The Bank That Isn’t a Bank: Synapse and the FDIC Mirage An “FDIC-insured” balance in a fintech app doesn’t mean your money is safe — 100,000+ people learned that when Synapse, the middleware behind their apps, collapsed. Here’s how the trap works, why it’s bigger for the tens of millions chasing “high-yield” apps that aren’t […]
YieldStreet → Willow Wealth: Anatomy of a Rebrand When $208 million in losses meets a name change — what veteran investors learned about “democratizing” alternative investments I’m not writing this as an outside observer: I was a YieldStreet investor, and I came out behind. Across my three YieldStreet notes, two individually paid — a pre-settlement […]
How “Senior Secured” Became Subordinated Scraps A $15M “senior secured” loan to a class action law firm — how I lost $87,742 over 6.5 years This is the most expensive lesson in my portfolio, and the one I link back to most often, so I’ll put the takeaway up front: on a retail platform, the […]
The Extended Hold: A 16-Month Deal That Ran 45 How a 16-month small business lending deal stretched to 45 months — and still delivered 13%+ returns The Numbers Invested $70,000 Returned $87,032.77 Net Profit $17,032.77 MOIC 1.24x IRR 13.12% Target Term 16 months Actual Term 45 months The Investment In April 2018, YieldStreet launched Short […]
The Acquisition Exit: A 48-Month Deal Paid Off in 21 How a platform acquisition turned a 48-month investment into a 21-month win with 13%+ returns The Numbers Invested $250,000 Returned $289,248 Net Profit $39,248 MOIC 1.16x IRR 13.14% Target Term 48 months Actual Term 21 months The Investment In December 2017, YieldStreet launched Diversified Pre-Settlement […]
