gm. gm. Is there a German word for, "intense feelings of FOMO due to seeing all your friends have fun at SXSW without you"?

If there's not, there should be. 

NFTs

A Yuge acquisition

When Ryan Gosling uttered the line “I just can’t quit you,” while standing in the pouring rain in The Notebook, he must have been referring to the NFT market: every time things settle down a little bit, something crazy happens that draws us all right back in. 

The latest craziness: BAYC maker Yuga Labs announced on Friday that they had reached a deal to acquire the IP rights to CryptoPunks and Meebits from creator Larva labs, as well as 423 CryptoPunks and 1,711 Meebits from each collection. 

A deal for the ages 

The collections involved in need no introduction, but it’s good to remember just how big CryptoPunks and BAYC are. 

• To date, $2.2 billion worth of CryptoPunks have been traded, well over 2x as much volume as any other NFT project. The next closest? BAYC with around $1 billion in volume. 

As for why the team at Larva Labs decided to cede creative control of its collection to Yuga, the founders told the Verge, “We felt like we were less and less suited to this as a couple of software developer experimentalist kind of people.” 

Yuga Labs on the other hand has aggressively pursued IP-leveraging partnerships for its Apes making them more natural stewards for the Punk's IP. “We see ourselves with tentacles into…streetwear, events, gaming, NFTs, et cetera,” BAYC cofounder Gordon Goner told the Verge. “It’s just a matter of figuring out and extending that utility to these new IPs.” 

Zoom out: Yuga Labs is fast becoming the dominant player in the NFT landscape and that dominance has attracted plenty of VC interest. Yuga has been in talks with a16z for weeks about a potential multi-million dollar investment at a valuation around $5 billion. Though, something tells us that after this latest deal, that valuation just went up.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Biden calls on the youths

To push back against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration is leaning on the tried-and-true playbook of international relations: sanctions, seized assets, and…social media stars. 

You read that right: the federal government has enlisted TikTok influencers to help shape the narrative around Europe’s first major war in decades.

Last Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki met with 30 TikTok stars on a Zoom call to talk about aid for Ukrainians, how the US would respond to a nuclear strike, and more. The White House sees TikTok as a vital platform for reaching young people and they’re not alone: a recent investigation by Vice found that the Kremlin is paying Russian TikTokers to push misinformation about the invasion. 

Zoom out: The Ukraine-Russia conflict has quickly been dubbed as “the TikTok war” but it’s also worth remembering that social media is still a bubble. According to a Pew Research study only 6% of American adults regularly get news from TikTok.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: Think inflation is high in the States? Wait till you hear the price of a black market Big Mac in Russia. Since McDonald’s closed more than 800 restaurants in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, enterprising resellers have taken to Avito—Russia’s Craigslist equivalent—to make a quick buck off a quick bite. A single Big Mac is going for a whopping $36, but the McMuffins and hash browns breakfast combo for $16 is clearly the better deal. One seller has even listed a mystery McDonald’s bag for $373. For that price, we hope there’s some Szechuan sauce in there.

Startup: Instead of us giving a brief overview of a startup like usual, go read Mario Gabriele’s fantastic deep dive on AngelList. It’s long, but worth every second. (The Generalist) 

Rabbit hole: Wonders and warnings from the ancient world (The Critic). 

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Goldman Sachs demanded all its employees return full-time to the office. Only half showed up.

• Socios founder Alexandre Dreyfus was accused of withholding payment from advisors to manipulate the price of Chiliz, the fan token site’s cryptocurrency.

• Uber started adding a fuel fee to rides in response to rising gas prices.

• Instagram was shut down in Russia after Meta announced that it would not stop users from posting messages in support of violence against Russian invaders.

TRIVIA

Before the Big Mac made its national debut, execs tested out a few different names for it. Which of the names below was once considered for the now-iconic burger?

A. The Royal

B. The Aristocrat

C. The Governor

D. The All-American

MONDAY MUSING

The Power of Ponzo Illusions

Apparently these buses are the same size???

TIDBITS

🗣 The global streaming boom is creating a severe translator shortage

💻 What the heck happened to Mavis Beacon? 

⬆️  A Launch House company, e.e.r.s, is live on Product Hunt. Toss it some love if you’re into AI recommendation systems.

TRIVIA ANSWER

B. The Aristocrat. 

The name was eventually scrapped because it failed to convey the idea that anyone and everyone could enjoy the burger. Then again, the middle bun is a pretty classy touch.