Today in the Connected Economy: Grubhub’s Amazon Bid Pays Off

Today in the connected economy, Grubhub reaps the benefits of its investment in Amazon, with its parent company’s CEO saying orders have accelerated since the partnership began. Plus, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) gains an edge over rival regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the battle to oversee cryptocurrency, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Splitit teams up with rental payment platform letus.

Amazon’s Budding Grubhub Partnership Could Grow to 15% Stake

Grubhub’s investment in Amazon seems to be paying off, based on comments from its parent company during an earnings call. Just Eat Takeaway CEO Jitse Groen said the company has seen orders accelerate since the offer went live for Amazon Prime subscribers, and the commercial agreement is expected to be cash flow accretive in the coming years.

Crypto Fight on Capitol Hill Increasingly Favors CFTC

The CFTC seems to have won another skirmish in its battle with the SEC for control of crypto oversight. The heads of the Senate Agriculture Committee introduced a bipartisan bill that would give the CTFC regulatory control of the two largest cryptos: bitcoin and ether. Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and ranking minority member John Boozman would give the CFTC the authority to regulate the spot markets for digital commodities, a new asset class.

Airbnb’s Q2 Earnings Show Working Vacations Still Have Traction

Despite record inflation and major disruptions to air travel, consumers still scheduled more trips and lengthy stays with Airbnb during the second quarter, a sign that pent-up travel demand is real, and even a priority for many consumers. On an earnings call with analysts, company CEO Brian Chesky said consumers are “not just traveling Airbnb, they’re now living on Airbnb. We saw long-term stays of 28 days or more remain our fastest-growing category by trip nights compared to 2019.” Chesky added that long-term stays have increased nearly 25% from a year ago, and almost 90% since the second quarter of 2019.

Splitit Partners With letus to Bring Installment Billing to Rental Market

BNPL firm Splitit has launched a partnership with letus, a cloud-based payment platform for the rental market. The collaboration allows tenants to extend expenses like rent or security deposits across several monthly payments on the credit card of their choice with no additional interest charges.