Business and Crypto: Here Are Our Top Stories of the Week

Many brands are starting to see a recovery despite the challenges initially brought on by the pandemic. Some businesses, especially ones that focused efforts on expanding e-commerce ventures, have even seen profits rise even higher than before the pandemic.

HYPEBEAST has rounded up the top business and crypto stories of the week so you can stay in-the-know about trends across industries.

Business

1. Here are the financial reports released this week:

• Chinese retail giant Alibaba Group announced its March quarter and full fiscal year 2021 results on Thursday, noting $1.17 billion USD in losses. Read more here.
• The Walt Disney Company reported its second quarter and six months earnings for fiscal 2021, falling short of subscriber estimates for its Disney+ streaming service. Read more here.
• Canada Goose recently announced that its fourth-quarter total revenues have reached $208.8 million CAD (approximately $172.4 million USD). Read more here.
• GAP has finally declared dividends for its shareholders for the second quarter of 2021. Read more here.
• Farfetch Limited released its Q1 results, noting a revenue increase of $153.6 million USD. Read more here.
• Subsidiary Shinsegae International, an importer and distributor of brands like Celine and Stella McCartney, reported a 21 percent sales increase for fashion in its quarterly earnings. Read more here.
• Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings posted a net loss of approximately $382 million USD for its fiscal year ending March 31. Read more here.

2. Sony is being sued for its alleged monopoly over its digital game sales on the PlayStation Store

A class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleging that Sony has exhibited anti-competitive behavior by offering digital game sales exclusively on its own PlayStation store. These game sales were previously also available at third-party retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy.

3. adidas’ sale of Reebok might only fetch $1 billion USD

Though the sale of Reebok is still in the operational phase, the amount is nearly $3 billion USD less than the original acquisition price. adidas is reportedly ready to begin considering offers next week — including from Authentic Brands Group.

4. Tesla stocks dipped as sales in China slowed

According to Bloomberg, Tesla shares sunk as much as 4.4 percent before regular trading hours on Tuesday. China’s Passenger Car Association reported that electric automaker saw its sales in China drop by 27 percent.

5. Vice Media Group is now seeking a SPAC deal in order to go public later this year

The deal would give Vice a market valuation of nearly $3 billion USD. The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal would leave existing investors with control of the company.

Crypto

1. eBay is now offering NFTs

eBay is hoping that the sale of NFTs will help expand its pool of buyers and sellers on the platform. Last week, eBay said it was considering cryptocurrency payments.

2. Coinbase released its first earnings report since its direct listing

Coinbase wrote in a letter to shareholders that the rising prices of cryptocurrency boosted its Q1 net income to $771 million USD. The cryptocurrency exchange said it experienced strong first quarter results as the crypto market cap approached nearly $2 trillion USD by the end of the financial quarter.

3. Elon Musk tweeted that he was working with Dogecoin to improve system transaction efficiency

According to Coinbase, Dogecoin surged by 18 percent after Musk‘s tweet. He said the improvements are “potentially promising.”

4. Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin as payment

The change has to do with the environmental toll of Bitcoin mining. Musk first announced the new payment method in late March.

5. Ethereum’s co-founder donated $1.5 billion USD of cryptocurrency to India’s COVID relief fund

Vitalik Buterin transferred 500 ETH and more than 50 trillion Shiba Inu tokens, the latter amounting to roughly $1.14 billion USD at the time of donation. India has been struggling to contain a new surge in coronavirus cases.