Crypto Rattled By Senate

Today is Monday, August 2, 2021. Here is everything that you need to know today to be a savvy retail investor.

Infrastructure Bill Rattles Crypto Traders

As the United States Senate finalizes its bipartisan infrastructure bill, a preliminary draft obtained by The New York Times alleges that there would be a new reporting requirement for certain cryptocurrency brokers.

Trouble: Critics of the bill say that there’s a very broad definition of a crypto broker, which could apply to a lot of people and could negatively impact the price of crypto.

Some context: The crypto industry has never dealt with large-scale regulations and taxes before in the U.S.

Crypto Prices: Bitcoin is down more than 4% in the past day. Dogecoin is down 2% in that time. Ethereum is up .4%, so it's not all bad.

Final Thoughts: The legislation itself has not been finalized and there could potentially be new amendments.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Square (NYSE: SQ), HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HSBC), Heineken N.V. (OTCMKTS: HEINY)

Notable IPOs Today: Jaws Hurricane Acquisition Corp. Class A Common Stock (Nasdaq: HCNE), Rover Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ROVR)

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Recreational equipment rental platform SurfUp (Microventures), pizza restaurant Pizza Grace (MainVest)

Metaverse Popularity Soars After Zuckerberg Remarks

During last week’s earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) would transform from a social media company to a metaverse company.

Definition: Metaverse refers to the sum of all the experiences in the digital and virtual worlds. It’s a concept that has been around for nearly 30 years, but it has picked up steam in the past few years as tech companies imagine new ways for people to live, work and play in a computer-simulated environment.

Popularity Upswing: According to Google Trends, searches for the word ‘metaverse’ have more than doubled since last week’s Facebook earnings call.

Facebook’s Role: Zuckerberg identified two potential ways for Facebook to capitalize on its investments in the metaverse: virtual reality devices and advertisements for digital goods.

Back to Reality: Facebook’s bet on the metaverse could pay off for the company and for investors, but it could take years before it comes to fruition.

Final Thoughts: In addition to Facebook, there are also other companies - both public and private - that are developing metaverse technologies. Details about investment opportunities in the metaverse will be shared every day this week on Early Bird.

Covid Outbreaks Sink Cruise Stocks

Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) announced that six passengers on its Adventure of the Seas cruise ship tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. Four of the guests were vaccinated, were not traveling together and only one had mild symptoms. Two unvaccinated minors also tested positive.

Guests on Royal Caribbean cruises five nights or longer through August 31st must produce a negative Covid-19 test.

Sinking Stocks: News of the infections scared investors on Friday with Royal Caribbean’s stock dropping 3.94%. Carnival (NYSE: CCL) plummeted 4.67% and Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) fell 5.06%.

Flashback: Although cruise industry stocks plummeted more than 70% during the onset of the pandemic, investors benefited as the stocks recovered in 2020 and prices more than doubled over the year.

Look Ahead: Royal Caribbean is slated to report earnings on Wednesday and Norwegian will do so on Friday.

Opportunity: Prices for the three major cruise stocks prices have dropped more than 10% this month, resulting in an opportunity for investors looking for a deal. More cruise sailings will increase as the economy reopens from the pandemic.

Trends To Watch

Step Forward In Germany: German Institutional Funds Allowed up to 20% in Crypto Holdings (Bloomberg / Yahoo)

A New Equity Crowdfunding Platform Record: StartEngine Claims Top Spot in Reg CF & Reg A+ Raises During Q2 2021 (Crowd Fund Insider)