

  • Supply chain management company GXO Logistics reached a preliminary agreement to buy Clipper Logistics for ~$1.28B (BBG)

  • Thai oil and gas company PTT agreed to buy an 11% stake in Global Power Synergy from Thai Oil for ~$1.1B (BBG

  • Ferrovial, operator of London's Heathrow airport, agreed to invest $1B+ into the Carlyle Group entity providing equity funding for the redevelopment of JFK Airport's Terminal 1. The deal will see the entity retain a 51% voting stake (BBG)

  • Bain Capital’s Stephen Pagliuca will become co-chairman of Italian soccer team Atalanta after leading a group of investors to buy a 55% stake in the company that controls the club (BBG)

  • Investment firm Baltisse agreed to buy a 22.6% stake in insulation firm Recticel (BBG)

  • French media company Vivendi is considering raising its offer for Paris Match magazine owner Lagardere (RT)

VC

  • General Catalyst raised $4.6B for its Fund XI (GC)

  • New York’s Thrive Capital raised $3B for its eighth fund (TC)

  • Casino Guichard-Perrachon’s renewable-energy arm GreenYellow may announce as soon as this week that is has raised financing of ~$226M (BBG)

  • PrimaryBid, a capital markets tech platform connecting public companies to their communities during fundraisings, raised a $190M Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (TC)

  • ICON, a startup 3D printing homes, raised a $185M round at a ~$2B valuation led by Tiger Global (TC)

  • Philippines payment gateway PayMongo raised a $31M Series B from investors including JAM Fund, ICCP-SBI Venture Partners, Kaya Founders, and more (TC)

  • Nous, a startup helping households understand the costs associated with inflation, raised a $9M seed round led by Mosaic Ventures (TC)

  • Reusable packaging startup Returnity raised a $3.1M seed round led by Brand Foundry Ventures (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Barrette Outdoor Living is considering an IPO at a potential $1B+ valuation (BBG)

  • Fedbank Financial Services plans to raise ~$120M in an Indian IPO (BBG)

Restructuring

  • Len Blavatnik has agreed to a $4.3B recapitalization of his loss-making sports entertainment company DAZN (BBG)

Crypto Corner

  • OpenSea probe concludes millions of dollars worth of NFTs were stolen in phishing attack (TBC)

  • Crypto enthusiasts are trying to raise $4B to buy the Denver Broncos (CNBC)

  • Crypto lender Nexo to stop paying interest on new deposits from US customers (TBC)

  • Avenue Securities, the Miami-based brokerage that specializes in serving Brazilians investing in the U.S., plans to start trading cryptocurrencies next month (BBG)

  • Ethereum co-founder Vitalik calls Canada's use of banks to stifle protestors 'dangerous' (CD)

Exec's Picks

  • Picnic Tax - the new premium online tax product on the block. It’s not a DIY product like TurboTax - you’ll be paired with an expert accountant to help you through the filing process. Picnic has a network of hundreds of accountants that can handle anything from simple W-2s to more complex returns that include K-1s, rental or freelance income, multi-state, day trading gains/losses, crypto, you name it. Check out Picnic here.

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 20+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

Meme Cleanser

Check out our latest collection "Bing Bong Capital" at our store below 🤝

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