What's Behind Affirm's Meltdown?

Plus, crypto regulation in the UK and Europe.

Number of the Week: -80% (explanation below)

What’s Behind Affirm’s Meltdown?

Here is a shocking fact to behold: within the last five months, the market value of Affirm—the widely touted US market leader in the burning-hot Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) sector—has plummeted by about $35 billion. At one point this week Affirm’s market capitalization dipped below $10 billion for the first time since going public in January 2021.

This is especially surprising for at least two reasons: a) the company was founded, and is run, by Max Levchin, who’s usually considered to have magical Wall Street powers; b) Affirm continues to post phenomenal growth numbers (more on this below).

So what is going on?