Welcome to 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
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1. The money powering the NFT market to new heights. OpenSea, the first and largest NFT marketplace, just achieved a $13.3 billion valuation after its latest funding round — an 800% jump from six months ago.
The sky-high valuation is impressive but shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise. The market in 2021 boomed, and "NFT" was recognized as 2021's word of the year.
OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said the platform's transaction volume increased "over 600x" last year. That is astonishing growth from March 2020, when the platform was making less than $30,000 in commission revenue per month.
Now, venture capitalist Semil Shah has declared the online marketplace the breakout tech startup of 2021, likening it to "eBay at the beginning of the modern internet."
Over the past week, NFT sales hit $512 million, and total sales volume in 2021 topped $14 billion as artists like Eminem and athletes like Steph Curry poured into the space. Even "Pulp Fiction" director Quentin Tarantino is planning to get in on the action this month (despite a lawsuit from Miramax).
The moral of the OpenSea success story? Watch this space.
2. US stocks face a struggle to recover from the Fed-inspired selloff. Officials are eyeing a reduction in the Fed's balance sheet, beyond pulling back on pandemic-era support. Here are the latest moves on the market.
3. The chief strategist at a $1.5 billion firm shared his three best ideas for gaining exposure to the metaverse. Clocktower Group's Marko Papic sees a huge potential in the digital world for investors — and he broke down which opportunities have sound fundamentals.
4. Earnings on deck: Constellation Brands, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and ConAgra Foods, all reporting.
5. Warren Buffett's go-to market gauge is signaling a crash may be coming. The "Buffett indicator" hit 211% this week, signaling stocks are too expensive and could plummet soon. The billionaire said buying stocks when the gauge approaches 200% is "playing with fire."
6. Nancy Pelosi's husband bought call options in certain stocks as 2021 ended. Paul Pelosi placed bullish bets of up to $3.5 million on various companies including Roblox and Disney. See the full list here.
7. A short-seller who took on Wirecard is betting against Tesla. Investor Fraser Perring said the electric-car maker's valuation seems out of kilter with those for Toyota and Volkswagen. His comments come after Tesla soared earlier this week.
8. The CEO of Airbnb said the top feature users are requesting for 2022 is crypto payments. The exec shared that, according to a Twitter poll, Airbnb customers are most keen on getting the company to allow crypto transactions. Other suggestions included clear pricing displays, guest loyalty programs, and more.
9. An investor explained how to get in on the thousands of dollars' worth of crypto being distributed in airdrops. Crypto airdrops are token giveaways to reward early adopters of projects. Lucas Dimos has received a few already — and he shared how you can maximize your chances for free crypto.
10. Apple just became the first member of the $3-trillion club, but Wall Street analysts can't agree on a fair price for Apple stock. Some believe it is overvalued, while others speculate it could still rise — here are the bull and bear cases for the mega-cap stock.
Compiled by Phil Rosen. Feedback? Email [email protected] or tweet @philrosenn.
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