Disney Said To Join Layoff Bandwagon, Apple's Metaverse Variant, Crypto's "Lehman Moment," And More: Five Important Stories You Might Have Missed This Weekend

Following the disclosures from the previous week and the cryptocurrency exchange's subsequent bankruptcy filing, the FTX issue continued to dominate media attention throughout the weekend. Supporters and detractors of cryptocurrency weighed in on the collapse of FTX in chat rooms and on social media.

Here's a summary of a few significant news stories that broke over the weekend as a new trading week gets underway:

1. Investors Experience Déjà Vu As FTX Collapses: The recent developments in the cryptocurrency market caused investors to experience déjà vu as they drew comparisons to the 2008 fall of Lehman Brothers, which sparked a chain of events that resulted in the global financial crisis. In the same way that Lehman went beyond with its mortgage-backed securities investments due to avarice and financial euphoria, FTX launched FTT (CRYPTO: FTT), one of its native tokens, to make up for losses at its Alameda Research proprietary trading company. Investors also worried about a cascading effect because they thought there would be additional skeletons hiding in closets.

2. Apple Developing Metaverse Version: Recent job postings and management shifts at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) provided suggestions as to what might be in the works for the company's mixed reality headset, which is anticipated to be released in 2023. Bloomberg blogger Mark Gurman speculated that Apple may be developing a digital realm akin to the metaverse, though he does not anticipate the corporation to use that word. He continued that the business might also be developing a video service for the headset that offers 3D content that can be viewed in virtual reality.

3. Disney Responds To Economic Uncertainty: According to Reuters, CEO Bob Chapek stated in an internal message that Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is planning to eliminate employees and freeze hiring. The company announced that it would employ for a small subset of the most important, business-driving positions while putting all other roles on hold, with the decision purportedly being prompted by economic uncertainties. The CEO also mentioned layoffs.

4. Musk cites "Not Your Keys, Not Your Wallet" as an example: Elon Musk concurred with the idea that users should remove their cryptocurrency holdings from exchanges when he joined a Twitter Space early on Saturday. "I would reiterate that if you have cryptocurrency, you should store it in a cold wallet that is easily accessible. Not in a conversation," he replied.

5. Tesla Involved In Car Crash In China: Musk's electric vehicle industry leader Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was thrust into the spotlight after its Model Y SUV was involved in a car accident that killed a motorcyclist and a high school student in China's southern Guangdong province.

What Else: Christopher Waller, governor of the Federal Reserve, said that because the U.S. central bank's rate increases so far haven't "broken anything," it is on the correct track. The Fed official was speaking at an economic conference in Australia that was put on by the investment firm UBS.

Before the dust from Twitter's 50% employment cuts could settle, it became out that 4,400 of the social media platform's 5,500 contract workers had been let go.