Rich tech folks chat rich tech things on rich tech app funded by rich tech investors – TechCrunch

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

This is Equity Monday, our weekly kickoff that tracks the latest private market news, talks about the coming week, digs into some recent funding rounds and mulls over a larger theme or narrative from the private markets. You can follow the show on Twitter here and myself here — and make sure to check out last week’s main episode and companion chat about Robinhood.

This morning we ran into quite a lot of the same material, with Robinhood back in the news and the stock market looming large. Here’s what we talked about:

• American stocks are set to rise, bitcoin is flat, and meme-stocks are mixed.
• In India, news is out that a new law could ban bitcoin (whatever that means), and this morning India forced Twitter to take down some accounts that had been critical of government policy. That’s a pretty bad look. And it comes as we see a coup in Myanmar leading to a decline in internet connectivity; there is a clear link between authoritarianism and a desire for Internet control.
• Robinhood’s CEO went on Clubhouse, where he was interviewed by Elon Musk about last week’s mess; it turns out the National Securities Clearing Corporation, or NSCC, had asked Robinhood for $3 billion in deposit requirements. That number was reduced to $700 million, with Robinhood limiting some consumer behavior, allowing the company to open Friday morning.
• This morning the key news stories include the mess that is Facebook Groups, and the EU is appealing a tax decision that could impact tech company structure for years to come.
• Ben raised $2.5 million
• Phocas Software raised $34 million
• DesignCrowd raised $7.6 million
• And, finally, we are heading into earnings season, so strap in and get ready for a deluge of results.

All that and we are back Thursday, if not before. Hugs and hellos from the Equity crew!