CNBC reports that Ripple Labs is looking to acquire Celsius Network's assets. A spokesperson for Ripple Labs confirmed that it is evaluating Celsius' relevance to its business. Celsius filed for bankruptcy last month. More: - In June, the crypto lender froze all withdrawals from its platform.
- The firm had a $1.19B deficit on its balance sheet when it filed for bankruptcy.
- Ripple is looking for potential M&A opportunities as it looks to scale its business.
- The firm almost doubled the sales of its cryptocurrency token XRP in the second quarter.
- Total sales rose from $273.27M in the first quarter to $408.9M in the following quarter.
- In January, the blockchain payments company was valued at $15B after a private stock buyback.
- The U.S. SEC sued Ripple in 2020, alleging that former executives had offered $1.3B in unregistered securities.
- Ripple has denied any wrongdoings, countering the allegations by saying that XRP has traded on platforms.
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The SEC is investigating hedge fund Melvin Capital Management's risk controls and investor disclosures related to the meme-stock rally in Jan. 2021. According to sources, the SEC has contacted investors in the hedge fund in recent months as part of an investigation into what Melvin founder Gabriel Plotkin and other senior executives told them. More: - The SEC has obtained Melvin's general communications with investors and has sought information on what the firm shared with investors about its investment strategy.
- The investigation is being handled by the SEC's enforcement division's asset-management unit in Washington, D.C.
- The probe is in its early stages and may not lead to formal claims of wrongdoing.
- Melvin lost $6.8B in Jan. 2021, more than half of its AUM, due to its short positions during the meme-stock trading frenzy.
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Siemens’ revenues rose 11% to $18.38B (€17.87B), above analysts’ forecasts of $18.01B (€17.47B). However, the company reported its first quarterly loss in over 12 years. Net loss came in at $1.71B (€1.66B), as the German conglomerate took a €2.7B write-down in its energy division and a €400M write-off after shutting operations in Russia. The company revised its annual earnings guidance to between €5.33 to €5.73 per share, down from €8.70 to €9.10 per share. More: - Gamesa, Siemens Energy's wind turbine subsidiary, has been losing money, which has dragged down the energy division's share to half its value from two years ago.
- Siemens owns a 35% stake in Siemens Energy.
- Siemens' industrial business raked in €2.88B in profits, up 27% from the previous quarter.
- Orders rose to €22.07B, 32% up QoQ.
- All verticals are seeing strong demand with no signs of a recession yet, per CEO Roland Busch.
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The combined market cap of GSK, Haleon, and Sanofi has fallen by $40B since Tuesday. Investors are concerned about the prospects of litigation that alleges that Zantac antacid tablets sold by pharmaceutical companies may have contained carcinogens. Over 2,000 Zantac-related lawsuits have been filed in the U.S., with the first trial scheduled for later this month. More: - Shares of GSK, Haleon, and Sanofi fell by 12%, 13%, and 13%, respectively, on Thursday.
- Haleon saw $5B in market value wiped away this week.
- Analysts estimate that the litigation will result in damages between $10.5B and $45B.
- The pharmaceutical companies are accused of failing to adequately warn users about associated health risks in the lawsuit.
- The U.S. FDA found that Zantac tablets exposed to heat for five days produced unacceptably high levels of carcinogens.
- Zantac was removed from the market in 2020.
- In 1988, Zantac became the world's top-selling medicine, with sales crossing $1B.
- On an earnings call last month, Sanofi executives said there is no reliable evidence that Zantac causes cancer, so plaintiffs will not be able to prove their claims.
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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has withdrawn his support for the $1.28B sale of ExxonMobil’s four oil permits to local producer Seplat Energy. Buhari, who also serves as the country’s oil minister, consented to the deal on Monday only to reverse the decision following the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) saying it opposed the transaction. More: - Other big-name oil firms like Shell and TotalEnergies, which have announced plans to sell some local assets, are closely watching the transaction.
- The NUPRC did not provide a reason for its opposition to the deal.
- Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said Buhari has decided to allow the NUPRC to do their work and is withholding his earlier approval for now.
- In a statement, Seplat said it had not received any official notification of Buhari’s reversal and is seeking clarification from authorities.
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BlackRock has launched a spot Bitcoin private trust for its institutional clients in the U.S. The move comes after CEO Larry Fink, who has previously criticized Bitcoin, said BlackRock clients have been showing increasing interest in digital currencies and their underlying technologies, blockchain. More: - In a blog post announcing the product launch, BlackRock said Bitcoin is the oldest, largest, and most liquid crypto asset, noting it is the primary subject of interest from its clients in the crypto asset space.
- Bitcoin is still down more than 60% from its high of $69,000 last November.
- Bitcoin rose to $24,700 on Thursday, its highest level since June.
- Last week, BlackRock announced it was teaming up with Coinbase to make it easier for its institutional investors to buy, trade, and manage Bitcoin.
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- Twitter reintroduced its election misinformation rules ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. The social media platform said it would apply the civic integrity policy it introduced in 2018 to the Nov. 8 midterms. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and about a third of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for election.
- The U.S. Postal Service filed a notice on a temporary price increase for the holiday season. The price increase would go into effect on Oct. 2 and last through Jan. 22, 2023. Commercial priority mail packages will see a 75-cent increase, and heavy, long-distance deliveries could increase to $6.50.
- Google’s high-speed internet service Google Fiber will be available in five new states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, and Nevada. The expansion will occur over the next several years. This is Google Fiber’s largest expansion since 2015.
- OPEC said global oil demand would be weaker this year and next year. The oil group cut its forecasts for global oil demand this year by 260,000 barrels to 100.03 million barrels a day. It also cut its demand forecasts for 2023 by the same amount to 102.72 million barrels a day.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or through email at vanessa@inside.com |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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