CRYPTOCURRENCY

Feeling Bullish?

A new cryptocurrency exchange just arrived on the scene like a transfer student in a rom-com. Meet Bullish Global, which will open later this year with $10 billion of crypto assets preloaded and ready to trade, including 164,000 bitcoins. It got its initial capital from Block.one, a blockchain software company backed by billionaire investor Peter Thiel.

Bullish brings a new spin to the world of decentralized finance, or DeFi, a buzzword we refuse to let a single Morning Brew reader pretend to understand for one more moment.

The gist of DeFi: When you borrow money, trade stocks, or Apple Pay-purchase a coffee, a middleman—a bank or a brokerage—makes the transaction happen. Decentralized finance cuts out that third party by running everything on blockchains, meaning all transactions are made directly. 

• In other words, it's the difference between uploading a video straight to YouTube and selling it to a TV network to air on cable. 

Bullish will run on Block.one's own blockchain to cut out the market makers, which traditionally execute a transaction and profit on the difference between the price you paid and how much they actually made the trade for, aka the "spread."

DeFi's a hot space right now. The market ballooned from about $15 billion at the start of the year to $65 billion currently, per JPMorgan. The opportunity to cash in on the DeFi boom is one reason Bullish could break away from the herd. The other reason's a bit simpler…

Crypto is the new Snack Pack pudding

Trading on big-time crypto exchanges surged from less than $100 billion in April 2020 to $1.7 trillion last month, per data from The Block Crypto. 

Which means it's drawing greater interest away from traditional pockets of finance: "All the fun that used to be had 30 years ago in the commodity markets and is no longer fun—that fun is now in crypto," GSR Markets CEO Trey Griggs told Bloomberg. We even read a report that a Goldman Sachs managing director is quitting his day job after hitting the jackpot trading dogecoin.

ENERGY

The Gas Shortages Are Here

Yesterday, gas stations in the Southeast faced shortages and long lines (up to five hours) of worried drivers following a hack that caused the country's largest fuel pipeline to shut down. 

The pipeline's operator, Colonial, has so far restarted only minor sections of the system and won't restore it fully before the weekend. Even when the pipeline is operational again, it will take nearly 15 days for gasoline to get from a Houston refining hub up to New York Harbor, where fuel-guzzling hubs, such as airports, are desperately waiting.

Zoom out: Gas prices are at their highest level since 2014, per AAA.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Tech Company, Creator Company...What's the Difference?

To support its short-form video product, Shorts, YouTube is setting up a $100 million fund to lure creators away from other platforms, such as TikTok. OK, mostly from TikTok. 

Shorts? In March, YouTube followed up Instagram’s Reels and Snapchat’s Spotlight with its own social-video platform to try and replicate TikTok's success. As of late April, Shorts was collecting 6.5 billion daily views.  

• YouTube will offer monthly payments to creators with the most engagement while it works on a longer-term monetization plan for people supplying popular videos. 
• The company estimates thousands of creators will get paid monthly in the US and India, the two countries where Shorts is live.

It's an arms race for content

Since launching last November, Snapchat's Spotlight has handed out $1 million per day to top creators. And TikTok recently expanded its fund for US creators to $1 billion over three years.

Bottom line: Social platforms are dangling huge checks as they fight for your glazed-over eyeballs.

SPONSORED BY ATHLETIC GREENS

The Couch Has Had Its Time

Did you know, just outside your window, there’s a wild, wonderful world? It’s calling to you, saying, “Hey come out here and let’s go spelunking or something.” 

But to do that, you first have to get off the couch you’ve been inhabiting since last year. And to get off that couch, you may need a boost from the brainiacs at Athletic Greens.

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And if you need a boost while windsurfing or walking the dog, know that you can easily bring Athletic Greens with you anywhere.

So get off the couch, grab the Athletic Greens, and go big.

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: In March, there were more open jobs in the US than in any month since record-keeping began in 2000, jumping 597,000 to 8.1 million total. It's sure to spark even more debate around the extra unemployment benefits the Biden administration extended through the summer.

Quote: "It's got to be somewhere in the $80,000 to $90,000 range, if not higher."

That was NYC mayoral candidate Ray McGuire's best guess at the median sales price for a home or apartment in Brooklyn, when asked by the NYT editorial board. McGuire, a former Citi exec, was off by a factor of 10—it's more like $900,000. FWIW, fellow mayoral candidate Shaun Donovan, who was the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, guessed $100,000. 

Read: Your least favorite gross viral food videos are all connected to one guy. (Eater)

EXPLAINER

Reader Q&A: Why Is Inflategate Tanking My Portfolio?

Reader Q from Sarai in Alabama: Why is inflation considered bad for stocks?

Brew's A: Prices on everything from cereal to ride-hailing services are rising right now, and some investors are getting antsy about inflation, or the rate at which the prices of goods and services rise. 

At its last reading in April, the consumer price index (CPI), an indicator of the cost for a "basket" of typical consumer goods and services, was up 2.6% over the preceding 12 months. 

The Federal Reserve has a goal of 2% average inflation—so it's okay if things run a little higher in the short-term. And Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen think the recent bump in consumer prices is temporary.

Investors aren't so sure. "Rising commodity prices, labor constraints, supply chain disruptions, and more fiscal stimulus potentially in the pipeline are a cocktail for faster price growth in the economy," Barron's writes. 

If inflation keeps creeping up, some investors worry, the Fed may relax some of its pandemic-era stimulus measures, which have kept borrowing costs low and generally been very good for businesses. That could include raising interest rates or reducing its $120 billion/month bond-buying program. 

Looking ahead…at 8:30am ET, the latest CPI reading drops. Check it out for yourself. 

+ For more market basics, here's what it means to own a stock.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• A federal judge dismissed the NRA’s petition to declare bankruptcy and reorganize in Texas to escape an investigation by NY’s attorney general.
• Uber and Lyft are teaming up with the White House to offer free rides to Covid-19 vaccine sites.
• L Brands will spin off Victoria's Secret into a separate company.
• EBay is allowing NFT sales on its platform.
• The Washington Post hired Sally Buzbee, the executive editor and SVP of the Associated Press, as its new executive editor.
• Medina Spirit is cleared to run in the Preakness despite failing a drug test post-Kentucky Derby. 

BREW'S BETS

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Funny videos: This TikTok trend shows remix culture at its finest. This TikTok parodies commercials in 2021. And this TikTok tries to explain why grocery prices are going up. 

Mindless fun: Just scroll, and sometimes click.

Less mindless fun: Charting restaurant prices throughout history.

FROM THE CREW

Where the Ads Are the Story

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GAMES

How Well Do You Know Your Local Newspaper?

We'll give you a hyphenated newspaper name; you have to figure out which US city it's from. Good luck going 5/5. 

1. Star-Ledger
2. Journal-Constitution
3. Review-Journal
4. Union-Tribune
5. World-Herald

ANSWER

1. Newark
2. Atlanta
3. Las Vegas
4. San Diego
5. Omaha