Dear Studio Fam,
This week’s theme is conflict, and is based on the idea that the fights between competitors can lead to good outcomes for consumers and audiences. First up is an announcement about a new regulator-friendly crypto business informed by recent fights between the SEC and other crypto players. Then we spotlight the potential for a literal fight between two tech leaders, check in on the FTC’s latest bout with Big Tech, and review how the fight for sustainable transport is succeeding in the aviation industry. Finally we look at a fight between artists and AI enthusiasts over the visuals in a new television show.
EDX Markets Launches Backed by Schwab, Fidelity, & Sequoia
A new digital asset platform launched this week backed by traditional finance titans Schwab and Fidelity, joined by top tier tech VCs such as Sequoia Capital. EDX Markets is now live, offering “financial industry leaders” a marketplace for a limited selection of crypto assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
EDX Markets is not a retail brokerage or exchange, meaning it does not have to register its operations with the SEC. Its users will be institutional investors and traditional brokerages that want access to a marketplace that provides pricing information for specific crypto assets. The “non-custodial model” ensures there is no conflict of interest inherent to its pricing data; EDX will not hold any crypto assets itself but rather provide pricing and liquidity information to established broker-dealers that are looking to fulfill their retail orders.
EDX Markets also announced that its product development pipeline includes a dedicated clearinghouse function to allow their participants to settle trades against a single counterparty. This structure aligns with established best-practices in the securities broking industry that require broker-dealers, exchanges, and clearinghouses to operate separate businesses to ensure that retail customers’ orders are executed against the best possible price and that all parties to the transaction actually have the assets and capital on hand to fulfill the purchase contract. This is in stark contrast to other crypto businesses such as Coinbase which have sought “regulatory clarity” permitting them to dilute investor protection rules and combine these functions into one business.
Mark Zuckerbeg Might Fight Elon Musk, Literally
Rumor has it that Meta is working on a “sane Twitter clone,” and Elon Musk isn’t too happy about it. In response to a random Twitter user’s joke that Elon should be careful of Zuckerberg’s newfound jiu jitsu skills, he jokingly replied “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.” Amazingly, the Meta CEO replied “send me location” and multiple tech reporters are now claiming that this might actually happen. Musk has repeatedly stated in interviews and online that “the most entertaining outcome is the most likely” so start preparing yourself mentally for the reality of a cage fight between two billionaires.
FTC Sues Amazon for Prime Dark UX
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has continued her campaign against Big Tech malpractice with a new lawsuit against Amazon. The suit, filed this week in Federal Court in Washington State, alleges that Amazon employed the controversial product design strategy of “Dark UX” to trick Amazon customers into costly Prime memberships and make it unnecessarily difficult for Prime Members to cancel their subscriptions. The Amazon suit follows other lawsuits filed by Khan’s FTC targeting businesses that make it hard to cancel subscriptions and social media companies that don’t properly disclose their data collection practices.
The lawsuit identifies a number of product design choices by Amazon that tilt the user experience of a random Amazon customer towards subscribing to Amazon’s Prime Service, the $129 per year plan that grants discounted shipping costs and access to Amazon’s video content. Specifically, the complaint identifies instances where Amazon designed product detail pages that are more difficult for non-Prime members to use and designed “buy now” buttons across apps and smart devices that did not disclose that the purchase included a Prime subscription. Finally, the suit identifies multiple redundant steps designed into the Prime cancellation flow and hilariously makes references to internal Amazon documents that specifically called the cancellation flow design process “Project Iliad.” The Iliad is a 15,000 line Ancient Greek poem.
Electric Aircraft Spotlight at Paris Air Show
The Paris Air Show is a yearly event in which aviation enthusiasts and industry leaders come together to show off new products and announce major partnerships. While the world’s largest aircraft order ever dominated the headlines, multiple electric aircraft operators announced new models and sales to partners around the globe. Here is a rundown of some of the most interesting new electric aircraft:
Volocopter 2X: German company Volocopter announced its newest model that will provide air taxi service at the next Olympics in Paris.
Wisk Aero: American autonomous electric aircraft maker Wisk debuted its sixth generation model supported by its new parent company Boeing. It has a 90 mile range and is planned for operation by 2030.
VoltAero Cassio 330: A hybrid gas/electric aircraft, the Cassio 330 is powered exclusively by electric motors but has batteries that can be recharged midflight by a small onboard gasoline engine.
Velis Electro Pipistrel: A conventional airplane but powered exclusively by electric batteries and motors, this Slovenian-made aircraft will look familiar to Cessna fans. It’s available for purchase now and is designed for basic flight training.