Happy Friday! Microsoft knocked Apple off its pedestal yesterday for the first time since 2021, becoming — very briefly — the largest US company before the Mac maker reclaimed its market cap crown. Today we're exploring:
Spotted
After a multi-year wait — and a false start earlier this week — 11 asset managers had their Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications approved by the SEC on Wednesday, a milestone that makes it easier for everyday investors to delve into the world of crypto.
Since the SEC's choice not to appeal a court decision that found it was wrong to block a previous Bitcoin ETF application in October, the digital currency has rallied over 70%. However, Bitcoin was already having a stellar year even before the ETF approval almost became an inevitability, rising over 150% in 2023 as it continued its resurgence from industry setbacks the year before.
Bitcoin bounce
Many institutional investors were hesitant to embrace the digital asset during the crypto craze of 2021, fearing it was another bubble destined to burst, akin to the dot-com and housing booms. Bitcoin’s price trajectory over the past 5 years, though, currently looks more like a mountain range than the single-peaked pictures often painted by market bubbles.
Aside from some significant and high-profile faults, like the collapse of crypto-exchange FTX, Bitcoin's price fluctuations usually seem to be impacted by its cultural and social acceptance as a digital currency in the wider world. Whether it was the coin becoming legal tender in El Salvador, or crypto featuring in 4 adverts during one of 2022's most-watched TV broadcasts, Bitcoin's value tends to rise and rise when it edges closer to the mainstream.
Turn of the centenarians
When you turn 100 in the US, you receive either a greeting card from the POTUS or an unexpected tax bill, depending on who you ask.
In the coming years, though, future presidents and IRS workers might have a lot more admin to do... projections from the Census Bureau estimate that the number of American centenarians is set to more than quadruple by 2054, rising from ~0.03% of the overall US population in 2024 to ~0.1% in 30 years, bring the total to ~422k.
These calculations, reported by Pew Research, come off the back of the US centenarian population nearly tripling in the last 3 decades. Interestingly, the 2050s projection also features more men making the landmark age: today, women make up approximately 78% of centenarians, but that proportion is expected to fall to 68% in the next 30 years, as more males reach 100.
100 years young
As life expectancies increase and birth rates decline, the US is anticipated to trend older in the coming decades, with the median age already reaching a record high of 38.9 in 2022. Zooming out, the global population is generally aging at a much faster pace too. Indeed, in 2020, the number of people aged 60+ outnumbered under-5s, and there are an estimated 772k centenarians the world over at present.
Although Japan’s graying society has long led the charge for the number of people in their 100s — currently standing at ~146k — the rapidly expanding elderly population in China is set to outgrow the island nation’s figure by 2054, with an estimated 767k centenarians, according to the UN. And, while the US’s older demographic is predicted to overtake Japan’s in that same period, the share of Japanese centenarians might be as high as 40 per 10k people by the 2050s, up from ~12 today.
Golden Goose
If you’re feeling the need for more speed, you’re in luck. Paramount has announced plans to get a third film in the Top Gun franchise off the ground following the dizzying success of 2022’sTop Gun: Maverick, which raked in nearly $1.5 billion worldwide and topped the US domestic box office that year.
The news comes just days after reports that actor Tom Cruise, star of the blockbuster flicks, has struck up a lofty deal with Warner Bros., in a strategic partnership that will see Cruise and his production company work with the studio to jointly develop original and franchise theatrical films.
While Cruise will continue to work with other studios under the non-exclusive deal — including Paramount to shoot another of his franchises; the latest installment of Mission: Impossible — the world-famous actor had previously largely remained a free agent across his major pictures in recent years.
Movie Maverick
Since making his silver screen debut in 1981, Tom Cruise’s pulling power at theaters has really taken flight as of late. And, although he may be renowned for heart-string-tugging features in Rain Man (1988) and Jerry Maguire (1997), it’s action movies that have cemented Cruise as a box office behemoth.
The hugely popular 7-partMission: Impossible series has seen each installment consistently gross over $400m since 1996, with the 6th sequel taking in a massive $800m in 2018 — proving that, even at 61 and somehow still doing all of his own stunts, Cruise’s star still burns brightly.
• As American household debt exceeded $17 trillion last year, new data reveals nearly 30% of those in the largest metro areas are falling behind on payments.
• Slimming down for the new year seems to be a goal for companies too, with both Google and Amazon announcing hundreds of job cuts this week.
• With 24 seasons, 296 wins, and 6 Super Bowl titles for the New England Patriots behind him, famed coach Bill Belichick is moving on.
• Pennies to prosperity: A quiz to help transform your copper coins into a golden fortune.
• Axios's chart-based economic vibe check for 2024.
Off the charts: Which video streaming service, that we charted viewing figures for last February, announced on Wednesday that it's laying off 35% of its workforce in a bid to reboot platform profits? [Answer below].
