Equity Monday: Rich tech folks chat rich tech things on rich tech app funded by rich tech investors

• 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.

This post first appeared here: https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/01/equity-monday-rich-tech-folks-chat-rich-tech-things-on-rich-tech-app-funded-by-rich-tech-investors/