234. The Limit

This week, Brian Armstrong's longevity startup, NewLimit, reached a valuation of $3.1 billion.

Brian Armstrong is the founder of Coinbase, which is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States and the first platform where many Americans encountered the phrase "your funds have been liquidated" in a context that was about them personally.

Mr. Armstrong is 43 years old, which is the age at which several prominent tech founders have discovered that they are mortal. (The discovery tends to be followed immediately by a press release.)

NewLimit's approach involves epigenetic reprogramming — a process by which scientists encourage aged cells to behave like younger cells, on the theory that cells, like employees, can be made more productive with the right incentives. The company has so far succeeded in extending the lifespan of cells in a dish. The dish has not commented.

The company is called NewLimit. This is because the current limit — the one governing when humans stop — was apparently an old limit, and a new limit has been proposed. The new limit has not been finalized. The parties are still in the room.

The $3.1 billion valuation represents a tripling since the company's last funding round. (I am not making this up. The number is three-point-one billion, which is the amount of money it costs, apparently, to begin a conversation with biology about the terms of your departure.)

The question no one has officially asked is what happens to financial markets if the people who built them stop dying. This is probably fine.