The digital assets industry has been shaken by the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges, which was rescued by arch-rival Binance after a surge in customer withdrawals sparked a liquidity crisis. The bailout of one of the biggest and most prominent companies in the global cryptocurrency industry by its chief competitor reverberated across the market leaving most crypto-curriences in free-fall.  FTX hit a valuation of $32bn at the start of this year, with blue-chip investors.  Early indications are that the exchange assets essentially amounted to a ponzi scheme. FTX was widely considered to be one of the better-managed players, with its founder Bankman-Fried becoming one of the largest political donors nationwide.

Shares of Disney are slipping this morning following a fiscal fourth quarter where it missed revenue and profit expectations. Stellar revenue results from its "Parks, Experiences and Products" division (+36% Y/Y to $7.4B) were weighed down by sales on its "Media and Entertainment" side (-3% Y/Y to $12.7B). CFO Christine McCarthy also dented expectations for the new fiscal year, predicting revenue growth of less than 10% (compared to 22% in fiscal 2022).

Facebook parent company Meta on Wednesday said it is laying off 11,000 employees, marking the most significant job cuts in the tech giant’s history. The job cuts come as Meta confronts a range of challenges to its core business and makes an uncertain and costly bet on pivoting to the metaverse. It also comes amid a spate of layoffs at other tech firms in recent months as the high-flying sector reacts to high inflation, rising interest rates and fears of a looming recession.