swicy
steely looks, french whales, influencer divorces and Lewis the Pumpkin Ghoul
*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•by your best friend erin griffith•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•
Buddies. When's the last time an election spawned a breakout tech start-up? 2012? Nationbuilder??
Well we got one this year! Polymarket, the crypto betting startup that is not even legal to use in America. Trump and Musk keep citing it, especially in the weeks since a "whale" in France bet $30m+ on Trump, swinging the odds dramatically toward him.
My colleague David Yaffe-Bellany and I have a story out this week on the start-up, its founder and its fast rise. These markets are getting a lot of attention this election because they can react to news events much faster than a poll. And we all know polls have plenty of flaws.
But here is an important piece of context to keep in mind whenever you see prediction market odds being cited: Polymarket’s site touts $2.4 billion in trading on its presidential election bet. Seems huge! But that includes all bets traded over time.
The actual money currently riding on the bet, according to third party data providers studying the platform, is just $107m — a far smaller number. That is how it is so easy for a bet of, say, $30m, to dramatically swing the odds in one direction. And the other prediction markets like Kalshi, etc., are even smaller.
Our story includes new details of Polymarket’s fundraise and token launch, some stuff about US users getting around the legal restriction, and also, for some reason, a Steve Jobs Lego necklace.
🎰🎰🎰 The Crypto Website Where the Election Odds Swing in Trump’s Favor 🎰🎰🎰
Important Business Matters
Startup everyone’s into: The Business Heroes™ at Chick fil-a are launching an entertainment app. (Whomst was asking for this?)
Startup everyone’s over: Convenience stores. Welcome to the “shopping wasteland.”
Flavor profile everyone’s into: “Swicy.” (sweet & spicy duh).
Reason to go on living: Skelly, the beloved 12-foot skeleton from Home Depot, has new friends/competitors:
Grim Reaper (12 footer)
Scarecrow (also 12 feet)
Lewis the Pumpkin Ghoul (height unknown)
Bruce, an 8-foot skeleton
Frankenstein, a 7-foot frankenstein
Reason to take up residence under your weighted blanket: That headhunter might actually be a spy.
Latest crush: It is hard to choose a favorite moment from this Rolling Stone interview with Stevie Nicks. Is it when she gives Katy Perry her “steely look” and tells her to get off the Internet? Or when she shows off her impressive flexibility??
Latest heartbreak: Influencer divorce drama! Who gets custody of the followers in a split??
Latest thing the kids are into: Landlines. ‘I love to twirl the cord’ lol
Latest thing the olds are into: Sending employees to business etiquette classes to teach them how to act like professionals.
this email translated by dall-e:
*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•the end•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•
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