How the Tables Turn — Back in the olden days of the late 20th century, generations of workers in the U.S. largely followed the playbook of “climbing the corporate ladder.” This was a strategy involving getting hired and staying at one company for most if not all of your career, hoping to rise through the ranks over time. Needless to say, this strategy is unthinkable to millennials and gen z workers.

As these new generations were already creating a more fluid workforce, the pandemic only aroused this trend even further. This mindset is arguably a large factor contributing to the record-breaking quit rates seen over the last few months. Speaking of which, the BLS just dropped the JOLTS report (that’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) for the month of November, indicating that 4.53mm American workers quit their jobs in that month, a new record high.

The “Great Resignation”, as mainstream media likes to call it, has been on full display all throughout 2021. Multiple monthly quit records were set and experts are having a tough time nailing down exactly why. Newfound wealth from skyrocketing asset prices, government assistance, and COVID scares are often cited as the leading factors, but we can’t ignore the correlation of high quit rates with high new business application rates. From that angle, it seems the entrepreneurial spark in the U.S. has been lit again.

Whatever the reasons are, the same story persists. The labor market is making about as much sense right now as an average fired-up rant from Kanye West. All eyes will be on this Friday’s jobs report for December, and all we can say is good luck, JPow.

Charlie Munger’s Gonna Be Mad — Notorious BTC hater and TradFi legend Charlie Munger may have been given another reason to cement his personal hatred for BTC, digital assets, and anything related to the cryptoverse. One of he and his buddy Warren Buffet’s favorite things in the world is a solid dividend, a free stream of cash coming to you just for owning stock. Well, as digital currencies tend to do, one company is shaking up this idea and putting a bit of a BTC spin on it.

BTCS Inc, a blockchain-focused company founded in 2008, has officially become the first Nasdaq listed company to offer a “bividend” — a dividend payable in BTC. The company made the rules clear in their 8-K announcement of the new dividend alternative, saying that participants can choose to receive the $0.05/sh bividend in cash or BTC and the first distribution can be expected in mid-March. Non-Munger investors were loving it, however, sending shares up nearly 44%.

Obviously, this is a game changer. Dividends have been favored for their stability and the presentation of compound investing through automatic reinvestment of dividend payments. No word on if that’s an option yet, but that might be something the brokers need to weigh in on. Either way, traditional finance heads are almost certainly projectile vomiting at the idea. So, when is the ethivend coming out?

Bye-Bye Bored Apes — A big part of the NFT craze, especially those in PFP collections, is their security of ownership and property rights. This strength in ownership verification is basically why they're called “non-fungible.” While the tokens themselves may not be fungible, we can confirm the person who owns them completely is.

Ramping up in mid-December, NFT thefts have become the latest trend in the asset class, especially for those precious Bored Apes. Basically the thefts occur in one of two ways: 1) the program used to buy or store the NFT accidentally lists it for sale or 2) the owner falls victim to phishing or other scam leading them to give the scammers access to their wallet. Obviously theft isn’t cool, but so far, the ramifications have been nothing short of a comedy show.

First, this story drips with irony. Most of the people within the NFT space are within the extreme anti-government crowd in favor of decentralizing all things that are centralized. But, upon theft of their NFT, these same people have no choice but to go cry to OpenSea or Rarible (centralized organizations) to help them recover their property.

Second, as seen in the Tweet below, the anecdotes of theft on Twitter are hysterical. NFT owners tend to flock to FinTwit upon their token being stolen for a multitude of reasons, whether it be to seek a solution or just cry about it. This is often done with their NFT remaining as their profile picture and, as the clever user in the screenshot below points out, the NFT technically is no longer theirs. And he’s gotta be right, I mean, just look at the ratio.

Of course, there could be a brightside to all of this. If the NFT asset class is able to take these thefts on the chin and figure something out going forward, all this does is speak to the resiliency, legitimacy, and demand within the space. Apologies to all the victims of these heinous thefts, I hope you get your jpeg back soon.