🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

• Q3 EPS was $0.61 with a roughly 15% beat and the upside likely came from net interest revenue near $385 million, up about 40% year over year, from securities lending (lending out client-held shares to other market participants) plus margin interest (interest paid by customers who borrow to trade) plus cash sweep programs (automatically moving idle cash into interest-bearing accounts).
• Analysts penciled in transaction-based revenue of about $756 million, up roughly 137%.
• Crypto revenue was $268 million versus about $314 million expected, which flags volatility and earnings risk if rate tailwinds fade or activity normalizes.
• Equity investors should review funded customer growth, expected at 26.85 million versus 24.30 million a year ago (funded customers are accounts with a positive balance).
• Also track net deposit trends, with the LTM (last twelve months) Net Deposit Growth Rate at 45% as of September 30, 2025.

• The closed-end fund targeting private companies will need valuation; data analytics; transfer agent services (recordkeeping and transaction processing for shareholders); custody (asset safekeeping); compliance; plus investor education.
• Tech firms that model illiquid private assets or track private pricing can win work by reviewing the fund’s Form N-2 filing (the registration statement closed-end funds file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)).
• Financial advisors plus wealth managers can use the launch to publish education on private market risks including high failure rates of venture capital (VC)-backed startups to win clients seeking guidance on accessing private companies through public vehicles.