Binance has notched its largest-ever market share since its old rival FTX collapsed, per the FT.

Ben McShane/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images

• Binance hosted 55% of all crypto spot trading last month, according to data seen by the Financial Times.
• It’s extended its dominance over other crypto exchanges to achieve its largest-ever market share.
• Binance has added to its customer base since rival exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022.

Crypto exchange Binance has grown in dominance in the months since its old rival FTX spectacularly imploded, having notched its largest-ever market share, according to a Financial Times report.

The world’s biggest exchange bucked the general industry trend by winning more customers to host 55% of all crypto spot trades in January, the FT report Wednesday said citing CryptoCompare data. That’s up 7 points from November last year — when Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX collapsed — and good for its highest-ever market share.

Rival exchanges Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com have seen their market shares flatline over the past few months while Binance has added new customers, per the FT.

Data from CoinMarketCap shows that Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of both 24-hour trading volume and weekly visits.

Its rival FTX placed second on those metrics before it suffered a liquidity crisis in November that eventually plunged it into bankruptcy. Questions about the handling of FX customer funds led to the arrest of founder and former CEO Bankman-Fried on fraud charges.

The crisis came after CoinDesk reported that Bankman-Fried’s trading firm Alameda held significant amounts of its portfolio in the exchange’s native FTT token.

Binance dumped its entire $529 million FTT position on November 7, before announcing it was in talks to takeover the embattled exchange. But then its CEO Changpeng Zhao — who’s often referred to by his initials “CZ” — walked away from the deal after seeing the losses listed on FTX’s balance sheet.

Bankman-Fried and CZ repeatedly traded barbs on Twitter, with their rivalry intensifying in the weeks before FTX collapsed. The two crypto founders clashed on issues such as accounting practices and crypto regulation.

Their clashes prompted “The Big Short” author Michael Lewis to dub them the “Luke Skywalker” and “Darth Vader” of the digital asset space .

Read more: From Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest to bitcoin plunging below $20,000, here are the 9 craziest crypto stories of 2022

Shakaila Forbes-Bell.

Shakaila Forbes-Bell

• Shakaila Forbes-Bell is a fashion psychologist who has worked with brands like Next and Depop.
• She was told a master’s degree in the subject at the London College of Fashion was a waste of money.
• Forbes-Bell describes how she proved them wrong.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Shakaila Forbes-Bell, a freelance fashion psychologist. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2011, I was studying psychology at University College London. At the time, I wanted to be a clinical psychologist. I became invested in social psychology and how it intersected with fashion. I did my dissertation on the link between race, clothing, and first impressions.

I reached out to a style psychologist, Kate Nightingale, and interned with her for about a year. I shadowed her, consulting with brands on their employee uniforms, and looking at retail. My input was added to a pitch deck and sent to brands.

I decided it was a bit too corporate for me, but it was great to see that someone was doing this role, and it inspired me to find out more.

In 2014, I started a fashion-psychology master’s at the London College of Fashion

I continued to look at multicultural marketing. I’d seen a Vogue editor say that Black models didn’t sell, and it made me angry. I wanted to prove empirically this was incorrect.

So as part of my final thesis, I conducted a study that found people were more likely to spend more money on a product when it’s promoted by diverse models. That paper was published in the International Journal of Market Research. I finished my master’s in 2016.

It was one of my goals to become a published psychologist, but I still never imagined myself as a fashion psychologist. I didn’t know it was a job.

Even the careers advisors at the job fair I went to after I finished my master’s didn’t have much knowledge about which jobs I could go into.

After I did my first paid internship in 2017, my blog was reshared in articles by journalists.

On my Instagram account, I posted an image of me at my graduation, with the caption “first Black woman to get a degree in fashion psychology.” It went viral on Twitter.

I got a lot of support, but I also had a lot of trolls saying that fashion psychology wasn’t a proper degree and that I’d end up working at McDonald’s. I received some racist comments, too.  

My sister died suddenly in February 2018 and I began taking care of her two kids. I decided I needed to be more serious about my career. For a while, I was working for a luxury-watch brand. I hated it because I couldn’t be creative in the role and didn’t have a supportive manager.

In November 2018, I started working part time for a B2B influencer marketing platform as a marketing assistant as I adjusted to looking after two kids. The role involved me writing research papers. I’d look at research on what was trending in the fashion world and apply my fashion-psychology knowledge to it.  

In January 2019, I was offered my first brand partnership

I supported clothing-brand Next’s “Dress Like a Boss” event, which was focused on imposter syndrome and how women could feel more empowered in the workplace after returning from maternity leave.

I provided research and gave a 30-minute talk at an influencer brunch event about how you could use psychology to choose outfits that would give you confidence. I was also interviewed for Next’s blog.

I’ve never pitched for work. Brands mention my blog when they reach out to me. I think my search-engine optimization has played a part in my success. I’ve also changed the way I speak about fashion psychology. Before, I spoke about it in an academic way because that’s what I was taught. When I started speaking in more of a casual way, it showcased my personality.

Now I freelance full time. I recently did an hourlong talk for Maybelline’s corporate team and head office about consumers’ relationship to fashion. The most fulfilling part of the job for me is getting to speak at events and on TV about what I love.

With what I do, no day is the same, which is bittersweet

You also always have to try and look good because you never know when you might need to be on camera. For my routine, after I’ve dropped the kids to school, I start work about 9:30 a.m. I take a break to pick them up at 3:30 p.m.

I usually stop working at 6 p.m., but I’m always switched on and close to my phone. On the weekends, I’m usually shooting content for my Instagram page. I never run out of things to do in my job, and that can be fun.

An influencer once told me that I’d inspired her to pursue a career in fashion. She said that I’d substantiated fashion psychology as a real career.

I’ve learned to just go for the career I want. I had a vision that I could really make something of myself.

CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) said on Wednesday it would buy Oak Street Health Inc (OSH.N) for about $9.5 billion in cash, expanding its healthcare services by adding hundreds of primary care clinics mostly for older people.

CVS said the value of the deal was $10.6 billion, including debt. Its per share offer of $39 represents about 73% premium to Oak Street’s last closing price before talks of the deal were first reported in January and nearly 16% to Tuesday’s close. Shares of the primary care firm rose 5% before the bell.

The deal marks CVS’ third largest deal in the last decade, closely following its nearly $13 billion buyout of pharmacy services provider Omnicare in 2015 and $69 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna in 2017, according to Refinitiv data.

The Oak Street deal echoes similar moves by rivals into primary care. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O) and Cigna (CI.N) have made investments in primary care provider VillageMD, and Amazon (AMZN.O) announced a $3.49 billion deal last year to buy One Medical (ONEM.O) to expand into the space.

UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) also runs urgent care, primary care and surgical care centers.

CVS has been in the market for a medical services acquisition since last year, as part of its strategy to mitigate the pressure on its health insurance unit from lower ratings on its Medicare Advantage insurance plans and the end of a major pharmacy benefit management contract.

Through Oak Street, CVS will get control over 160 primary care centers that typically offer routine health screenings and diagnosis to those insured under the U.S. government’s Medicare program, which is for people aged 65 years and older or who qualify because they have a disability.

CVS fell marginally on news of the deal, but reversed course to gain about 2% before the bell, after reporting fourth-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates.

A subsidy race with the United States would be the wrong way for the European Union to go in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday.

“We want to further deepen economic relations with the U.S.,” he told the Bundestag lower house of parliament according to a manuscript of his speech, addressing lawmakers ahead of a meeting with fellow EU leaders that starts on Thursday.

“Our ongoing talks on the Inflation Reduction Act are a good starting point for this – at least if the U.S. renounces rules that put European companies at a disadvantage compared to companies from Canada and Mexico, for example,” he said.

“A subsidy race with the USA would certainly be the wrong way to go,” he added.

(This story has been refiled to remove ‘Hold’ in headline)

Brazil’s central bank newfound independence that was designed to shield it from politics has turned it into a convenient punching bag for the new government that can use it to fire up its leftist base and blame it for economic woes.

Since his Jan. 1 inauguration President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has repeatedly attacked the bank, led by respected economist and financial markets executive Roberto Campos Neto, calling its interest rates excessively high and “shameful” and blaming them for stunting growth.

Further to his left, socialist leader Guilherme Boulos called Campos Neto an agent left in office by Lula’s far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro to “boycott” the economy.

With the bank’s autonomy established by law under Bolsonaro in 2021, its board of directors is no longer changed at the same time when new governments take office, so Campos Neto’s term as governor runs until the end of 2024.

Two of his close associates told Reuters that Campos Neto was not considering leaving the bank despite government pressure.

They stressed, on condition of anonymity, that Campos Neto considered the central bank autonomy a crucial institutional gain, and that he played a role in safeguarding it by staying on until the end of his mandate.

Political observers attribute Lula’s irritation with the bank to a mix of slowing economic growth and high inflation that could threaten his government’s re-election prospects in 2026.

But economists think Lula is putting on an act and see no real danger of him curbing the bank’s independence.

“He needs to appease his political base to negotiate more freely later with the central bank,” said André Perfeito, chief economist at brokerage Necton.

The bank’s benchmark Selic rate is now at 13.75%, and its monetary policy committee has not ruled out further hikes to bring down inflation, which last was 5.87% in mid-January, still far from this year’s 3.25% official target.

The committee kept the rate unchanged last week in its first policy decision under the new government, signaling rates would stay high for longer than markets expect due to fiscal risks under Lula.

Soon after taking office, Lula began criticizing the country’s official inflation targets a too low. That spurred a rise in longer-term bond yields and weighed on the real, with the Brazilian currency underperforming its emerging market rivals.

Felipe Salles, chief economist of C6 Bank, sees small short-term risks for the independence due to the frictions, but said the government’s actual objective could be raising inflation goals.

The official targets are defined by the National Monetary Council, currently comprised of the Finance Minister, Planning Minister, and central bank governor, meaning the federal government has two of the three votes in the committee.

Lula has already argued that the country should pursue its own inflation pattern rather than follow what he called the “European” model, but government officials have played down any possibilities of change.

The mandate of Campos Neto and his current eight directors will expire at different times between now and 2025, and it will be up to Lula to appoint all the replacements, starting with the Monetary Policy and Supervision directors, whose mandates expire by the end of this month.

Lula is expected to appoint a person aligned with his vision to the Monetary Policy position, which plays a major role in monetary policy decisions and oversees the foreign exchange and interest rate desks.

But even if Lula packs the board with people fully aligned with his ideas, Campos Neto and his current directors will retain a majority in the rate-setting committee until the end of the governor’s mandate.

Former central bank director Alexandre Schwartsman warned that Lula could indeed ignore Campos Neto’s suggestions for rate-setting panel replacements or raise inflation targets.

“If this is the path followed, make no mistake about it, inflation expectations would rise,” Schwartsman said.

Former central bank chief Henrique Meirelles, who headed the institution in Lula’s first term, suggested the president’s talk of the bank’s independence was counterproductive.

“The less he talks about the subject, the better one can control expectations and lower interest rates,” Meirelles said.

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Brazilian Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, the government leader in Congress, said on Wednesday there was no government guidance regarding replacing central bank Chief Roberto Campos Neto, who has been facing criticism from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Rodrigues said in an interview with TV channel GloboNews there was also no initiative in Congress about changing the central bank’s current independent status. Any change must be approved by lawmakers.

Lula has been criticizing Campos Neto about overly high interest rates, saying it causes unnecessary drag on growth, raising investor concern about his commitment to the bank’s independence.

Campos Neto in response on Tuesday defended the central bank’s formal autonomy, also targeted by Lula and approved by Congress under former President Jair Bolsonaro, saying it disconnects the monetary policy cycle from the political cycle.

Rodrigues said there was “definitively” no government guidance on replacing Campos Neto and that the Senate economic affairs committee did not have it on its horizon as well, when asked about the matter.

He added the government wants to “dialogue” about high interest rate levels, but that Campos Neto will serve his full term ending in 2024 and that there was no proposal from the Lula administration in Congress to change the institution’s autonomy.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Britain on Wednesday to drum up aid, winning a pledge to train Ukrainian pilots on advanced NATO fighter jets, a big symbolic step up in Western military support.

London was his first stop on only his second trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. An EU diplomat said Zelenskiy would travel on to Brussels on Thursday, where the European Union is holding a summit.

“The United Kingdom was one of the first to come to Ukraine’s aid. And today I’m in London to personally thank the British people for their support and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his leadership,” Zelenskiy posted on social media, under a picture of himself and Sunak at Stansted Airport.

Zelenskiy was also due to meet King Charles III, address parliament and visit Ukrainian troops training in Britain.

“President Zelenskiy’s visit to the UK is a testament to his country’s courage, determination and fight, and a testament to the unbreakable friendship between our two countries,” Sunak said in a statement.

Sunak’s office announced additional sanctions on Russia, as well as plans to accelerate the supply of military equipment to Kyiv. For the first time, Ukraine’s air force and marines would now be included in the British training programme.

“The training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future,” it said.

That appeared to signal a notable shift in Western support, as countries have so far held back from providing jets or other weapons capable of striking deep into Russia.

The statement gave no timeframe for the training, and British officials have said teaching pilots to fly British jets takes years. But the first commitment of its kind signals an endorsement of a long-term security relationship with Kyiv, and could pave the way for allies to send planes.

Last month, Britain was the first Western country to promise Kyiv advanced battle tanks. It offered just 14, but within two weeks the United States and European allies pledged scores, ending months of debate.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who came under fierce criticism for perceived foot-dragging on approving tank deliveries, said arms supplies should be coordinated confidentially rather than announced by individual countries.

“What harms our unity is a public competition to outdo each other,” he told the Bundestag lower house of parliament, according to a manuscript of his speech.

Zelenskiy is likely to attend the EU summit as he pursues support from Western allies at the outset of what Kyiv says will be a decisive second year of the war. He has a standing invitation to the gathering, on Thursday and Friday, although his attendance has not been announced officially.

Western countries have dramatically scaled up their pledges of military support for Ukraine since the start of the new year, culminating with the offer of tanks. Kyiv still wants longer range missiles and warplanes.

After major Ukrainian gains in the second half of 2022, Russia has recovered momentum, with tens of thousands of freshly mobilised troops reaching the front.

Russian forces have made incremental progress in Ukraine’s east in recent weeks, in relentless winter battles which both sides describe as some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.

Kyiv says it expects Moscow to broaden that offensive with a big push as the Feb. 24 first anniversary of the invasion approaches.

“They need to have something to show before their people, and have a major desire to do something big, as they see it, by this date,” Ukraine’s national security chief Oleksiy Danilov told Reuters on Tuesday in an interview.

He predicted Russia, which has focused lately on the Donetsk region in the east, would try new attacks on Kharkiv further north or Zaporizhzhia further south.

“How successful they’ll be will depend on us.”

Russia launched its “special military operation” to combat what it describes as a security threat from Ukraine’s ties to the West and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian provinces last year. It says Western supplies of weapons to Kyiv will only prolong the war.

Ukraine says the only way to end the fighting is for the West to give it the capability to drive Russian forces out.

Western fighter jets are at the top of Ukraine’s wishlist. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv enjoys air superiority over Ukraine, limiting the use of piloted air craft on both sides so far.

U.S. President Joe Biden said last month that Washington would not send U.S. F-16s to Ukraine, and British officials have said Britain’s jets require too much training to be useful now. But France and Poland were among countries that kept the door open to sending jets as part of a collective decision by Western allies.

The United States is expected to announce a $2 billion weapons package in coming days that would include new rockets with gliding bombs that double the range of rockets it sent last year. That would put all of Russia’s supply lines in mainland Ukraine as well as parts of the Crimean peninsula within firing distance of Russian troops.

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