Hi all! Julie here again, just wishing she was as much of a badass at Stacey Abrams. Also here continuing to pray for our country. I had a really hard time even watching the news this afternoon. It gave me the biggest pit in my stomach and sense of hopelessness. I truly hope that the changes that will be made later in January will lead us to better days, and that this is our rock bottom.

And just like there's been a massive wave of change this election cycle, there's a massive wave happening in our space as well. Consumer habits, aging consumers, new and faster technologies, globalization, remote work, I could go on and on. For years I covered fintech and saw changes being made, but consumers be fairly slow to adopt (hello Apple Pay, neobanks for a long time, etc), but over the past year, wow have things picked up. I really can't wait to look back and see how far we go over the next 1-2 years. I think it's gonna be pretty increbile.

The News

Affirm starts its roadshow

The Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) startup founded by Max Levchin filed an amended S1 and started its IPO roadshow on Tuesday. Feel free to watch the video it's playing at its roadshow or the investor presentation at this link (as well as other current and former roadshows). I find them fascinating, and you're able to skip through some sections as well. Another article that will help you understand Affirm and its space is this one that I helped out with for The Generalist. Really neat data in here.

While I fully believe that BNPL is here to stay, I think there's a big question of how far these companies can run. At the midpoint of its proposed price range, the market cap would be $8.6B. In its IPO video and prospectus, Affirm talks a lot about becoming a full fledged bank, offering loans for much larger products like cars and homes, building out its savings product, and more. If that happens, then this could easily be a fantastic investment. But that's also a big bet that could take a long time to pay off.

Where in the world is Jack Ma?

Somehow I completely missed this on Monday (I blame avoiding news over the holiday). But, like, apparently Jack Ma hasn't been seen publically in a long time? There have been some reports saying that he's just taking it easy (don't blame him tbh), and others that are more troubling and worry about whether he's ok. This comes after an IPO for Ant was suspended following a speech from Ma where he appeared to speak critically about Chinese regulators. I'm super interested in seeing when/where he resurfaces. This is crazy stuff.

Speaking of China

Even though he won't be in office much longer, Trump issued a new ban on Chinese apps including Alipay, WeChat Pay, and half a dozen other apps over concerns about privacy. This doesn't go into effect for 45 more days so the Biden administration will have plenty of time to overturn it, but to me, it sends yet another signal of tension between China, the US, and Big Tech.

New unicorn with the help of PayPal

Divvy, a startup playing in the expense management/corporate card space like Brex and Ramp, is now valued at $1.6B (about double that of its last round about two years ago) after raising a new round of funding from PayPal, NEA, Pelion and others. This comes after Brex raised a slew of capital over the past couple of years, valuing it at nearly $3B. And more recently, Ramp raised $30M from D1 and Coatue.

JPMorgan loves Bitcoin even if Jamie Dimon doesn't

First of all, I love Jamie Dimon. Second of all, Jamie Dimon does not love Bitcoin. Lastly, JPMorgan thinks Bitcoin is headed to $150K so we should all HODL. That's all I'll say.

Community Highlights​
We love to celebrate, my friends, especially when it involves PUPPIES! Matthew Goldman, Founder and CEO of Vertical Finance and Fintech Today Community member, got a new dog for the holidays. A rescue named Frida! 😍

And quite honestly, I know it's early to say this, but the next highlight might end up being my favorite of 2021. I love seeing rich, Miami-newbie thoughtbois getting taken down on Twitter. I can only fit my favorite part in here, so please check out the entire thread for yourself.

Career Corner

Lots and lots of job postings in fintech! Here are two I'm highlighting today.

1. ​Even Financial, Director of Engineering. If you're interested in B2B fintech, smart, hungry, and a quick learner looking to tackle real problems in the online lending and life insurance spaces, this is for you. Of course, previous experience at a lender, B2B fintech platform or financial services marketplace a plus.
2. ​Yotta, Growth and Engineering. Community member Will Quist of Slow Ventures pointed out that one of his portfolio companies is hiring for engineering and growth. If you're interested in joining an early stage company and the gamification of finance, look no further.

Lastly, I got requests for photos of my mini golden doodle Tux after Monday's issue, so I will leave you with that (he says I saved the best for last). See you Friday with more news!

Julie VerHage is the co-founder of Fintech Today, where she focuses on editorial content and brand. Prior to joining, she was Bloomberg’s first fintech reporter, covering Robinhood from before it was a billion dollar company, breaking the news that Plaid was acquiring Quovo, and interviewing executives on Bloomberg TV and at several large conferences.

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