The Purse
The Purse
Global stocks are now worth 128% of global GDP, bitcoin's price dip, ether's new ATH, Baillie Gifford invests $100m in Blockchain.com, PensionBee's IPO, and what is the gender credit score gap?
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Global stocks are now worth 128% of global GDP, bitcoin's price dip, ether's new ATH, Baillie Gifford invests $100m in Blockchain.com, PensionBee's IPO, and what is the gender credit score gap?

Welcome to our #66 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a female lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova


From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder


The Buffett Indicator has hit an all-time high. Global stocks are now worth 128% of global GDP, moving further into bubble territory.

In the US, jobless claims fall again: first-time claims for unemployment benefit totalled 547,000, well below the Dow Jones estimate for 603,000.

Covid has pushed UK government borrowing to a peacetime record of £303bn, however the deficit was £24bn (2020/21) less than the £327bn pencilled in at the time.

UK retail sales jump 5.4% in March and the partial reopening of Britain’s locked down economy has stimulated the fastest private sector growth in more than eight years (in April).

Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin has plummeted $15,000+ since its all-time high (close to $65,000). Half a trillion has been wiped from the crypto market.

Ether reached a new all-time high at $2,645.97 on Thursday.

However, on Friday bitcoin and ether pulled back sharply on speculation that U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to raise capital gains taxes will curb investment in digital assets.

Baillie Gifford, the institutional money manager which oversees $445bn in assets, has invested $100m in one of UK’s biggest crypto startups, Blockchain.com.

On Tuesday Venmo, the peer-to-peer payment service (US), started allowing users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies on its app: this could inspire more mainstream adoption of the asset class.

Meanwhile three ether ETFs launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

And TIME has partnered with Crypto.com and now accepts payment for its digital subscriptions in crypto.

In the Future Focus section, read about the UK Chancellor announcing a taskforce on the Bank of England digital currency. And leading finance firms sign up to Mark Carney’s forum on low-carbon investment.

PensionBee has debuted on the London Stock Exchange at a £365m valuation.

And Netflix lost $20bn in market cap (Wednesday) after subscriber growth fell short of forecasts.

In the Have You Seen This? section, read about the gender credit score gap and why women’s lower credit scores mean they pay nearly £17,000 more to borrow.

And we are tracking Starling Bank: the UK digital challenger bank, founded by CEO Anne Boden. Last month the bank announced a £272m Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research which valued it in excess of £1.1bn pre-money.

On Monday, Starling Bank said Goldman Sachs investment marked an extension of the oversubscribed round, taking the total raised to £322m.

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Jana


The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators



Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights


  • Bitcoin’s price crash and half a trillion dollars are wiped from the crypto market

    • The price of bitcoin has plummeted $15,000 from its recent all-time high (close to $65,000), falling below $50,000 for the first time since March.

    • The cryptocurrency reached as low as $48,500 on Friday morning but has since recovered slightly. See the bitcoin price today.

    • Half a trillion ($500bn) has been wiped from the crypto market.

    • Last weekend, bitcoin saw one of its largest days of long liquidations in history. The massive leverage that been in the Bitcoin derivates markets was wiped out and caused the rapid price decline (source: Pomp newsletter)

    • See bitcoin price.

  • Bitcoin and ether fall over Biden tax plans

    • On Friday, bitcoin and ether pulled back sharply on speculation that U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to raise capital gains taxes will curb investment in digital assets.

      • On Thursday, Biden unveiled a raft of proposed changes to the U.S. tax code, including a plan to nearly double taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for people earning more than $1m.

      • Ether plunged more than 10% to as low as $2,140 and bitcoin fell 3.44% to $49,903.71.

  • Ether (ETH) reaches a new ATH, expected to raise further

  • Baillie Gifford backs crypto with $100m in Blockchain.com

    • Baillie Gifford (money manager) oversees $445bn in assets, has been a prominent investor in some of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile names including Tesla. 

      • Their $100m investment is the largest in Blockchain.com (a crypto wallet provider and one of UK’s biggest crypto startups) to date, according to Peter Smith (Co-Founder & CEO).

      • According to Smith: ‘It’s also a validation that a balanced and diversified retail/institutional business has incredible growth potential in the coming years.’

  • US: PayPal’s Venmo launches crypto buying and selling

    • On Tuesday Venmo, (the peer-to-peer payment service) has started allowing users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies on its app which could inspire more mainstream adoption of the asset class.

      • Venmo users will be able to buy bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash for as little as $1 and publish transactions on the app's feed.

      • Square rival Cash App, which has allowed cryptocurrency purchases since 2018, has seen user growth boom over the last year.

      • More than 30% of Venmo customers have purchased crypto or equities, 20% of which started buying during the pandemic, the 2020 Venmo Customer Behaviour Study found.


Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future


  • Leading finance firms sign up to Mark Carney forum on low-carbon investment

    • Banks and financial institutions with more than $70tn assets have pledged to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and ensure their investment portfolios align with the science on the climate.

    • In the initiative, chaired by Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, 160 companies, including 43 banks from 23 countries, will set targets to cut the carbon content of their assets by 2030, in line with an overall goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

      • The forum, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, aims to encourage the financial sector to divert investment towards low-carbon infrastructure and technologies, and to discourage high-carbon investments.


Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements


  • PensionBee IPO: fintech debuts on the London Stock Exchange at £365m valuation

    • PensionBee (pensions provider) launched on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday with its shares priced at 165p, the mid-point of the 155-175p range. That gave PensionBee a valuation of £365m on admission.

    • PensionBee is listed under the £PBEE ticker.

    • PensionBee will begin unconditional trading on Monday 26 April, at which time the fintech will also be admitted to the High Growth Segment of the London Stock Exchange main market.

    • CEO Romi Savova said: ‘We are delighted with the strong support that we have received from institutional investors and our customers, who understand the importance of our vision, to simplify pensions so that everyone can look forward to a happy retirement’.

  • Netflix loses $20bn on market cap after subscriber growth falls short of forecasts

    • Netflix shares tumbled as much as 8% on Wednesday, wiping $20bn off the video-streaming platform's market cap.

    • Global paid memberships grew to 208m, missing its forecast of 210m.

    • It added fewer than 4m subscribers - less than half the 8.5m it signed up in the preceding quarter, and a quarter of the almost 16m it attracted in the first quarter of 2020.

    • Netflix also signalled its subscriber growth is yet to recover:

      • It expects to add only 1m memberships this quarter, down from 10m in the second quarter of 2020.


Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns


  • Women’s lower credit scores mean they pay nearly £17,000 more to borrow

    • Women have a lower average credit score (652) compared with men (705), according to new research from credit report and credit score provider Credit Karma.

    • Over the course of a lifetime, this is estimated to cost women an additional £16,913 when taking out financial products such as personal loans, credit cards and mortgages.

    • Why is there a gender credit score gap?

      • Credit Karma’s research shows that 31% of women have some or all of their financial agreements in their partner’s name.

      • Women were less likely to have credit cards (70% vs 76%), mortgages (40% vs 47%) and personal loans (29% vs 38%) than men.

      • However, women were more likely to use ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) products compared with men (25% vs 19%).

      • Credit Karma also found that financial disengagement was higher among women than men, with 41% of women saying they don’t know their credit score, compared with 35% of men.

Know this: make sure your bills or sources of credit are in your name. Don’t miss a payment and register to vote. Check your credit score regularly so that you know what may be adversely affecting your credit score and how you can fix it. Stay on top of your credit score and perhaps find an accountability partner who can support you in this process.


What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research.


  • Starling Bank (UK): a digital challenger bank founded by CEO Anne Boden:

    • Starling Bank has extended its latest funding round with a £50m investment from Goldman Sachs.

    • Last month it announced a £272m Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research which valued it in excess of £1.1bn pre-money.

    • On Monday, Starling Bank said Goldman Sachs investment marked an extension of the oversubscribed round, taking the total raised to £322m.

    • It said the funding would be used to support its ‘continued rapid and now profitable growth’.

    • Since launching in 2017 Starling has attracted more than 2m customers and is one of the few challenger banks to have turned a profit in the past year.

    • Its gross lending now exceeds £2bn, while deposits have reached more than £5.4bn.


Coffee Break? Read This



We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

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