1 big thing: Goldman Sachs leads crypto round

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2. The BFD: From PayPal to Infinity

3. Credit score

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4. Deals of the day

5. It's personnel

Situational awareness: Cathie Wood's Ark Invest snapped up about $30 million in Coinbase shares as the stock fell.

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Fintech Deals

1 big thing: The fall of a stablecoin 

2. The BFD: Upstart falters

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6. Memes and mumbles

Situational awareness: SoFi accidentally released earnings early on Tuesday, pretty much the same thing Affirm did in February. That means we're one company away from a fintech trend. 📈

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1 big thing: Hiring pullback 

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2. The BFD: Pay back 

3. Celsius preps to IPO its mining subsidiary

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Situational awareness: Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky has launched a $200 million venture fund that plans to use A.I. in its investing decisions.

1 big thing: Ark Fintech’s gains gone

2. The BFD: Google's virtual cards

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3. Coinbase bankruptcy pushback

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4. Credit score

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5. Deals of the day

Good morning, fintech friends. It's Thursday.

Situational awareness: Axios is heading to Davos! Register here to learn more about our attendee-exclusive events, meet-ups and more. We'll see you there.

1 big thing: What does SBF want with Robinhood?

Photo illustration of Sam Bankman-Fried with a Robinhood logo tucked behind his ear.

2. The BFD: a16z backs ex-Meta crypto chief

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Hello, fintech readers. It's Friday the 13th. 👻

Situational awareness: Coinbase users got a scare yesterday when the crypto exchange experienced outages amid the market rout. "The underlying issue that caused difficulties is resolved," the company later tweeted.

Coinbase is slowing its aggressive hiring plans as the crypto industry prepares for what's increasingly looking like a longer-term market downturn rather than a blip.

Driving the news: "Given current market conditions, we feel it’s prudent to slow hiring and reassess our headcount needs," Coinbase COO Emilie Choi wrote in a late Monday note.

Why it matters: The crypto exchange previously maintained plans to hire 6,000 in 2022 despite the softness in the industry. The announcement signals that Coinbase is now readjusting its optimism.

The response: Investors cheered the move, with shares of the company rising 6% Tuesday. 

Of note: These changes are not expected to affect the company's expense outlook for 2022, though it will help the company hit its adjusted EBITDA goal.

Coinbase, via a spokesperson, denied that the letter augurs layoffs.

"Slowing our hiring simply means we’re focusing our hiring efforts on roles that will have the most impact on our business priorities," the company said via email.

Coinbase slows hiring as crypto prices dive

The company says the move does not augursany layoffs.

Fintech

Coinbase is slowing its aggressive hiring plans as the crypto industry prepares for what&#x27;s increasingly looking like a longer-term market downturn rather than a blip.Driving the news: &quot;Given current market conditions, we feel it’s prudent to slow hiring and reassess our headcount needs,&quot; Coinbase COO Emilie Choi wrote in a late Monday note.

Celsius Network, the crypto lending startup, said its mining subsidiary filed confidentially for an IPO.

Why it matters: The confidential filing comes at a rocky time for both the crypto world and for Celsius Network, which is facing an ongoing SEC probe.

Between the lines: Confidential filings gives companies more optionality around timing the timing of an IPO — if they decide to go through with the process at all.

Meaning this reads more like a way for the business to test investor appetite rather than a signal that the public markets are opening for crypto companies.

Of note: Shares of crypto mining companies tend to follow the ups and downs of the broader digital asset market. 

Riot Blockchain (Nasdaq: RIOT) and Marathon Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: MARA) are down roughly 68% year to date.

Celsius preps IPO for mining subsidiary

Celsius Network, the crypto lending startup, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="said its mining subsidiary filed" data-vars-click-url="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/celsius-network-announces-confidential-submission-of-draft-registration-statement-by-bitcoin-mining-subsidiary-celsius-mining-llc-301547547.html" data-vars-content-id="2a6ebaed-4e4b-4404-8033-98825d6a7e60" data-vars-headline="Celsius preps IPO for mining subsidiary" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/celsius-network-announces-confidential-submission-of-draft-registration-statement-by-bitcoin-mining-subsidiary-celsius-mining-llc-301547547.html" target="_blank">said its mining subsidiary filed</a> confidentially for an IPO.Why it matters: The confidential filing comes at a rocky time for both the crypto world and for Celsius Network, which is facing an ongoing SEC probe.

Elwood Technologies, a crypto software maker founded by British billionaire Alan Howard, raised $70 million in its first outside round of funding, with Goldman Sachs and Dawn Capital leading.

Why it matters: It's rare to see a bank leading a round in a crypto company. Goldman Sachs' co-lead position underlines how it's become one of the most active bulge bracket banks in the digital asset space.

Background: Earlier this year, Goldman revealed its first ever bitcoin-backed loan. It also made its first over-the-counter crypto trade in March. Last year, it began offering bitcoin derivatives to investors and led a round in Coin Metric, a crypto analytics business.

Details: Crypto proponents have long hoped for wider institutional adoption, believing the sector will surge once the giants enter. But institutions have been slow to jump in.

"There's still a big retail mindset when it comes to digital assets and crypto," Elwood CEO James Stickland tells Lucinda. "Having algorithms, for example, are not standard ... we've taken it upon ourselves to fill some of that hole."

While traditional asset classes have Bloomberg or BlackRock Aladdin, crypto still lacks that kind of complex software, Stickland says.

Elwood allows traders to access multiple crypto exchanges through one platform and also offers order management and portfolio management capabilities.

Notably, the funding is not coming from Goldman Sachs' growth equity arm but directly from its digital assets team.

The bank will also be taking a board observer seat in the business.

Other investors in the round included Barclays, BlockFi Ventures, Chimera Ventures, CommerzVentures, Digital Currency Group, Flow Traders and Galaxy Digital Ventures.

By the numbers: The deal values the company north of $500 million, a source with knowledge of the matters confirmed to Axios.

Though Stickland declined to reveal revenue figures, he says the company is handling billions of dollars in flow and has over 30 customers.

Yes, but: The funding announcement comes amid a crypto selloff, with bitcoin having shed its gains for the year. Which inevitably raises questions about whether banks are here to stay this time around.

Goldman leads round in Alan Howard's crypto company, Elwood

Goldman is cementing itself as active Wall Street crypto player.

Elwood Technologies, a crypto software maker founded by British billionaire Alan Howard, raised $70 million in its first outside round of funding, with Goldman Sachs and Dawn Capital leading.Why it matters: It&#x27;s rare to see a bank leading a round in a crypto company. Goldman Sachs&#x27; co-lead position underlines how it&#x27;s become one of the most active bulge bracket banks in the digital asset space.

National

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's purchase of a 7.6% stake in Robinhood has sparked a wave of speculation as to what plans "SBF" has for the stock trading company. Axios spoke with him to get a better sense of what he's up to. 

Why it matters: The tussle haired billionaire filed a Schedule 13-D form with the SEC to disclose the $648.3 billion purchase. Filing a "D" means he is technically not a passive investor (that's a 13-G) and instead can take an activist position to transform the company by pushing various changes, if he chooses. 

The intrigue: Robinhood has a dual-class share structure that gives CEO Vlad Tenev and co-founder Baiju Bhatt about 63% of the voting power in the company — meaning Bankman-Fried won't be able to take over the business or call for major changes without their green light.

Bankman-Fried's stake gives him 2.8% of the voting power, a Robinhood spokeswoman confirmed.

Yes, but: That doesn't mean Bankman-Fried won't try to change how things are done at the stock-trading company.

"This was something that I saw as an attractive investment, and there are a lot of areas for the company to grow and innovate going forward," Bankman-Fried tells Axios.

Driving the news: The $648 million worth of shares bought by Emergent Fidelity Technologies, an entity that names Bankman-Fried as its sole director, drove up the price of Robinhood’s shares by 23%. 

The filing states that Bankman-Fried views it as an investment and has no current plans to acquire Robinhood.

However, the filing doesn't rule out more aggressive actions in the future. 13D forms are typically filed by activist investors who aim to push for major changes, like the sale of the company, or the divestiture of an asset. 

"We're always open to any conversations," Bankman-Fried says, when asked whether he'd be interested in buying Robinhood in the future. 

Of note: The stake does fit into the FTX CEO's broader vision of taking over all of finance rather than staying in his corner of crypto. Outside of the U.S., FTX offers tokenized securities, and it has taken steps toward offering securities trading in the U.S., too. 

Fun fact: There was some speculation in our newsroom over whether the name of the company, Emergent Fidelity Technology, was a cheeky reference to investment giant Fidelity. 

Bankman-Fried tells Axios that the the name was randomly generated.

This article was first published in Axios Pro Fintech, a daily newsletter on all things dealmaking in the world of financial technology.

What does Sam Bankman-Fried want with Robinhood?

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's Robinhood stake is not so simple.

Photo illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios. Photo: Lam Yik/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Axios Pro: Deals

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried&#x27;s purchase of a 7.6% stake in Robinhood has sparked a wave of speculation as to what plans &quot;SBF&quot; has for the stock trading company. Axios spoke with him to get a better sense of what he&#x27;s up to. Why it matters: The tussle haired billionaire filed a Schedule 13-D form with the SEC to disclose the $648.3 billion purchase. Filing a &quot;D&quot; means he is technically not a passive investor (that&#x27;s a 13-G) and instead can take an activist position to transform the company by pushing various changes, if he chooses.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Google announced on Wednesday a host of new features around its payments product, including virtual cards that will give consumers more security by hiding their credit or debit card numbers from merchants.

Why it matters: Google's announcement illustrates one reason why one-click checkout-only businesses (ahem, Bolt and Fast) struggle to grow: They're competing not only with each other but with the tech giants.

Details: While many consumers are using one-click checkout buttons, a significant portion are still entering their card information manually on the web, says Bill Ready, president of commerce at Google.

The new virtual card product would address this second cohort of users. Set to be available in its Chrome browser later this year, the cards will be offered via the autofill feature.

Of note: One-click checkout companies generally charge merchants a fee to use their product, which aims to simplify the buying experience by having consumers store their information with a company for repeated use.

That's prevented one-click — which Ready calls push-button — from becoming more ubiquitous. The new virtual card, however, does not require merchants to sign up or pay for the services.

"It creates ubiquity for the consumer, by not having a separate signup process," he says. "It also creates ubiquity for the merchant."

Ready believes the security provided by virtual cards will benefit smaller businesses — which may lack brand recognition and trust —the most.

Google is not charging for the product because the company believes it is a feature of a broader ecosystem that will keep consumers and merchants in the family, so to speak.

"When you have a common store of digital credentials, it's built in an open ecosystem way that can connect with other experiences," Ready says.

Google boosts payments, rolling out virtual cards

The move is yet another sign why one-click checkout is challenging for startups.

Illustration of a credit card as a shopping cart

Google announced on Wednesday a host of new features around its payments product, including virtual cards that will give consumers more security by hiding their credit or debit card numbers from merchants.Why it matters: Google&#x27;s announcement illustrates one reason why one-click checkout-only businesses (ahem, Bolt and Fast) struggle to grow: They&#x27;re competing not only with each other but with the tech giants.

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Celsius preps IPO for mining subsidiary

Coinbase slows hiring as crypto prices dive

Goldman leads round in Alan Howard's crypto company, Elwood

What does Sam Bankman-Fried want with Robinhood?

Google boosts payments, rolling out virtual cards

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Fintech: Coinbase slows hiring

Fintech: Goldman's crypto hand

Fintech: Samholder activist

Fintech: Google's payments play

Fintech: ☠️ UST's spiral