#6 Edition of Daily Grind

In today’s newsletter:

• TikTok dominating Instagram: TikTok surpasses Instagram in time spent on platform, but lags in ads.

• Twitter(X) moving closer to crypto: Twitter gets a crypto license.

• Marijuana becomes America’s sixth biggest cash crop

• and a fudge ton more….

TikTok is dominating Instagram

US adults spend more time on TikTok than Instagram in 2023, per Insider Intelligence report.

• TikTok users above 18 are projected to spend a total of 4.43 billion minutes vs Instagram’s 3.91 billion minutes.

• Insider Intelligence estimated that TikTok will have 82.3M monthly adult users vs Instagram's 118.4M in the US.

• TikTok's attention growth: 547% increase (2019-2023) vs Instagram 57%.

• Instagram ad revenue is 6x TikTok per user hour.

• TikTok is experiencing growth but still lags behind in terms of its shopping and performance advertising efforts.

• Reels compete with 200B daily plays, $10B annual revenue run rate for Meta.

• YouTube dominates them all with 4.5B more daily watch minutes than TikTok.

Here are are a couple Insights from report:

1. Social media time rising overall.

2. Meta (Instagram/Facebook) leads US ad spend.

3. YouTube surpasses TikTok in total minutes, but TikTok users spend proportionately more time on the platform.

If you would like to explore this topic in more depth, you can read the detailed post by Business Insider.

Twitter gets a crypto license

Twitter made a big move this week, with most of its competition (i.e., threads down 85%) being rendered obsolete. This pivot to crypto is huge news.

(I’m old school guy I still call it Twitter and I still call it Facebook. Sue me)

Here’s what you need to know:

• Twitter has been approved for a “Currency Transmitter” License in Rhode Island.

• The license allows companies to store, transfer, and exchange digital assets—as well as hold assets on behalf of their users.

• The license also encompasses related service providers such as crypto wallets, payment processors, and exchanges.

In this manner, Twitter has moved one step closer to integrating digital assets into its platform.

SNIPPETS

• Marijuana becomes America’s sixth biggest cash crop. Americans really love getting high.

• Bitcoin gets a boost from a significant ETF ruling. An appeals court deemed the SEC's rejection of Grayscale's spot bitcoin ETF application as incorrect. This propelled the bitcoin price up by approximately 6.5%. The crypto sector, which has been relatively inactive, is hopeful about a spot bitcoin ETF, as it could draw substantial investment from individuals. The SEC is currently reviewing the ruling.

• OpenAI is launching ChatGPT Enterprise, a more advanced version of its AI tool for corporate clients—only six weeks after its supporter, Microsoft, introduced its Bing Chat Enterprise product based on ChatGPT.

• Medicare will negotiate prices on 10 of the most expensive and widely used drugs, if drugmakers can’t get courts to stop the government’s efforts first. Prices would drop in 2026, saving seniors big cash and taxpayers ~$25B annually by 2031.

COOL SHIT

• Apple will be announcing the iPhone 15 on September 12th.

chart of the day:

• Bing Chat is now accessible on the Google Chrome browser.

• Yahoo is incorporating AI-powered capabilities into its Mail client.