 |
|
|
|||||
Robinhood cofounder and CEO Vlad Tenev channeled Hollywood glamour last month in Cannes at an extravagantly produced event unveiling of the trading platforms newest products, including a tokenized shares offering designed to give investors exposure to private companies like SpaceX and OpenAI, as well as public companies like Microsoft and Nvidia. For crypto enthusiasts, it was a watershed moment: A major trading platform was finally breaking down the barriers between traditional equities and blockchain technologies. The time is now for crypto to move beyond Bitcoin and memecoins and introduce fundamental utility, Tenev told Bloomberg Television. We think, in the future, crypto and traditional financial services will fully merge, and crypto will become the infrastructure layer behind all kinds of financial services. But Tenevs moment of triumph was short-lived. First, OpenAI cautioned Robinhood customers to be careful, noting on X that tokenized shares are not OpenAI equity. Then, this week, the Securities and Exchange Commissions cryptocurrency task force leader released a statement saying that tokenized securities are still securities. While the statement did not represent an official shift in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) policy, it did serve as a signal that U.S. regulators are monitoring tokenization with a critical eye. (For now, Robinhoods tokenized shares are only available in Europe.) Despite the controversy, at least half a dozen companies are racing to develop tokenized versions of traditional equities. Heres what you need to know: What are tokenized shares? Tokenized shares are digital versions of stocks or other securities that mimic the valuation of the real-world version. They give buyers exposure to the traditional equities without giving them governance rights. How do they work? Tokenized shares can work one of two ways: In the first case, the trading platform acquires shares in a company, and then issues tokens for those shares. There is a one-to-one relationship between the underlying shares held by the trading platform and the tokens that the platform issues. In the second case, the trading platform issues tokens without acquiring any underlying shares, while promising to tie the value of its token to the real-world securitys value. The onus here is on the trading platform to be able to cover any gains through its own investment and hedging strategies. Robinhood has said it will own the shares backing its tokens and will provide token holders with benefits including dividends. Which trading platforms are offering tokenized shares? Many of the leading crypto trading platforms, including Coinbase and Kraken, are in the process of developing tokenized shares. Coinbase is still in talks with the SEC, while Kraken launched its xStocks product, which includes over 50 U.S. equities, in select non-U.S. markets in May. Kraken backs its xStocks one-to-one with traditional equities. Republic, an investment platform known for its private market and crowdfunding solutions, is calling its tokenized shares mirror tokens and is currently operating a waitlist for unicorns including SpaceX, Anthropic, and Ramp. Its capping investor participation at $5,000, and does not plan to acquire shares. Youre not buying a SPV [special purpose vehicle] interest in SpaceX, says Mario Lattuga, Republics head of legal. What you’re doing is, you want to participate in that prospective upside. And it’s as much of a bet on Republic as it is on that underlying company. Jarsy, founded by former Facebook and Uber executive Han Qin, is one of several younger startups focused on tokenized shares. Jarsy closed its $5 million seed round last month. What is the argument in favor of tokenization? Proponents of tokenization view it as a way to increase access to private markets and modernize public markets. In the U.S., only accredited investors are allowed to invest in private companiesand even for accredited investors, its extraordinarily difficult to buy shares of a unicorn like SpaceX. Younger generations of investors, in particular, see the opportunity to get in early on future unicorns as important to their financial success. In parallel, proponents of public company tokenization view the model as a way to increase markets speed, efficiency, accessibility, and cost. Robinhood is aiming to demonstrate those benefits by making its tokenized shares tradable 24 hours a day, five days a week. Over time, Robinhood aims to eliminate even blockchain middlemen and run token trading on its own infrastructure. What are the risks associated with tokenization? For companies, token markets have the potential to undermine control. A private company raising a fundraising round, for example, might struggle to convince investors of its target strike price if the companys tokens are trading at a lower price. For retail investors, there are a multitude of risks, which can vary depending on the specific terms being offered by the trading platform. Some platforms are imposing liquidity constraints, for example. Plus, there has been no official rulemaking around the products, making it unclear what recourse will be available to investors in the event of a trading platforms collapse or other potential problems. What are regulators saying about tokenized shares? The S.E.C.s crypto task force held a hearing on tokenization in May. Hester Pierce, the task forces leader and an S.E.C. commissioner, indicated in her recent statements that tokenized shares should be treated as securities, or tradable financial instruments, which would make them subject to government oversight. She also noted that the S.E.C. was also willing to collaborate with trading platforms. We stand ready to work with market participants to craft appropriate exemptions and modernize rules, she said. For now, though, the products are in the same kind of regulatory limbo that has plagued some aspects of crypto for years. Is this the first time that platforms have tried to make a go of it with tokenized equities? No. In 2021, crypto exchange Binance launched tokenized U.S. stocks, including for Apple and Tesla. But Binance scrubbed the effort just months later, after regulators balked. Why has OpenAI been the most vocal in its resistance to tokenization? OpenAIs famously complex corporate structure may play a role in its cautionary tone. Startup Jarsy, for example, does not plan to list OpenAI tokens. Jarsy could have tried to acquire OpenAI preferred shares through an existing investor, but decided to pass because of the risks associated with tying tokens t a company with a murky governance structure. OpenAI is a nonprofit company; the shares theyre offering are not exactly shares, says Qin. Why are so many companies launching tokenized shares now? The Trump administration is seen as crypto-friendly. If Trumps SEC allows tokenized shares to move forward, it could be difficult for a future administration to walk the decision back.
Category:
E-Commerce
What does Krogers brand sound like? Until recently, no one knew. And then on June 25, the grocery behemoth (which includes regional chains like King Soopers, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, and Pick’n Save) launched its first-ever sonic identity. Theres a succinct sonic logo (think Netflixs tudum), a full brand theme song, and moreso as it turns out, this is officially what Kroger sounds like: Its an upbeat earworm youre going to be hearing a lot of in grocery stores, on TV, and everywhere the Kroger family of brands reaches. But its no mere jingle, and theres a surprising amount of strategy and craft behind such an audio signatureand real financial impact as well, notes John Taite, EVP of global brand partnerships and development at Made Music Studio, which created the work. People think about what they see, but they feel what they hear, he says. And it’s apropos, because, well, there’s always an emotional element to any sort of purchase decision. THE SOUND OF ‘KROJIS‘ The work comes at the tail of a five-year brand revamp at Kroger, the largest U.S. supermarket chain by revenue. Its family of brands across the U.S. had essentially operated as independent entities from a marketing perspective, but around 20192020, the company decided to begin uniting them in a more intentional way. Tom Duncan, Krogers VP, head of marketing, says the initiative began with the launch of the brands animated Kroji characters (a portmanteau of Kroger and emoji), and continued with the debut of the fresh cart logo in 2021, which like the Krojis was rolled out to all Kroger markets and sub-brands. Now, the sonic identity is the latest tool in Krogers bid to unify everything under one marketing roof. We believe that this makes our advertising work harder to drive more traffic and sales, Duncan says. In a holistic system standpoint, creating consistent, distinctive assets and engaging more of the customers senses are a way to make it work harder for usand be more memorable over time. FINDING THE INEVITABLE Taite says that in Made Musics competitive analysis, they found that grocery as a category was lacking or inconsistent when it came to sonic logos. No one was embracing sonic design in a truly comprehensive way, so in a cluttered marketplace, that presented an opportunity. The development process of the new work took around a year, and Taite says his team began with a deep immersion. I don’t want to say we become musical detectives, but we almost become like method actors. We have to live and breathe and really experience the brand, and that’s why spending a lot of time with the team members, looking at the places where the work will live in the world, and understanding the brand’s place in culture as well is a really important starting point. Duncan adds that everyone from store managers to Krogers comms and marketing teams were involved, and the process was deeply collaborative. As Made Music worked to absorb the brand, they began to build a foundation to work towardto find the almost inevitable sound of a brand, as Taite puts it. They seized on notions of fresh, friendly, relatable, and playful, and envisioned Kroger a bit like a weddinga space thats a multigenerational gathering point, with music elevating the experience. And from there, they began to give dimensionality those notions with sound. Contrary to what you might expect, Made Music does not start by making the core sonic logo of a few seconds, but rather the larger brand theme. Even though consumers might not ever hear it, Taite says it offers the blueprint for all of the subsequent campaign materials, including the logo, which is a distillation of the longer piece. When it came to translating Krogers brand values into audio, we know exactly what types of sounds can stimulate particular emotional responses, Taite says, citing the companys decades of experience. Here, that translated to an uplifting track with welcoming rhythms and jazz vibes, where the sound of all the instruments working together mirrors the notion of inviting everyone in. (Theres a bit of an Easter egg, too: Kroger is synonymous with the color blue, and the sonic identity features a blue note, which in music is essentially a note at an alternate pitch.) ART + SCIENCE Similar to disciplines like brand naming, all of this might seem a bit subjective and nebulous. How do you know if youre actually on the right track? Taite says Made Music has worked with the market research firm Sentient Decision Science for a number of yearsand this project rated the highest of any sonic identity his company has ever developed. Per Duncan on the Kroger side, There’s an element of art and science hereand obviously, the science part gives us confidence. After being presented with options from Made Music, the Kroger team seized on the winning concept right away. Given that Kroger had involved so many stakeholders throughout, Taite says, there was a sense of pride and enthusiasm around the work, which he adds has yielded one of the fastest rollouts in the organizations history. That little earworm melody that we created, the more you hear it, the more you think it’s always been there, Taite says. That’s the lightning-in-the-bottle moment that we’re always, always searching for.
Category:
E-Commerce
In May of 1995, the video game industry hosted its first major trade show. Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was designed to shine a spotlight on games, and every major player wanted to stand in it. Sega believed it had figured out how to command that spotlight. Riding high on the success of the Sega Genesis, the company unveiled the Sega Saturn at its press conference. After a quirky segment that resembled one of Sega’s off-the-wall commercials, Tom Kalinske, CEO of Sega of America, delivered a bombshell announcement. “Since I began my remarks with an announcement, I might as well finish with another: We started our rollout of the Sega Saturn yesterday,” he said. “We’re at retail today in 1,800 Toys “R” Us, Software Etc., and Electronics Boutique stores around the U.S. and Canada.” Sega hoped it would be a mic drop moment. Instead, it marked the beginning of the end for the companys hardware business. What the press conference audience didnt know was that Kalinske had strongly opposed the early launch. He had argued fiercely with Segas Japanese leadership, pointing to his past success with the Genesis in the U.S. and warning that a surprise launch without a proper marketing ramp-up wouldn’t work. But his objections were overruled. This story is part of 1995 Week, where well revisit some of the most interesting, unexpected, and confounding developments in tech 30 years ago. “[I] didnt understand why this was occurring,” he told TimeExtension in 2022. “I was forced to introduce it. We didnt have enough hardware. We didnt have enough software. And then, to make matters worse, we were forced to introduce it five months earlier than we wanted.” Segas announcement turned headsbut they quickly turned again when Sony held its own press conference later that day. After showcasing the PlayStation and a long list of development partners, Olaf Olafsson, head of Sony America, invited Steve Race (formerly Segas own marketing chief) to the stage. Race approached the podium, put down his notes, and simply said: “299,” then walked away. That one number undercut the Saturn and every other console on the market by $100. By the time Sega abandoned the Saturn just three years later, it had sold fewer than 2 million units in the U.S. The company would release one final systemthe Dreamcastin 1998 in Japan and 1999 in the U.S. But the Saturns mishandled launch had already altered Segas trajectory forever. A Doomed Launch “The Saturn was dead before it came out because of the poor decision-making Sega had made,” says Chris Kohler, a video game historian and editorial director at Digital Eclipse Entertainment Partners. When it came out in Japan, Sega was also launching 32X, an add-on for the Sega Genesis. . . . All it ended up doing was completely confusing consumers. They had no idea what to buy.” Despite that confusion, the Saturn had a decent launch in Japan. Its game lineup appealed to local tastes, especially with a home version of Virtua Fighter, a massive arcade hit. But American gamers were harder to win over. While titles like Panzer Dragoon and Clockwork Knight have dedicated fanbases today, they werent enough to justify a $399 console (about $842 in todays dollars). I tried and tried to get the launch pushed back so that we had some actual software to support it, Kalinske told TimeExtension. I was not successful. I had four glorious years where Sega Japan pretty much let me do whatever I felt was right, and then that stopped. One of the Saturns most glaring missteps was the lack of a Sonic the Hedgehog gamenot just at launch, but throughout its entire lifespan. At the time, Sonic was at the height of his popularity. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 had sold 4 million copies the year prior. He also starred in a Saturday morning cartoon and the CGI-animated series Sonic Boom on Cartoon Network. Launching a Sega console without Sonic was like launching a Nintendo console without Mario. The surprise launch strategy also backfired on Sega in another way. “Essentially, they kneecapped themselves,” says Kohler. “They can only ship it to certain retailers, so the retailers that don’t get those early shipments get burned and they don’t want to stock Sega products anymore. . . . Consumers didn’t have the ability to get excited or put down preorders. It hit the market without any buildup.” An Unexpected Fight Sega knew Sony would bring the PlayStation to the U.S., but didnt initially view it as a serious threat. By the mid-1990s, lots of big, non-gaming focused companies had tried to step into the videogame world. Magnavox had released several versions of the Odyssey in the 1970s. Philips had released the CD-i a few years prior to the Saturn’s introduction. The Neo Geo was already on the market and the TurboGrafx-16 had just been discontinued. But Sony was different. Aggressive and well-prepared, its $299 price point stunned the industry. “We didnt know they were going to do it, and when they did, we were like: ‘We are screwed here,'” said Kalinske. “We werent making money at $399, so we had a problem. Consumers responded immediately. Retailers increased orders, and developers rushed to work with the PlayStation. “All of these big hardware makers were coming into the video game industry and falling on their face,” says Kohler. “Sony, of all of them, comes in and is not only successful but outrageously successful.” Executive Departures Kalinskes frustrations continued after the Saturn launch, and in July of the following year, he resignedthough he remained on the board. Bernard Stolar, who had been instrumental in launching the PlayStation, took over at Sega. His first move was to abandon the Saturn. When I got to Sega I immediately said, We have to kill Saturn. We have to stop Saturn and start building the new technology. Thats what I did. I brought in a new team of people and cleaned house. . . . I took the company down to 90 employees to start rebuilding, Stolar, who died in 2022, once told GamesBeat. That team created the Dreamcast, which performed well in the U.S. but not well enough to restore Segas dominanceespecially as Microsoft prepared to enter the market. Lacking the resources to compete with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, Sega exited the hardware business. Today, Sega is part of Sammy Corp. and focuses solely on software, with franchises ranging from Angry Birds to Total Warand of course, Sonic, who now stars in a successful film series. Still, it’s hard not to ask, What if? What if Sega had waited until September to launch the Saturn, as originally planned? What if it had a stronger launch lineup for the U.S. market? There are no answers, only the reality that the Saturns missteps reshaped the industry. “In a lot of ways, it was Sega’s to lose and they just fumbled it,” says Kohler.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||