💳 Mastercard’s big bet on crypto

PLUS: Cali grows ALOT of food. October 27, 2021 [The Hustle]( The cost of white truffles is now hovering around $4k per pound, up from ~$1.2k in 2019. At one upscale restaurant in New York, that means Parmesan grits and a sunny side up egg with 5 grams of white truffle now goes for $275, up from $175 in years past. Today’s rundown: - Crypto Boomers: Financial institutions, long wary, are helping crypto go mainstream. - Chart: California grows an absurd amount of produce. - Everytable: How they manage to sell healthy eats for less. - Around the Web: A site to calculate sleep schedules, how you’d sound on Mars, and more. Let’s do it. The Big Idea [bitcoin gif]( Traditional financial institutions, long wary of crypto, are helping it go mainstream Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a few interesting updates in the cryptocurrency space: - ProShares, a financial services firm that offers a variety of exchange-traded products (and has $54B+ under management), [launched]( the 1st exchange-traded fund* (ETF) based on bitcoin futures. - Mastercard [announced]( a partnership with digital wallet app Bakkt that will let banks issue debit and credit cards that earn crypto rewards, per The Wall Street Journal. Both efforts aim to make crypto more accessible The ProShares ETF allows investors to get exposure to bitcoin without having to use crypto exchanges. Investors are already flocking to the concept: - The ETF brought in $550m on its 1st day, one of the largest 1st day totals on record for an ETF - A similar fund, Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF, launched 3 days later The Mastercard partnership with Bakkt... ...could accelerate crypto adoption in a couple of ways: - Cards powered by Bakkt will allow customers to pay merchants with cryptocurrency by converting the crypto into a currency the merchant accepts and executing the transaction over Mastercard’s network. - The partnership will also allow banks to issue cards that offer crypto rewards rather than traditional points programs. BlockFi, a popular cryptocurrency exchange and wallet, launched a credit card with bitcoin rewards earlier this year -- but Mastercard, with 2.8B cards in [circulation](, could bring crypto rewards to a much wider audience. Not everyone is jumping on the hype train Earlier this month, Michael Burry -- a hedge fund manager and subject of “The Big Short” who predicted the housing market collapse -- [wrote]( a now-deleted tweet asking how to short cryptocurrency. Additionally, Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, recently argued that bitcoin is a Ponzi scheme. The crypto bulls claim these critics are blinded by their identification as “bears” and have underperformed the market for the past 13 years… ouch. GLOSSARY * Exchange-traded fund (ETF): A type of investment fund that trades on a stock exchange and gives investors exposure to a particular asset (e.g., indexes, sectors, commodities). For example, one of the most popular ETFs of all time is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which mirrors the S&P 500, and gives investors exposure to the entire index. 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TikTok tics: After spotting a rise in teen girls with verbal and physical tics, medical researchers [found]( the girls had all been watching TikTok videos by influencers with Tourette syndrome. NFTs for good: Jack Horner, famed paleontologist and consultant to “Jurassic Park,” [launched]( an NFT collection to help fund scientific research. Merch moves: Cameo [acquired]( Represent, a platform that will allow Cameo’s celebrities to sell merchandise to fans on the platform. Children of Prime: Walmart+, Walmart’s Amazon Prime-like subscription, is rumored to have already [exceeded]( 10m subscribers. This job rocks: Spotify [claimed]( the top spot in Newsweek’s inaugural “America’s Most Loved Workplaces” rankings. Earnings madness: [Twitter’s]( ad business was able to weather Apple’s privacy changes. [Google’s]( ad revenue hit $53B (+43% YoY). [Microsoft]( crossed $20B in quarterly profit for the first time. [Robinhood]( had a huge earnings miss as its crypto trading business slowed. Join the 115,871 others who are now enjoying extra, personalized snippets. Click the button👇 to choose your favorite topics and see your list grow in tomorrow’s email. [Personalize Your Snippets]( Chart [California Agriculture]( What happens to the nation’s food supply in the event of a California crisis? It’s legitimately nuts just how much food grows in California. The state’s [$54B]( agriculture industry is [responsible]( for ⅔ of US fruits and nuts and more than ⅓ of its veggies. Which begs the question: Is it a problem to have so many eggs in one basket? With [cracks]( in the food supply chain, and California’s persistent [drought](, farms are drying up while costs increase. Federal and state governments are [investing]( billions in infrastructure to combat this threat, but it’s sure to be a relevant subject for decades to come. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=What+happens+to+the+nation%E2%80%99s+food+supply+in+the+event+of+a+California+crisis%3F%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F10272021-%3Futm_campaign%3DWednesday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D10272021-%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Podcast 12 startups with 5-10x stock grant potential In 2016, Sam and Sara Parr created Sara’s List: A dozen established tech startups positioned to absolutely skyrocket over the next 5 years. A job at one of them would result in a big pay day (she wisely chose Airbnb). Well, it’s 2021 -- so Sam and Shaan updated the list: - [Zapier](: the API connection king - [Uniswap](: the crypto project to believe in - [Airtable](: the shiny new spreadsheet player - [Figma](: the shiny new photoshopping platform Watch the pod for 8 more. [See Sara’s List 2.0 →]( Food Tech [Everytable meals]( How Everytable sells healthy food for less Like many food startups, Everytable wants to supply healthy meals at affordable prices. But it’s unique in that it offers its fare at sliding scale prices. Everytable sells pre-made meals like salads and bowls Its customers are either subscribers (starting at $6/meal) or visitors to its 10 stores throughout LA County. It plans to open 30 additional stores in the Los Angeles area and 100 in New York over the next few years. Store prices vary by location. For example, the Trap Kitchen Curry Chicken, a collab between Everytable and Compton’s Trap Kitchen, is $6.40 at some locations -- including several near college campuses -- but $8.35 in others. In an [interview]( with The New York Times, founder and CEO Sam Polk compared Everytable’s logistics to Amazon’s: - Meals are prepared and packaged in bulk off-site in large kitchens. - Company-owned trucks deliver them to stores and subscribers. - Stores are small and stock meals in refrigerated cases. If meals are best enjoyed warm, customers pop them in the microwave. This cuts the average production cost to ~$3.25/meal, while not having a kitchen reduces costs by 75% per store. Since its founding in 2016, Everyable has raised [$32m+](. BTW: If you haven’t heard of [Trap Kitchen](, it’s got a great origin story. Two men -- both ex-members of rival gangs -- started a backyard kitchen, then marketed it on Instagram to raving reviews. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=How+Everytable+sells+healthy+food+for+less%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F10272021-Everytable%3Futm_campaign%3DWednesday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D10272021-Everytable%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( TRENDS Potato milk, $700k/yr. EDM courses, and how to write an ad Have you visited Trends this week? If you haven’t, you’re missing out on: - [A comprehensive guide]( on how one Trends member built an EDM music production course that currently generates ~$700k/yr. in revenue - “How to Write Ads That Convert” -- [a slide deck and guide]( from Bobby Durben (who wrote hundreds of ads for The Hustle) - How potato milk is set to disrupt the soon-to-be $54B alternative milk industry - And much more. To read the full reports, [try one week of Trends for just $1](. [Get Access →]( AROUND THE WEB 🚇 On this day: In 1904, NYC’s 1st subway [opened](. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) went 9.1 miles through 28 stations from lower Manhattan to Harlem. The fare was a nickel. 🛌 Useful: Tell [this website]( when you need to wake up, and it will calculate when you should go to sleep to avoid waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle, which could leave you feeling groggy. 👂 That’s interesting: NASA has [a tool]( that lets you record a greeting, then hear how it would sound if you were on Mars. 🧺 How to: Black clothes can be flattering and professional, but they’re prone to fading. Here are some [tricks]( for making them last. 🐺 Wild story: This extinct Japanese wolf may [reveal]( where modern dogs came from. It was about the size of a border collie with short legs and little ears. 🏚️  That’s cool: Check out this [collection]( of old haunted house attractions from the University of Sheffield’s National Fairground and Circus Archive. Meme of the day [crypto meme] It’s true -- crypto prices don’t sleep (Source: [Bitcoin.com]() [The Hustle Recommends] Adam Davidson, an award-winning New Yorker writer and creator of the “Planet Money” podcast, has joined the business newsletter bundle Every. Today at 2pm ET, he’s spilling secrets on great storytelling that will help you improve your business or land your dream job. Sign up [here]( (it’ll cost you a buck -- but if it’s like everything else on Every, it’ll be worth your time). How did you like today’s email? Today's email was brought to you by [Trung Phan](, [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, [Rob Litterst](, [Sara Cravatts](. Editing by: Zachary “Can’t stop checking crypto prices” Crockett. [PODCAST]( [JOBS]( [CONTACT US](mailto:news@thehustle.co) [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Trends]( 25 FIRST ST. 2ND FLOOR, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02141, UNITED STATES  +1 888 482 7768 Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and [unsubscribe](list=thehustle). 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