Sponsored by

Market Overview
Read time 1.6 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. Elon Musk has been mandated by a U.S. judge to testify in an SEC investigation concerning his acquisition of Twitter shares prior to his $44 billion takeover in 2022. Despite Musk's legal representatives contending that the SEC's subpoena constituted harassment, Judge Laurel Beeler affirmed the validity of the subpoena, emphasizing its necessity for the inquiry. The ruling requires Musk and the SEC to coordinate his testimony within a week. Musk, known for his confrontations with federal regulatory bodies, has yet to respond to this latest development. His previous legal disputes include challenging an SEC settlement over his social media use and suing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for infringing on constitutional rights following a complaint about employee dismissals tied to criticisms of Musk.

2. Bitcoin surged above $50,000, hitting its highest level since December 2021, signaling a significant rebound in the cryptocurrency market. This rise to $50,334.00 showcases a recovery following a period of skepticism, especially after the launch of spot ETFs last month, which initially led to a sell-off rather than a breakthrough above this crucial psychological milestone. The cryptocurrency's best week since early December, ending up 10.76%, coincides with a broader positive shift in market sentiment, mirrored by the S&P 500 surpassing 5,000 and the Dow Jones reaching new intraday highs. Factors such as China's eased monetary policy and a shift towards asset purchases, including bitcoin, have contributed to this rally. Additionally, the demand for spot-bitcoin ETFs has seen robust growth, with significant net inflows and acquisitions of bitcoin outpacing its daily creation rate. Analysts now watch if bitcoin can maintain above key resistance levels, potentially setting the stage for new highs beyond $50,000 and approaching its record peak of $68,982.20. This upward trajectory also positively impacted crypto-related equities, with companies like Coinbase and MicroStrategy witnessing significant gains, alongside a notable rise in several mining stocks.

3. Visa and Mastercard agree to historic $5 Billion Settlement! In a groundbreaking move for the payment history, Visa and Mastercard have come to a historic $5 billion settlement, marking a pivotal moment for small business owners. If you are a small business owner, claim your share today!*

4. Headlines

   1. Jamie Dimon claims that the US is in the midst if a major debt crisis.

   2. Elon Musk denies selling Starlink terminals to Russia against US sanctions.

   _{* This is sponsored content.}

What you need for better GenAI applications

Meet Pinecone serverless, a first-of-its-kind vector database allowing you to build accurate, remarkably better GenAI applications with up to 50x lower cost. The breakthrough architecture offers:

- Separation of reads, writes, and storage

- O(s) fresh results with vector clustering over blob storage

- Fast search without sacrificing recall powered by industry-first indexing and retrieval algorithms

- Powerful performance with a multi-tenant compute layer

- Zero configuration or ongoing management

Are you looking to grow your business? Here is how I can help:

📢 Promote your startup to 2,000+ VCs including investors from a16z, YC, Techstars, Rarebreed, Sequoia and more.

📱 Book a Strategy Call to get 1:1 feedback on your pitch, pitch deck and/or fundraising strategy. (If you need general startup advice, then reply to this email, and I’ll let you know if/how I can help.)

📺 Access FundraiseOS, the ultimate fundraising course with video lessons and practical worksheets helping with everything from deciding how much to raise to understanding a term sheet.

💸 Promote your product or service to 100,000+ entrepreneurs.

🌐 Connect with me on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitter) to get access to new content about startups, fundraising, venture capital, and more every day.

Liam’s Exclusive Partner Discounts:

• Save up to $32,110, with Self Employed Credits, which assists self-employed and 1099 individuals in assessing eligibility and filing for IRS credits related to paid sick and family leave.

• Check your R&D tax credits eligibility; many startups are eligible and can save $500k+ depending on your circumstances in tax credits.

• Learn the ins and outs of building a financial forecast for FREE. Join Forecaster on February 8th and 15th for our Financial Model Makeover sessions!

Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill