It took the paralysis created by Russia’s war in Ukraine for many veils to be lifted on cryptocurrency investment (not as a means of exchange of value). Yes, with inflation skyrocketing and interest rates jumping, the world of cryptocurrency which was built on “decentralization” has simply demonstrated that it is nothing but a big part of our centralized world.
Indeed, if you need Naira, US dollars, etc to buy cryptos, the implication is this: if you cannot find those Naira, USD, etc, cheaply, cryptos will struggle. And as that happens, because of high interest rates, other asset classes (treasury bills, fixed deposits) in the centralized world become enticing to investors. Magically, BTC investment becomes less optimal when other options are evaluated. In the end, BTC has been centralized where it matters: allocation of funds to asset classes.
As that rages, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) has seen enough and is shutting down Novi! This showdown is not coming from regulatory activism or lawmakers fiat instructions. Rather, this is a pure play market force in action. And Meta might have done it since the exuberance of a decentralized currency has been stymied by a centralizing inflationary paralysis.
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As the cryptocurrency industry nosedives further, plummeting investors’ funds and crippling the market’s value along the way, companies in the industry are being confronted with the tough decision of whether to stay in business or shut down operations.
The headwinds that have forced leading crypto asset bitcoin to stay below and a little above $20,000 dollars, is also forcing many institutions’ crypto-linked operations to shut down. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has been caught in the wind.
Facebook expects a recession and it is phasing out many products while hiking performance for workers: ‘You might decide this place isn’t for you, and that’s OK with me’.
Facebook parent Meta is cutting back on hiring and turning up the heat on its employees as slow growth and macroeconomic headwinds push the company to downgrade its economic outlook.
In a weekly employee Q&A session on Thursday, the social media giant’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees that Meta is reducing its plans to hire engineers by at least 30% this year. Citing the market downturn and the looming recession, Zuckerberg said Meta will now only hire around 6,000 to 7,000 new engineers in 2022—a stark drop from its initial plan to hire more than 10,000.
Facebook’s Parent, META, is Shutting Down its Novi Crypto Wallet
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