Happy Thursday, Zingernation! How many times can you double down on a single thing?

Michael Saylor has done it with Bitcoin, yet again. In an X video, Saylor says, “2024 is the year of birth of Bitcoin as an institutional-grade asset class”. Why? Saylor compares Bitcoin's impact to major tech firms, emphasizing its role in transforming capital into a digital asset.

I wonder how many more times he’ll double down. Or would it be “nonuple” now?

Today, we’ll break down PayPal’s earnings from yesterday, a new web3 solution with facial recognition and more.

And, did someone forward you this email? Click here to subscribe to this Benzinga newsletter and more.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

TOP STORY

PayPal Q4 Earnings

Briefly: PayPal beat analyst estimates on both the top- and bottom- line for the fourth quarter. But it’s stock is still sliding substantially. Why?

So Basically: PayPal’s fourth-quarter revenue increased 9% year-over-year to $8.03 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $7.87 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

So Then: The company reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.48 per share, which beat analyst estimates of $1.36 per share.

But Still: The fintech giant offered soft full-year guidance. And while CEO Alex Chriss maintained PayPal is making major internal changes to “drive profitable growth in the years ahead,” he admitted, "It will take time for some of our initiatives to scale and move the needle.”

So What? PayPal shares were trading down more than 11% at the time of publication, headed for their worst day in six months.

What Next: Read more here.

A MESSAGE FROM HEAR

You Won’t Believe Your Ears

hear.com created the world's first dual processing hearing aids to give you 2x the power and crystal clear hearing.

How? The secret is cutting-edge German technology, engineered to separate noise and speech to produce unheard of levels of clarity.

Experts say it's the biggest upgrade in sound the industry has ever seen. And the best part is, these medical-grade devices are nearly invisible, so your friends and family will barely notice.

Over 385K happy customers and counting:

• Bluetooth and smartphone compatible

• Award-winning customer service

• Accepts all major insurance plans

See why hear.com is the world’s #1 online hearing aid company and trial the Horizon AX for 45 days, risk free.

FIVE ZINGERS

Up And Away: Bitcoin moved higher, with the cryptocurrency prices traded past the key $45,000 level today.

Competition Warming Up: Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by BlackRock and Fidelity are outperforming Grayscale's GBTC.

Speedy Transfers: The European Parliament approved rules for funds to transfer in ten seconds to E.U. retail and business bank accounts.

Meta Infestation: In 2023, most of Revolut's reported U.K. scam cases originated from Meta platforms.

Off-Track: A Citi report from 2022 forecasted the “metaverse economy” might reach up to $13 trillion by 2030. Are we still on track for that?

ONE FOR THE ROAD

RAIR Technologies Launches Web3 Solution With Facial Recognition, Off-Chain Analytics Engine

Briefly: RAIR Technologies unveiled yesterday a Web3 marketplace and management platform designed for enterprise use.

What Happened: The company debuted the RAIR.market platform, its first production-ready suite aimed at facilitating the entire digital asset lifecycle for businesses, from asset creation and digital rights management (DRM) to marketplace trading.

What Else: Among the platform's features are patent-pending DRM, facial recognition technology and an off-chain analytics engine, which are exclusive to RAIR.market.

So What? “Web3 […] will transform the way enterprises generate revenue, but the biggest challenge thus far has been how difficult Web3 is to use,” said RAIR CTO Garrett Minks. “RAIR.market makes Web3 seamless for enterprises to manage.”

What Next: Read more here.

A MESSAGE FROM HEAR

You Won’t Believe Your Ears

hear.com created the world's first dual processing hearing aids to give you 2x the power and crystal clear hearing.

How? The secret is cutting-edge German technology, engineered to separate noise and speech to produce unheard of levels of clarity.

Experts say it's the biggest upgrade in sound the industry has ever seen. And the best part is, these medical-grade devices are nearly invisible, so your friends and family will barely notice.

Over 385K happy customers and counting:

• Bluetooth and smartphone compatible

• Award-winning customer service

• Accepts all major insurance plans

See why hear.com is the world’s #1 online hearing aid company and trial the Horizon AX for 45 days, risk free.