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Tech reporting is a lot of things, but it sure ain’t boring, as the chaos around Twitter, crypto, and layoffs continues. We’re just trying to hang on for dear life to try to make some sense of it all. We think we did a pretty decent job, and here, we’ve got a selection of what’s been happening in the past 24 hours of tech. — Christine and Haje.
Another domino falls: It was probably already a fiasco, but Binance deciding to not buy FTX led Sequoia Capital to claim its minority stake in FTX as nothing more than some unrealized gains, Connie reports. Investor letter and everything.
Meanwhile, over at our other favorite hot mess: Elon Musk was right when he tweeted that the company would be doing “lots of dumb things.” Darrell reports on one of its latest take-backs (because they seem to accumulate before we even have time to take a breath), where all of these accounts were promised that little blue checkmark in exchange for $8, but as you all know, when you make fake accounts, that means we can’t have nice things.
More Twitter changes: Another group of top dogs at Twitter decided to leave the nest. This time it is chief information security officer Lea Kissner, followed by chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty and chief privacy officer Damien Kieran. The latter two have reportedly resigned today, according to Zack and Ingrid, who teamed up to chase down the details.
Denver-based VC firm SpringTime Ventures is pivoting away from its original focus on its home state of Colorado, despite being the only local fund in two of the state’s 10 unicorn companies, Becca reports. It’s also now able to expand its team thanks to raising three times as much money for Fund II, giving SpringTime enough cash on hand to allow its partners to finally pay themselves “a real salary.”
New crypto startups forged ahead during Alliance DAO’s demo day on Wednesday amid the FTX implosion. The most recent cohort, known as All9, for Alliance DAO, a web3 accelerator and builder community, presented their ideas on Wednesday during a demo day, exclusively covered by Jacquelyn.
And here’s a smattering of other things that caught our beady little eyes today:
If you’re only moderately broken, these startups can moderately fix you: Mike reports how “Self-therapy” startups are blooming in the “moderate mental health” space.
We shall know you by your high five: With $7 million raised, Brian reports, Keyo launches a biometric palm verification network.
Your Excel, up to the minute: Coefficient wants to bring live data into your existing spreadsheets, writes Kyle.
Tracking pollution with sensors: Airly fights air pollution with a network of affordable sensors, Catherine reports.
Subscriptions finding their groove: Ingrid reports that Ordergroove picks up $100 million to grow e-commerce subscriptions as a service.
Image Credits: BrianAJackson (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Founding teams usually select a corporate structure like an LLC or S-Corp, but those who hope to exit for $10 million or more should consider starting up as a Qualified Small Business (QSB) C-Corporation, advises tax attorney Vincent Aiello.
Under IRS Code Section 1202, founders who hold QSB stock for five years or longer will be exempt from paying capital gains tax after a sale.
“It constitutes a significant tax savings benefit for entrepreneurs and small business investors,” Aiello says. “However, the effect of the exclusion ultimately depends on when the stock was acquired, the trade or business being operated, and various other factors.”
Use IRS Code Section 1202 to sell your multimillion-dollar startup tax-free
Three more from the TC+ team:
Smart dog collars, smart pitch deck?: Pitch Deck Teardown: Syneroid’s $500K seed deck, by Haje.
Hitting rock bottom…maybe?: Alex wonders, As inflation slows, did we just see the bottom for tech stocks?
In a crisis, don’t hide — double down!: Guest author Vadym Synegin writes that in times of crisis, fintech startups should take the long view instead of hibernating.
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Elon Musk wants Twitter workers in the office and wants them battling spam. Those were some of the messages the new owner had for his social media staff, Ivan writes. Oh, he also told them to be ready for “difficult times ahead,” which is always something you want to hear from your leader with regard to the future of your job.
After the Binance deal fell through, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has some new focuses: winding down trading at Alameda Research and winding up his fundraising prowess, Manish reports.
We promise, no more FTX or Twitter below:
Want to see a bin-picking robot?: You’re in luck! Meet the Amazon Sparrow. Brian has more.
Ole, Ole Ole Ole: Starting November 20, FIFA World Cup fans will have an easier time following their favorite teams thanks to Google’s new cross-platform features, Ivan writes.
Californians want more electric cars but don’t want to pay for them: One of the losers this week was Prop 30, a Lyft-backed plan that would have taxed California residents so that the price of electric cars and public charging stations could be subsidized, Harri reports.
Arrested development: Police arrest suspected LockBit operator just as the ransomware gang leaks more data, Carly writes.
Mute fast, mute often: Reddit users who don’t want to see a certain community can now mute it. Aisha has more.
Phillip Gillespie, the group CEO of prominent crypto market maker B2C2 has left his role and has been replaced by Nicola White, who joined the firm from Citadel Securities in 2021.
Sinking ETH value and potential panic-selling pushes the NFT “blue chip” down—now 82% off its peak price from April.
(Bloomberg) — Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the embattled crypto exchange FTX, is being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Bahamas, where his FTX.com arm is based, froze the assets of a local trading subsidiary and “related parties.” Cyprus is planning to suspend FTX’s operating license, while the crisis could lead to a tightening of US and EU crypto regulations.Most Read from BloombergMusk Warns Twitter Bankruptcy Possible as Senior Executives ExitMusk’s First Email
Regulators are moving in on distressed crypto exchange FTX as it scrambles to raise billions in funds to stave off collapse, while its chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried, faces heightened scrutiny. The week-long saga that began with a run on FTX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, and an abandoned takeover deal by arch-rival Binance has hit an already struggling bitcoin and other tokens. FTX is scrambling to raise about $9.4 billion from investors and rivals, a source said on Thursday, as the exchange seeks to save itself after customer withdrawals.
The crypto exchange continues to reduce its headcount in the protracted bear market.
To begin, we gave you a rundown of WTF just happened with the beef between two of the largest crypto exchanges in the world and how Sam Bankman-Fried’s storied exchange fell so far so fast, bringing down investors, cryptocurrencies and other companies in the space tumbling down with it. Welcome to Chain Reaction, where we unpack and explain the latest in crypto news, drama and trends, breaking things down block by block for the crypto curious. Once we ran through the background behind the situation that’s been unfolding in real-time this week, we shared our thoughts on the massive implications this fiasco might have for the rest of the crypto industry, from venture capitalists and startups to regulation across the globe.
The exchange's Japan and Turkey subsidiaries are slowly allowing customers to withdraw small amounts to their bank accounts.
Bitcoin, ether and other major altcoins regained lost ground amid fallout from the crypto exchange’s unraveling after an unexpected decline in the consumer price index. Market Wrap is CoinDesk’s daily newsletter diving into what happened in today's crypto markets.
There are software wallets and hardware wallets. Here are the steps to create either one.
* Slowdown in U.S. CPI sparks selling of dollar * Yen, sterling poised to post biggest daily gains in years * Fed's Mester says big risks remain in fight to slow inflation (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments) By Herbert Lash NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) – The dollar fell sharply on Thursday after U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in October to suggest underlying inflation is cooling, data that Wall Street cheered as it may allow the Federal Reserve to get less aggressive with interest rate hikes. The Japanese yen at one point climbed to its biggest single-day rise since 2015 and the British pound notched its biggest daily advance since 2008. The U.S. Treasury market rallied, pushing down the yield on the benchmark 10-year note which was on pace for its largest daily decline since March 2009.
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan shared details about its investments in troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX. It isn't pretty.
As Meta lays off 11,000 employees, its US severance package includes around four months of base pay and continued health insurance for six months.
Bankman-Fried apologized to investors and said he would be “incredibly, unbelievably grateful” if they could help out.
The Oracle of Omaha never saw a future in cryptocurrency.
"Do you know Sam Bankman-Fried? He seems in over his head and could quickly be in a precarious position," Rich Handler wrote in July.
Although FTX’s terms of service prevented it from using customer’s crypto, lawyers told CoinDesk that its swift downfall indicates the funds were misused.
Here is the full text of a letter to Meta Platforms Inc. (Nasdaq:META) employees from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that was posted on Wednesday
Jabil Inc. plans to temporarily shut down some manufacturing facilities in California later this year, according to layoff notices filed last month in that state’s Employment Development Department. The St. Petersburg global tech manufacturer is briefly suspending more than 1,300 employees in California in connection to the closure of six manufacturing facilities in Irvine, San Jose, Fremont, Livermore, Manteca and Benicia. According to a spokesperson for Jabil, the company closes down some of its sites every year during the holiday season to give employees a chance to recharge before returning back to work in January.
There's little argument within the investment community that Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) CEO Warren Buffett is an all-time great. Since becoming CEO in 1965, he's helped create more than $630 billion in value for shareholders (himself included) and overseen a greater than 3,600,000% return in his company's Class A shares (BRK.A). Because of Buffett's highly successful track record, new and tenured investors wisely follow his lead and use his investment portfolio as inspiration when looking for new ideas.
Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, laid out a dire financial forecast late Thursday, saying the social-media company could lose billions of dollars and that bankruptcy cannot be ruled out, according to reports.

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