Top stories today:

1. Solana surpasses Ethereum in stablecoin, NFT volume, search traffic
2. Tesla sells 485K EVs in Q4, less than BYD's 526K
3. X brings back headlines in link previews, but now they're tiny
4. Streaming subscription churn climbs to 6% per month
5. Convertible debt issuance +77% YoY to $48B in 2023 in U.S.

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0. Data and calendar

1. Solana surpasses Ethereum in stablecoin, NFT volume, Google search traffic

Solana reached $103B in stablecoin volume in the past week, vs. $91B for Ethereum, $82B for Tron, and $15B for BNB Chain:

• NFT sales topped $366M in Dec., also more than Ethereum's.

Solana's Google traffic (blue) flipped Ethereum's (red) in mid-December

• Solana's price has 11x’ed since Jan. 2023, climbing from $10 to $109 — currently at $62B market cap.

2. Tesla sells 485K EVs in Q4, less than BYD's 526K

• Better than estimates of 483K.

  • Repeated price cuts were done by Tesla in 2023.

  • BYD doesn't sell in the U.S., where its vehicles would face a 27.5% tariff.

• Rivian delivered 14K vehicles to customers in Q4.

• 80% of cars sold in Norway are EVs.

Our view: the U.S. still leads in innovation (0 to 1), while China is great at globalization (1 to many)

• Tesla can differentiate with Full Self Driving, as this sort of advanced AI software may be harder to copy than automotive hardware.

4. X brings back headlines in link previews, but now they're tiny

• Only on the web.

• iOS change likely soon, while Android never stopped showing headlines.

• Aug. 2023: X originally removed headlines in a bid for publishers to post on the platform and increase their ad budgets.

A new Verified Organizations Basic tier, for $200/mo (rather than $1,000/mo), has also been launched

5. Streaming subscription churn climbs to 6% per month, as resubscriptions, ad-supported tiers are also high

39% of customers who canceled a major streamer resubscribed within 11 months

More than 50% of new customers to Disney+, Max opted for an ad-supported tier

6. Convertible debt issuance +77% YoY to $48B in 2023 in U.S.

• Convertibles allow issuers to postpone a potential down round and reduce the nominal interest rate paid on debt, both of general interest to companies in a down market.

7. Hong Kong IPOs raise $5.9B in 2023, 20-year low

8. Starlink for phone satellites 1st launched to space, currently 7Mb per beam

Read more: The Verge.

9. Claudine Gay resigns as Harvard's president, as successor is unclear

Interim president Alan Garber is the 2nd favorite to become Harvard's next permanent president, behind former HBS president Nitin Nohria, according to prediction markets:

Bill Ackman celebrated the news, suggesting MIT president Sally Kornbluth should be next

10. Trump sues Maine's secretary of state over primary ballot removal

• The removal had been halted anyway pending Maine's Superior Court review.

• A map to track the efforts to remove the former President from the 2024 ballot:

2024 will be a year marked by several Trump trials, with the federal election one scheduled for Mar. 4

11. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

12. Other headlines

AI

• Robin AI, legal copilot, raises $26M Series B.

Tech

• Canva's employees to sell $1B in tender offer at $26B valuation.

• Cybertruck charges from 20% to 80% in 40 minutes.

• Frontdesk, startup managing 1K furnished apartments, to shut down.

• Facebook launches way for users to disallow Link History tracking.

• Vision Pro patent with Jony Ive shows users using it as sunglasses.

  • Jan. 26 potential launch date.

• The CEO Report: become a better leader by subscribing, 100% free.*

• toddle: no-code tool to develop web apps 10x faster.*

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Tech & law

• China removes video game regulator after turmoil.

• Beijing only approves ¼ of data export requests.

• Pornhub now blocked in Montana, North Carolina.

• Israel sets aside $100M for startup grants, $41M already distributed.

Biotech

• Novartis, Voyager launching another gene therapy satellite with $100M.

• Biopharma layoffs rose 57% YoY in 2023, to 187 workforce reductions.

Business

• D.E. Shaw's largest hedge fund gained 10% in 2023.

• Argentina, IMF close to agreeing on delayed review of $44B program.

• Arrived: learn how to invest as little as $100 in fractional real estate, which has outperformed the S&P500 over the past 20 years.*

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Crypto

• Exchange volume reaches $1.1T in Dec. 2023, highest since Sep. 2022.

• Microstrategy CEO to sell $216M in stock options.

• Fidelity sets BTC ETF fee at 0.39%, as expected approval nears.

• Jupiter, #1 Solana dex, to airdrop JUP toward end of Jan.

U.S. politics

• Harvard president Claudine Gay resigns.

• Missile production in U.S. lags behind China: a look at.

• Ray Epps, Jan. 6 defendant, may face 6 months in prison.

• Haley, DeSantis to debate on CNN on Jan. 10 at 9 PM ET.

• Trump, Vivek to hold separate events to compete with debate.

• Sean Hannity moves from NY to FL.

World

• Hamas deputy head killed in likely Israeli strike in Beirut.

• 40-for-120 hostage swap, 40-day ceasefire proposed by Hamas.

• U.S. intel confident Hamas used largest Gaza hospital for terrorism.

• Turkey arrests 33 foreign nationals charged with spying for Israel.

• Japan plane crash kills 5 on Coast Guard plane: how most escaped.

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