Good Monday Morning! It’s April 26th. Last night, Nomadland won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. On Friday night, the nation crowned its next drag superstar. An LA-based drag queen named Symone, who self-styles as “The Ebony Enchantress,” took home the top prize in RuPaul’s Drag Race. Check out one of her jaw-dropping looks.
Anyway, here’s the SWIRL:
📱 Tech: Prescription video gaming is here
📈 Business: Venmo debuts crypto
🏛 Politics: Weed is on a roll
If this is your first SWIRL, keep reading this part. If not, carry on to the content. Welcome, new Swirlers! Here’s a brief reader guide for you: the three teasers above will unfurl below to briefly cover a buzzy development in their respective area. You’ll read a little about each one. At the end, we pull on a common thread among all three and explore what it might mean for us. If you missed last week’s SWIRL, tuck in here.
📱 Tech: Prescription video gaming is here
Feeling froggy🐸? Go for a run. Feeling foggy🌫 ? Some docs may soon prescribe a video game.
Last summer, the FDA approved its first-ever medicinal video game🎮 . You may not have heard much about it because it’s only cleared for kids with ADHD, who can receive treatment for the condition by playing a digital game called EndeavorRx.
According to the company who makes the prescription 👩🏾⚕️video-game, it aims to…
…improve attention function as measured by computer-based testing in children ages 8-12 years old with primarily inattentive or combined-type ADHD who have a demonstrated attention issue and should be considered for use as part of a therapeutic program. - Akili Interactive Labs, makers of EndeavorRx
Last week, news broke that doctors are exploring whether people suffering from “Covid brain 🧠 fog” might also benefit from the same medicinal game. (I still can’t believe I’m typing that?)
Since some of the underlying cognitive issues that contribute to ADHD, like the inability to focus on more than one thing, are also popping up in those with Covid brain fog, researchers 🥼believe EndeavorRx could help improve their mental functions.
So, they’ve announced a research study to test their hypothesis.
The study, launched by neuropsychologist Faith Gunning, will evaluate EndeavorRx’s benefits to adults aged 18-89 who have been previously diagnosed with Covid-19🦠 and are experiencing cognitive function issues. Gunning has run previous trials on adults using the prescription game and found some promising 🤞🏼 results:
We showed that there’s improvement in connectivity within brain networks that support attention and executive skills, and we have some preliminary data showing improvement in mood. - Faith Gunning, in an interview with The Verge
No word yet on when they plan to publish the results, but if the research proves successful, I’m betting the FDA would move quickly to more broadly authorize EndeavorRx to help combat 🥊 the longer term effects of Covid-19.
📈 Business: Venmo debuts Crypto
It’s been a wild 🤪 two weeks in the crypto world…
Coinbase, a leading cryptowallet company, went public on the NYSE
Bitcoin’s price fluctuated between $64K and $47K1
A Turkish crypto exchange CEO vanished with $2B in investor funds; Interpol is on the hunt for him
Some buyers of the joke coin ‘dogecoin’ saw very real returns as the coin’s price recently surged before falling again; this guy became a millionaire
So, it was fitting on Tuesday when Venmo, the popular mobile payment 💸 app, announced a new product: a cryptocurrency wallet. Its 70 million monthly users will soon be able to buy and sell 🤝 four popular crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Etherium, and Litecoin, using their Venmo accounts.
The company is rolling out the crypto 💲 feature to customers in waves; some already have access. Other users should see the option in the future.
Here’s what this means for Venmo customers:
Can you buy crypto with your Venmo balance? Yes.
Can you use linked cards/bank accounts if your Venmo balance is too low? Yup.
Can you send crypto to other Venmo users? No.
Can you transfer crypto between Venmo & other wallets, like Coinbase? Nope.
Can you become a crypto millionaire like the dogecoin guy? 🤷🏻♂️
What does all of this mean for Venmo?
It seems to fit into a wider strategy of expanding their financial 💰 services for users. Venmo, which was acquired by e-payments giant PayPal in 2014, has recently announced 📢 a few other financial products that move the company closer to one-stop-shopping for online-financial services.
In October, they launched a credit 💳 card for select Venmo users; it was expanded to all qualifying customers in February. Earlier this year, they rolled out mobile check cashing.
🏛 Politics: Weed is on a roll
Tuesday was 4/20, the colloquial holiday for pot-smokers 🪴 across the globe. This year, American marijuana advocates have had much to celebrate.
Bipartisan support for weed legalization has reached historical highs. Advocacy groups have spent decades focused on changing public opinion on the issue. In 1968, only 12% of Americans supported legalization. In the latest nationwide poll, support rose 📈to 68%.
Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that the largest coalition of cannabis advocates would be rolling together as the newly formed US Cannabis Council, truly making it a joint effort. In the last couple of months, New York, Virginia, and New Mexico joined DC and 14 other states to legalize ☑️ recreational weed use.
On Friday, Montana’s state senate passed a bill 📜 to create a legal marijuana program; a similar bill passed its state house earlier this year. Connecticut will likely be the next state to follow suit.
As states make marijuana moves, questions 🤔 remain about federal action. During his campaign for the White House, Joe Biden ran on decriminalization, which is a step short of legalization. However, the president’s first 100 days have been largely spent on the pandemic 😷, economic issues 📊, and international affairs 🗺 .
That doesn’t mean the rest of the president’s party isn’t working on the issue. In a floor speech 🗣 on 4/20, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer remarked…
"For decades, young men and women, disproportionately young men and women of color, have been arrested and jailed for even carrying a small amount of marijuana… Being rejected from job after job—because of this minor, minor deviation from the law," Schumer went on. "I believe the time has come to end the federal prohibition on marijuana in this country—and I am working with Senators Booker and Wyden on legislation to do just that." - Senator Chuck Schumer
So, how do our three stories swirl together? Each underscores the power of a good investment.
🛍 PayPal paid $800M to acquire Venmo (and its parent company at the time, Braintree) in 2014. Since 2017, Venmo has generated $1.1B in revenue for PayPal, more than covering the initial investment. In 2021, Venmo’s revenues are projected to grow to a whopping $900M. That’s a really good investment.
👾 Akili Interactive Labs developed and marketed their EndeavorRx video game as therapy for kids with ADHD. In 2019, funding for the digital behavioral health market was $915M. That market swelled to $2.4B in 2020, largely due to anticipated behavioral impacts of the pandemic. (We’ve barely scratched the surface of how 2020 has re-wired our brains). If EndeavorRx is approved to help adults treat injured brain functions, their revenues will accordingly swell—another really good investment.
🌱 Marijuana advocacy groups have been laying the ground work for statewide and federal recreational legalization for decades. Recent polling suggests the country is near a tipping point. Colorado was the first state, in 2012, to legalize recreational use. Now there are 17 states where pot is legal without a prescription, and there’s real support for federal action in Washington now. Those advocacy investments are paying off.
To get good returns, you need a good investment. And to make a good investment, you need a good strategy. All of our features in SWIRL this week demonstrate good strategy, good investments, and good returns. Some of their trajectories have been long (marijuana advocacy, decades) and some were shorter (PayPal and Akili Labs, a few years). But they’ve all paid dividends.
That leads us to an internal prompt: what investments are we making right now—and is there good strategy behind them?
While you chew on that, I’m interested in your thoughts on other newsmakers who reaped rewards on their investments last week. Let’s hear your ideas 💡 in the comments.
And that’s it for this week’s SWIRL.
See you next week!
-Matt from SWIRL
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Bitcoin price highs and lows between 4/12/2021 and 4/23/2021