This Week in Startups: SBF buys the crypto dip, hedge funds short Tether, VC funding down, flying nuclear cruise mockup | E1495

First, we dig into the crypto contagion where FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is stepping in to backstop crypto lenders (2:56). Then, we check in on the billions of dollars sitting in SPACs- remember those (39:27)? We do a quick hit on the venture market drying up in Q2 (54:27) before we get into our We Live in the Future: a mockup of a SkyCruise luxury airliner that uses nuclear power and never lands (1:16:36).

(0:00) Jason and Molly tee up today’s show!

(2:56) FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried seems to be acting as the crypto industry's personal backstop right now

(11:25) Embroker - Get an extra 10% off insurance for your business at https://Embroker.com/twist

(12:38) Reaction to SBF crypto bailouts/loans

(17:47) Traders short Tether: According to WSJ, multiple hedge funds have shorted Tether in trades worth hundreds of millions of dollars

(22:24) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(23:41) Tether’s CTO’s tweet storm

(33:52) Thorne - Personalized, scientific wellness. Go to https://Thorne.com/u/TWIST

(35:08) Gary Gensler clip: “tokens have key assets of securities besides bitcoin”

(39:27) Well over $100B sitting in SPACs looking for companies to invest in

(54:27) VC funding is down to the lowest levels since 2020

(1:16:36) WLITF: SkyCruise, a flying hotel that never lands

(1:23:30) Coming up on This Week in Startups