Another brutal week for crypto and crypto companies – Nob6

Hello all! Welcome again to Week in Overview, the e-newsletter the place we recap probably the most learn tales to cross Nob6 during the last week. Our aim: When you’ve had a busy few days, it’s best to be capable of click on into this on Saturday, give it a skim, and nonetheless have a reasonably good concept of what went down this week.

I’ll be AFK for the following two newsletters, with the superb Henry Pickavet subbing in for me whereas I’m gone. Henry is among the finest people I do know — so be good!

The most learn story this week, sadly, was one in every of layoffs — particularly, layoffs at Coinbase. The crypto change introduced on Tuesday that it’ll be shedding 18% of its workforce, with CEO Brian Armstrong saying the corporate “grew too rapidly” within the final yr and a half.

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Kaiser breached: Oof. One worker electronic mail account hacked, practically 70,000 affected person data doubtlessly uncovered. In a discover despatched to impacted sufferers, Kaiser says the “doubtlessly uncovered” knowledge included names, dates of service and lab check outcomes.

Extra layoffs: Coinbase wasn’t the one firm to reveal layoffs this week. Actual property tech corporations Redfin and Compass each confirmed cuts of round 450 workers every, whereas Canadian fintech Wealthsimple laid off practically 160.

Spotify buys a voice-simulation firm: In 2014, Val Kilmer underwent a tracheotomy as a part of his remedy for throat most cancers. For his function within the just lately launched “High Gun: Maverick,” London-based startup Sonantic was requested to re-create Kilmer’s voice with AI. This week, Spotify introduced that it’s buying Sonantic. Why? They’re not getting too particular, however it’s not too laborious to consider methods Spotify might put realistic-yet-simulated voices to make use of — suppose indie audiobooks or auto-generated podcast commercials.

Elon sued over Dogecoin: Is it Elon’s fault that Dogecoin — a cryptocurrency that began as a joke — massively spiked in worth after which imploded? A category motion lawsuit filed in Manhattan this week claims Musk “used his pedestal as World’s Richest man to function and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for revenue, publicity and amusement” and seeks damages of $258 billion.

The SpaceX letter: On Wednesday of this week, workers at SpaceX printed an “open letter” to the corporate’s inside chat system that mentioned “Elon’s conduct within the public sphere is a frequent supply of distraction and embarrassment” and requested SpaceX to “swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Elon’s private model.” By Friday morning, at the least one of many workers concerned within the letter had been terminated, with SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell calling it “overreaching activism.”

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Did work say it’s time to go again to the workplace? Want one thing to take heed to on the commute? Ever questioned what your favourite Nob6 author feels like? Excellent news! We’ve obtained podcasts. A complete bunch of them, really. (Enjoyable reality: on condition that we’re unfold out everywhere in the world, many people have talked to one another extra on podcasts than we’ve got in actual life.)

This week Lucas and Anita talked with the inimitable Aaron Levie (CEO of Field) about his ideas on web3 — particularly, why it gained’t work. Test it out on Chain Response.

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Need much more Nob6? Head on over to the aptly named Nob6+, the place we get to go a bit deeper on the matters our subscribers inform us they care about. A few of the great things from this week consists of:

Which visa is finest for bootstrapping a startup?: Immigration lawyer Sophie Alcorn is again with one other version of the “Pricey Sophie” recommendation column, this time serving to a German founder work out the best technique to navigate bootstrapping a startup within the U.S.

Brex exits the SMB market. What subsequent?: This week Brex introduced that it’s largely stepping out of the small- to medium-sized enterprise market, with plans to chop providers for its smaller prospects come August 15. Alex and Mary Ann check out what this might imply for the market — and Brex’s opponents.

What’s the catalyst behind the crypto crash?: Cryptocurrency costs continued to slip this week. Why? On this week’s version of The Alternate, Alex provides an summary of a number of the largest “points which might be at the moment tripping up the web3 market.”