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Customers withdrew $1.14 bn from Binance

exchange Binance.(photo:instagram)

This would differentiate it from FTX, which got into trouble by lending customer funds to its sibling trading firm Alameda Research, reports South China Morning Post…reports Asian Lite News

Amid the FTX collapse saga, customers withdrew $1.14 billion in just 12 hours from leading crypto exchange Binance and according to its CEO, the massive withdrawals were “handled with ease” and “things seem to have stabilised” now.

Customers pulled billions of dollars of funds from the exchange, amid fears about the state of the cryptocurrency industry following the collapse of FTX and arrest of its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), from the Bahamas by the US authorities.

Changpeng Zhao tweeted that this was “not the highest withdrawals we processed, not even top 5”.

The CEO said deposits are returning to Binance.

“Things seem to have stabilized. Yesterday was not the highest withdrawal we processed, not even top 5. We processed more during LUNA or FTX crashes. Now deposits are coming back in,” he tweeted on Wednesday.

“We saw some withdrawals today (net $1.14b ish). We have seen this before. Some days we have net withdrawals; some days we have net deposits. Business as usual for us. I actually think it is a good idea to ‘stress test withdrawals’ on each CEX on a rotating basis,” he posted.

Since the bankruptcy of FTX, Binance has been seeking to prove it has all of its customers’ reserves.

This would differentiate it from FTX, which got into trouble by lending customer funds to its sibling trading firm Alameda Research, reports South China Morning Post.

“In the wake of recent events, it’s imperative we develop new systems that allow users to access continuous on-chain verification of their assets in custody to regain user trust and once again prove that crypto is more secure and transparent than traditional finance,” the company said in a statement.

FTX filed for bankruptcy last month after its possible merger with leading crypto exchange Binance did not materialise.

Following his arrest in the Bahamas, US authorities have officially charged Bankman-Fried with defrauding equity investors and he faces up to 115 years in prison, if convicted.

The SEC report said that Bankman-Fried promoted FTX as a safe, responsible crypto asset trading platform, specifically mentioning the platform’s sophisticated, automated risk measures to the investors.

However, the complaint claims Bankman-Fried allegedly orchestrated a years-long fraud to conceal from FTX’s investors.

“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler had said in a statement.

ALSO READ-OYO launches ‘Super OYO’

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OYO launches ‘Super OYO’

oyo

In line with the company’s mission to double down on trusted and best-in-class customer experiences, ‘Super OYO’ is one of the multiple programmes OYO is working on to help customers find choices for the kind of stay they are looking for…reports Asian Lite News

Global travel technology company OYO has launched a programme to recognise hotels that provide the most consistent and high-quality customer experience.

The category called ‘Super OYO’ constantly analyses each hotel’s performance on multiple parameters such as customer ratings and reviews, keeping maximum rooms operational consistently, smooth check-in experience, among others, said the company.

Consumers can now see hotels marked ‘Super OYO’ while booking through the OYO App. Currently, there are around 200+ Super OYOs available on the site and the company will encourage other hotels on its platform to work towards achieving this highly selective moniker and becoming a part of this exclusive category.

In line with the company’s mission to double down on trusted and best-in-class customer experiences, ‘Super OYO’ is one of the multiple programmes OYO is working on to help customers find choices for the kind of stay they are looking for, provide relevant information to make an informed choice and ensure comfortable and hassle-free stays at highly competitive prices.

‘Super OYO’ is now available to all app users in India and is set to be launched across key global markets in 2023. OYO customers can easily access the Super OYOs category from the home screen by clicking on the Super OYO banner that leads to a dedicated aSuper OYO’ store, select their destination city and browse all available hotels.

While appealing to guests, this new category also recognises hotel operators (patrons) who go above and beyond to provide exceptional customer experiences. Since only hotels that meet predefined parameters can beArecognised as ‘Super OYO’, these properties are required to maintain an average rating of 4 and above, ensuring zero check-in issues, low cancellations and minimal negative feedback.

Since the tag is a non-paid category achievable by maintaining excellent customer experiences, hotel owners can create a niche for their hotel in the market, said the company.

“Over the last few months, as travel resurged, our customers gave us a lot of constructive feedback. One of the questions I always get is, when staying in a city where multiple OYOs are available, which is the ‘best OYO’. So today we are announcing ‘Super OYO’,” said Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO, OYO.

“The best OYOs by experience, location, analysis of thousands of reviews and verified experiences. For our customers, you get the best of the best OYOs and for our owner patrons’ they get higher returns on their assets. Just download the OYO App and hit the Super OYO widget on the home screen,” Agarwal said.

As per App Annie, the OYO App is the world’s third most downloaded platform globally in the travel category. So far, the app has been downloaded across geographies by more than 100 million users, with a majority based in India.

oyo

“Over the next few months, we will continue to launch initiatives to make customer journeys smoother – right from more tailored products, better digital experiences, and faster turnaround for all travellers,” informed Agarwal.

Since the pandemic, a permanent shift in consumer behaviour has rewired consumption patterns, leading to the adoption of a renewed value system – especially when it comes to travel decisions.

During this time, OYO has worked towards building a more nuanced, updated, and easy-to-use app that catered to the post-pandemic consumers’ interests.

To make customer journeys smoother, OYO has launched several tags and highlights such as Trip Type, Long Stays, Check-in Ratings and Super OYO, among others.

The new app also includes a brand-new user interface and improved features for smoother navigation, clear transparency with no hidden terms and conditions.

The OYO app is now 50 per cent faster, allowing users to load the home page within just 1.9 seconds. Check-in ratings offer consumers greater transparency so that they can make informed choices while booking hotels.

Further, OYO’s loyalty programme ‘Wizard Plus’ offers free room nights after every five stays.

The company said it is also embarking on an initiative to install a contemporary version of the ubiquitous OYO signboards on the fascia of select OYO hotels.

ALSO READ: Goldman Sachs mulls job cuts

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Samsung shifts focus to sustainability

Han Jong-hee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. and head of its DX (Device eXperience) division, talks at the online event Unbox & Discover 2022 on March 30, 2022. (Yonhap/IANS)

Recently, Samsung has been doubling down on its campaign on connectivity and sustainability….reports Asian Lite News

Samsung Electronics will present its vision for “sustainable innovation” at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month, its top executive said on Thursday, continuing its focus on developing products that are both highly connected and sustainable.

As a major technology company, “Samsung Electronics has a responsibility to establish an eco-conscious value chain through our innovative technologies and products,” Han Jong-hee, CEO and head of the Device eXperience (DX) division, said in a post updated on the company’s website.

The world’s largest mobile phone maker will show “a new and expanded SmartThings experience” during the annual technology show, set to run from Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas, Han said, presenting “easier and safer ways to connect devices and appliances” that are more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

SmartThings is Samsung’s software to connect and control home appliances, with more than 230 million users worldwide, reports Yonhap news agency.

While details of Samsung’s upcoming exhibition at CES 2023 remain unknown, the tech giant is expected to renew its efforts to offer users more seamless experiences by connecting home appliances.

Recently, Samsung, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of electronic devices and semiconductors, has been doubling down on its campaign on connectivity and sustainability.

During the IFA 2022, a major global technology show in Berlin in September, the South Korean company unveiled an upgraded version of SmartThings that enabled users to connect and control home devices from 13 different brands, including its own.

Samsung is a founding member of the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA), alongside domestic rival LG Electronics Inc., GE Appliances and the Electrolux Group. The Home Connectivity Alliance was established in 2021 with the mission to provide consumers with more options within a safe, secure and interoperable connected home ecosystem.

Such interconnectivity, it said, helps users lead an environmentally more sustainable life.

Creating more eco-friendly home appliances and devices is one of its long-term goals, the company has said, adding that all of its home appliances will be Wi-Fi enabled by the end of next year and ultimately will be fitted with built-in energy-saving features.

ALSO READ:   ADB trims growth forecast for developing Asia

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  ADB trims growth forecast for developing Asia

Asian Development Bank

Headwinds that are continuing to hamper recovery in developing Asia include recurrent lockdowns in China, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and slowing global growth…reports Asian Lite News

         

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered its economic growth forecasts for developing Asia amid a worsened global outlook.

 The region’s economy is expected to grow 4.2 per cent this year and 4.6 per cent next year, ADB said in its recent Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Supplement, December 2022 supplement published on Wednesday. In the September supplement, ADB estimated that the economy in the region would grow 4.3 per cent in 2022 and 4.9 per cent in 2023.

Asian Development Outlook is published every April, with an update in September and brief supplements published normally in July and December. Developing Asia refers to the bank’s 46 developing members.

Headwinds that are continuing to hamper recovery in developing Asia include recurrent lockdowns in China, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and slowing global growth, ADB said in its supplement.

  Monetary policy tightening by central banks globally and in the region, slowing down developing Asia’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic are slowing down developing Asia’s recovery from pandemic.

   “Even with the deteriorating outlook, developing Asia will grow more than other regions and suffer less inflation than most,” it said.

   On inflation, it said the region’s outlook is revised down slightly for 2022 from 4.5 per cent to 4.4 percent. However, the bank raised its projection for next year to 4.2 per cent from 4.0 percent, due to inflationary pressures from energy and food.

   “Asia and the Pacific will continue to recover, but worsening global conditions mean that the region’s momentum is losing some steam as we head into the new year,” said ADB Chief Economist Albert Park.

   “Governments will need to work together more closely to overcome the lingering challenges of COVID-19, combat the effects of high food and energy prices–especially on the poor and vulnerable–and ensure a sustainable, inclusive economic recovery,” the Chief Economist added.

   Further, in India, ADB said gross domestic product growth projections are maintained at 7.0 percent for the current fiscal year and 7.2 percent for the next. (ANI)

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Goldman Sachs mulls job cuts

Goldman Sachs.(photo:Facebook)

The company announced personal loans, especially for debt consolidation, as one of its first consumer products in 2016…reports Asian Lite News

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs is reportedly planning to lay off hundreds of employees at its consumer business.

The company’s decision to cut jobs comes after chief executive David Solomon announced plans to curtail “Main Street” banking ambitions, reports The Financial Times.

According to people familiar with the matter, the banking major is also planning to stop offering personal loans through its Marcus-branded retail banking platform.

The company announced personal loans, especially for debt consolidation, as one of its first consumer products in 2016.

Solomon announced in October that Goldman will significantly reduce its retail banking unit after years of losses and rising costs, according to the report.

However, its Marcus division will still accept retail deposits, which offer a relatively cheap source of funding for the bank.

The report said that these layoffs will be in addition to the annual cull of underperforming employees that the banking firm typically conducts each year.

Moreover, Goldman is also gearing up for a potential recession in 2023.

Solomon said Goldman had “set in motion certain expense mitigation plans, but it will take some time to realise the benefits”.

Bloomberg, which earlier reported the potential cuts, said it could affect as many as 400 positions, the report added.

However, Goldman, which employs over 49,000 people worldwide, declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Global investment advisory firm Morgan Stanley cut about 2 per cent of its global workforce, or about 1,600 employees, amid the global economic meltdown.

The company has about 81,567 employees.

ALSO READ: Google CEO won’t rule out massive layoffs

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Tech layoffs set to get worse in early 2023

Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Microsoft,

By comparison, 965 tech companies have laid off more than 150,000 employees this year globally, surpassing the Great Recession levels of 2008-2009….reports Asian Lite News

The massive layoffs by the tech companies this year alone have surpassed the levels from the Great Recession the world went through 2008-2009 that began with Lehman Brothers collapse.

In 2008, tech companies laid off about 65,000 employees, and a similar number of workers lost their livelihoods in 2009, according to data by global outplacement and career transitioning firm global outplacement & career transitioning firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

By comparison, 965 tech companies have laid off more than 150,000 employees this year globally, surpassing the Great Recession levels of 2008-2009.

Led by companies like Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Microsoft, Salesforce and others, the tech layoffs are set to worsen early next year amid ongoing global macroeconomic conditions.

According to a MarketWatch report, layoffs are part of a strategy by tech firms to maintain viability through 2023 and beyond.

Data from layoffs.fyi, a crowdsourced database of tech layoffs, showed that 1,495 tech companies have sacked 246,267 employees since the onset of Covid-19, but 2022 has been the worst year for the tech sector and early 2023 can even be grimmer.

As of mid-November, more than 73,000 workers in the US tech sector have been laid off in mass-level job cuts led by companies like Meta, Twitter, Salesforce, Netflix, Cisco, Roku, and others.

Over 17,000 tech employees have been shown the door in India too.

Big Tech companies like Amazon and PC and printer major HP Inc have joined the global layoff season, and were set to lay off more than 20,000 and up to 6,000 employees in days to come, respectively.

Networking giant Cisco has started slashing nearly 4,000 jobs globally.

Google is reportedly bracing for a massive layoffs early next year and Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has reportedly offered no assurance to worried Google employees that it won’t happen.

In a companywide meeting with staff, Pichai said “it’s really tough to predict the future, so unfortunately, I can’t honestly sit here and make forward-looking commitments”.

He told employees that what the company is trying hard to do “is to make important decisions, be disciplined, prioritise where we can, rationalise where we can, so that we are set up to better weather the storm, regardless of what’s ahead”.

“I think that’s what we should focus on and try and do our best there,” Pichai added.

ALSO READ: Google CEO won’t rule out massive layoffs

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 Google, India govt team up to help 100 Indian startups

Google.

Currently, nearly 50 per cent of startups India come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities….reports Asian Lite News

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Startup Hub and Google on Wednesday announced to help 100 more Indian startups scale their app businesses with the second edition of Appscale Academy.

Currently, nearly 50 per cent of startups India come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

MeitY Startup Hub and Google will also launch a multi-city roadshow aiming to engage over 1,000 startups across emerging hubs like Surat, Indore, Coimbatore, Gangtok and Jaipur.

The aAppscale Academy’ is a growth and development programme to train early to mid-stage startups to build high-quality apps for the world.

“It’s heartening to see the meaningful impact app developers are driving in India and across the world, and it’s critical that we consistently support these startups to turn their creative ideas into scalable businesses,” said Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, MeitY.

Appscale Academy’s Class of 2022 saw apps across sectors adapt learnings from the programme to improve their user interface (UI), user experience (UX), security, user base, engagement rates and ratings.

One in three apps from the cohort doubled their visitor and install base during the programme, according to Google.

“This year, we look forward to partnering with Google again to ramp up our efforts towards this community and extend the benefits of the programme to more creative app-preneurs from tier 2 and 3 cities through our multi-city roadshow,” said Jeet Vijay, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub.

The second edition of ‘Appscale Academy’ will mark a six-month programme, through which startups will be trained on several aspects of building successful apps, including UX design, business model and monetization strategies, international expansion best practices, and data safety and security practices.

Startups will have access to virtual instructor-led webinars, self-learning material, and mentorship sessions with leading local and global industry leaders. Several of them will also get an opportunity to pitch to leading venture capitalists. The applications will be accepted till February 6.

“The lives of many in India are getting transformed by technology, and local app developers and startup founders are the driving force behind this tech-led transformation. India is on its way to becoming a global hub for technology,” said Aditya Swamy, Director, Play Partnerships, Google Play.

ALSO READ: Google CEO won’t rule out massive layoffs

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Reliance tops Wizikey’s Newsmaker charts

India's ongoing rally might get extended, if the market's big bull -- Reliance Industries -- stock started to participate in the up-move, say market watchers.

The rankings are based on Wizikey’s News Score which measures news visibility for brands & individuals by analyzing the volume of news, headlines presence, and the reach of publications…reports Asian Lite News

Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest corporate by revenues, profits, and market value, topped the 2022 Wizikey Newsmaker report as India’s most-visible corporate in the media.

State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank Limited, Bharti Airtel Limited, and One 97 Communications Limited are in the top 5 corporates on the ranking.

The rankings are based on Wizikey’s News Score which measures news visibility for brands & individuals by analyzing the volume of news, headlines presence, and the reach of publications.

Wizikey’s, AI and ML technology gathers media intelligence from over 50 million news articles across 400,000+ online publications.

The report considered over 1,000 Indian corporates for analysis.

This latest report by Wizikey, Asia’s fastest-growing communications technology and PR software recognizes the hottest companies and Newsmakers of 2022, that have been visible for various reasons from investments, acquisitions, partnerships, and more.

Reliance Industries Limited, from various acquisitions of brands like Mandarin Oriental, Addverb Technologies, Campa Cola, & more to announcing Rs 3.5 trillion investments, and awarded the project to make India’s first multimodal logistics park and much more news contributed to Reliance being number one position for consecutive three years.

SBI also made various investments in companies. From various partnerships and signing MoUs to various news related to writing loans off and raising Rs 10,000 crore through infrastructure bonds contributed to reaching the second position.

ICICI Bank Limited, from various acquiring stakes in multiple companies such as Gift City Clearing Corp, Verve Financial Services, NARCL, and more, to allotting lakhs of equity shares under ESOS, and profit surges making it the third most visible corporate.

Bharti Airtel Limited made quite a buzz during the launch of 5G and crossed the 1 million user mark, to various features, plans & product launches across Airtel, Airtel payments bank, Airtel XStream contributed highly in taking over the fourth position.

One 97 Communications Limited, which have less listed less than a year ranked fifth in the list, from Stock price fall to buyback of shares, to launching various services such as BNPL for train ticket booking via IRCTC, various hiring and changes in top-level positions contributed to making it the fifth most visible company.

Commenting on this year’s report, Aakriti Bhargava, Co-founder, and CEO of Wizikey, said: “2022 saw both lows and highs on the Sensex, with companies navigating economic pressures amidst the war and rising crude oil prices. Wizikey’s Newsmakers Ranking series aims to highlight the corporates that created news in the year. This is the world’s most exhaustive ranking based on an algorithm that looks at more than 50 million data points collected over the year across 400,000 domains.”

Infosys Limited(6), Tata Consultancy Services Limited (7), Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (8), Maruti Suzuki India Limited (9), Tata Motors (10), HDFC Bank Limited (11), recently listed startup Zomato Limited ranked at 12th spot, followed by Wipro Limited (13), Axis Bank Limited (14), NTPC Limited (15), Tata Steel Limited (16), ITC Limited (17) Larsen & Toubro Limited (18), Life Insurance Corporation of India (19), Pfizer Limited (20).

BFSI emerged as the hot sector contributing to the highest number of companies (98) in the top 500.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Ltd and two Adani group companies — Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises — were the biggest, fastest and most consistent wealth creators between 2017 and 2022, said a study by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

According to the study, Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission are also the top all-round wealth creators.

During 2017-22, the top 100 wealth creators of India Inc created wealth amounting to Rs 92.2 lakh crore, the highest ever so far, Motilal Oswal said.

The Motilal Oswal 27th Annual Wealth Creation Study 2022 analysed the top 100 wealth creating companies between 2017 and 2022.

Wealth created is calculated as change in the market cap of companies between 2017 and 2022 (ending March), duly adjusted for corporate events such as mergers, de-mergers, fresh issuance of capital, buyback etc.

The study identifies the fastest, biggest and most consistent wealth creators, the company said.

For the fourth time in a row, Reliance Industries has emerged the largest wealth creator over 2017-22, taking RIL’s overall No.1 tally to nine in the last 16 five-year study periods.

TCS, Infosys and HDFC Bank remain among the top five wealth creators, Motilal Oswal said.

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Retail inflation: War won’t be over soon

The moderately healthy, if not strong, momentum in domestic demand is leading to the holding up of the core inflation….reports Asian Lite News

With core inflation continuing to be high, credit rating agencies like Acuite Ratings & Research and CARE Ratings do not expect any significant downtrend in the retail inflation for the next few months.

“It is a pleasant surprise to see the headline CPI inflation print at 5.88 per cent in Nov-22 from 6.77 per cent in Oct-22 since most market participants estimated it to be above 6.0 per cent. This is an eleven-month low figure and is clearly driven by the faster-than-expected decline in food inflation which stood at 5.1 per cent in the previous month,” Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer said.

According to Chowdhury, the fall in retail inflation has been due to the quick drop in vegetable prices which is a seasonal phenomenon apart from the continuing softness in edible oil prices.

“Nevertheless, the core inflation figure remains high for RBI’s comfort and has in fact moved up further to 6.29 per cent in Nov-22 from 6.23 per cent in Oct-22; on an MoM basis, the core inflation went up by 0.43 per cent, highlighting the embedded nature of the current inflationary environment,” Chowdhury said.

The moderately healthy, if not strong, momentum in domestic demand is leading to the holding up of the core inflation.

Also, the base factor was relatively an advantage for the Nov-22 print which may not be the case for Dec-22. Therefore, we don’t expect any significant trend downward for the CPI inflation for the next few months, Chowdhury said.

“Given the core inflation trajectory, we continue to forecast an average figure of 6.7 per cent for CPI inflation in FY23. We also continue to expect another round of modest hike in Feb-23 which will take the terminal rate to 6.5 per cent or higher,” Chowdhury said.

According to CARE Ratings, though the inflationary pressures are on a declining trend, the war against inflation is still not over.

The moderation in food inflation is comforting, but it is mostly led by vegetables which are susceptible to weather fluctuations.

Cereals and milk inflation, the top two contributors to food inflation, are still elevated and on an upward trend, CARE Ratings said.

In this context, better Rabi acreage in the current season is a comforting factor. The strengthening of services inflation has led to sticky core price pressures despite easing of goods inflation.

Taking cue from the recent data, the RBI will remain cautious to prevent inflationary expectations from spiralling upwards.

However, with disappointing data from the Manufacturing sector, the Central Banks’ decision to go for another rate hike in the February meeting will be a close call.

ALSO READ: Google CEO won’t rule out massive layoffs

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Manufacturing output in Oct worst since Aug 20

Factory. (File Photo: IANS)

The report said that at 4 per cent contraction, industrial growth in October this year was the worst since August 2020…reports Asian Lite News

The 5.6 per cent contraction in manufacturing was the worst since August 2020, the Anand Rathi Research said in a report.

The worsening was broad-based yet part of the deterioration was due to transitory factors such as loss of workdays due to festival holidays, the report said, adding that the unfavourable base also played a role.

Simultaneously, as 20 per cent of manufactured production is for exports, lower global demand poses a structural headwind.

Abatement of transitory factors are likely to bring back industrial growth in November 2022. The recovery, however, is likely to be modest.

The report said that at 4 per cent contraction, industrial growth in October this year was the worst since August 2020.

Manufacturing contracted while mining and electricity recorded modest growth rates.

Of the use-based categories, staples and durables registered sharp contractions, and intermediate and capital goods recorded modest de-growth in the month. Primary goods and infra clocked marginal growth rates.

Only six of 23 manufacturing categories recorded growth in October 22. The sharp contraction in manufacturing was to a large extent on account of loss of workdays during the festival holidays, the report said.

Moreover, over 20 per cent of manufactured products are exported and, with a slowdown in global demand, Indian exports are registering sharp contractions.

Also, due to the asymmetric festival season in 2021 and 2022, the base effect in October was unfavourable.

With a slightly favourable base effect and more workdays, we expect modest industrial recovery in November, said the report.

A jump in manufacturing PMI in November 22 vs. October 22 also suggest the same. Yet, the headwinds in exports would continue. Domestic demand too suggests weakness.

The government has accelerated spending since September after a lull in July-August. This should also help to a modest recovery in industrial growth, the report added.

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