Crypto Moves – Bitcoin and Ethereum fall; 10X SPAC and Prime Blockchain complete $1.25bn merger deal
Updated 16 August 2022
Dana Alomar
RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded lower on Tuesday, falling by 3.44 percent to $24,008 as of 7:57 a.m. Riyadh time.
Ethereum, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $1,874 falling by 5.51 percent, according to data from Coindesk.
10X SPAC and Prime Blockchain complete $1.25bn merger deal
Prime Blockchain and blank-check vehicle 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp. II have ended their $1.25 billion merger deal, Reuters reported.
It demonstrates waning enthusiasm for special purpose acquisition companies that were startups’ preferred route to initial public offerings.
As a result of sky-high inflation and recession fears this year, several companies have canceled their SPAC mergers, which were announced in April.
Despite some hope last week, analysts have cautioned against over-optimism, arguing that before slowing rate hikes, the Federal Reserve will seek more solid evidence that inflation is declining.
Hodlnaut seeks judicial management for reorganization
As part of its efforts to restructure its business, Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto currency lender and borrower, filed an application to be placed under judicial management on Tuesday, Reuters said.
In a petition filed with the Singapore High Court, the crypto company said it suspended withdrawals, swaps, and deposits last week.
The collapse of two paired tokens, Luna and TerraUSD, in May sparked a selloff in crypto assets.
Dragonfly Ventures buys hedge fund and rebrands
Venture capital firm Dragonfly announced it acquired cryptocurrency fund MetaStable Capital and rebranded, according to Bloomberg.
Haseeb Qureshi, the managing partner at Dragonfly, said the acquisition coincides with consolidation in the digital asset industry, Bloomberg added.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under a new logo, Bloomberg said that Dragonfly has dropped “Capital” from its name.
Qureshi, a former partner at MetaStable, said in a Telegram message: “The bear market has caused a lot of traditional funds and crossover funds to exit the crypto market.”
“We’re the opposite: we’re going deeper, and committing to our crypto-native roots,” he added.
With tightening monetary policy, the crypto market suffered a painful rout resulting in spectacular leveraged losses., Bloomberg added. This shakeout is resulting in a rise in mergers and acquisitions.
Leon Li, the founder of crypto exchange Huobi, is interested in selling his majority stake. Crypto.com, a digital currency platform, also announced acquisitions in South Korea recently.
As of July 31, MetaStable had over $400 million in assets under management, co-founded by Naval Ravikant, according to Bloomberg. Many well-known digital-asset projects, such as Ethereum, were invested in by the fund early on. Venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Union Square Ventures, and Founders Fund backed the company.
“Dragonfly has grown a lot since it launched, and so has the crypto industry," Qureshi said.
He added: “The traditional VCs will be back eventually, but the space will have moved on even further by then, and so will we.”
According to public records, Dragonfly manages regulatory assets worth more than $3 billion, said Bloomberg. In a statement, general partner Tom Schmidt said the new brand represents the firm’s “cyberpunk, hacker-first roots.”
Australian seeks to boost economic ties with Saudi Arabia, says envoy
Trademark Group of Companies opens office in Riyadh to explore opportunities, deepen relations
Updated 16 sec ago
Reina Takla Nirmal Narayanan
RIYADH: Eyeing economic opportunities in Saudi Arabia and providing a platform for Australian companies to explore and deepen trade ties with the Kingdom, Trademark Group of Companies opened its office in Riyadh on Saturday.
Trademark Group of Companies is dedicated to helping Australian businesses to expand into Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council region, and vice versa.
Talking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Australian Saudi Business Networking Event in the Kingdom’s capital, Australian Ambassador Mark Donovan said the opening of the office will help both countries explore investment opportunities in various sectors including healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and agriculture.
It was the second Australian Saudi Business Networking Event hosted this year, and it witnessed representatives and decision-makers from 22 companies exploring potential opportunities in the Kingdom.
“I think having the Trademark office here is going to be a big boost to bringing business delegations. In February, Trademark brought the largest Australian business delegation to visit the Kingdom. So, if we keep up the pace of those business delegations, then the commercial opportunities are going to grow and deals will be done,” the top diplomat said.
Trademark Group is a group of businesses within the construction, development and industrial manufacturing sector in Australia.
It is a community of businesses that come together and share investment opportunities, ideas and create relationships.
It serves as a platform that explores growth opportunities in different parts of the world.
Earlier in January, the first delegation from Australia comprising 51 companies visited the Kingdom, while another delegation is scheduled to visit the Kingdom by the end of this month.
The Australian envoy is optimistic about boosting trade and investment ties with Saudi Arabia in various sectors. “I think there’s a lot of areas where Australia can lend expertise and form partnerships with Saudi Arabia. Our strengths at the moment are in the education sector, the health sector, engineering, and other areas where I would like to see that expand, are construction, manufacturing, and industrial sectors.”
He admitted that agricultural trade between the two countries has always been strong. “The agricultural commodities trade between Australia and Saudi Arabia is very strong. Fertilizer goes to Australia and agricultural commodities come back (to the Kingdom). And on the back of that, I think we can probably also look at agricultural technical expertise,” said Donovan.
Donovan said the opening of free economic zones will elevate Australian exports to the Kingdom as the “commercial opportunities (created) through those free zones will be too good to turn down.”
The envoy said that the changing business environment in the Kingdom is expected to attract more investments from Australia.
Earlier speaking at the networking event, Donovan said the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 has made it an ideal destination to do business.
“Australia is ideally placed to partner in this. We have more similarities with Saudi Arabia than we realize. We are, of course, fellow G20 economies. We both recently announced ambitious targets for greening our economies and mitigating the effects and the impact of climate change to which we are both more vulnerable than most,” the ambassador added.
Sam Jamsheedi, founder and chairman of Trademark Group of Companies, told Arab News that the launch of an office in Riyadh will help Australian companies soft land in Saudi Arabia.
“The ecosystem is the most important part. So, the way we deal with the (Australian) delegation, we try to expose them to government sectors first, and after understanding how the ecosystem works, we try to expose them to businesses,” said Jamsheedi.
According to Jamsheedi, some of the sectors that could make use of Australian talents in the Kingdom are construction, architecture, and engineering, especially considering the fact that Saudi Arabia is developing large infrastructure projects like NEOM.
Jamsheedi pointed out that most of the Australians currently residing in Saudi Arabia are working on big projects like NEOM and the Red Sea.
The official called on Saudi companies to explore investment opportunities in Australia as it is one of the booming and safest economies of the world.
Lauding the growth of Saudi Arabia, Todd Miller, trade and investment commissioner at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, said that Riyadh is a budding site for businesses.
Miller said the office of the Trademark Group of Companies will help Australian firms adapt themselves to the Saudi market.
Earlier in April, a report released by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission noted that Saudi Arabia’s mining sector offers huge investment opportunities for Australian companies dealing with equipment, technology, and other related services.
It noted that more opportunities will emerge in the digital sector, quality and safety solutions, environmental services, and mine safety equipment and services over the coming years.
Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic relationship with Australia dates back to 1974 when the Australian embassy was opened in Riyadh.
The two countries signed an agreement to strengthen mutual economic and technical relations in Riyadh on March 22, 1980, followed by the opening of the first Saudi Embassy in Canberra in 1983.
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill that suspends the US government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default with just two days to spare.
The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation this week after Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement following tense negotiations.
The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on Monday if Congress had failed to act by then.
Biden signed the bill at the White House a day after hailing it as a bipartisan triumph in his first-ever Oval Office address to the nation as president.
The bill signing, which was closed to the press, marked a low-key, symbolic end to a crisis that vexed Washington for months, forced Biden to cut short an international trip in Asia and threatened to push the US to the brink of an unprecedented economic crisis.
“Thank you to Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell for their partnership,” the White House said in a statement announcing the bill’s signing, naming the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.
Officials later released a ten-second clip of Biden silently signing the document at the White House.
“It was critical to reach an agreement, and it’s very good news for the American people,” Biden said on Friday. “No one got everything they wanted. But the American people got what they needed.”
The Republican-controlled House voted 314 to 117 to approve the bill, and the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 63 to 36.
Fitch Ratings said on Friday that the US’ “AAA” credit rating would remain on negative watch, despite the agreement allowing the government to meet its obligations.
Prince Fahad bin Mansour Al-Saud represents Saudi Arabia at G20-Startup20 engagement group
Al-Saud expressed his gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the exemplary support they provide to entrepreneurs.
“Today we witness the impact of this support on the entrepreneurship system in the Kingdom. This has resulted in accelerated growth in our national economy,” he said.
Updated 04 June 2023
Arab News
RIYADH: Prince Fahad bin Mansour Al-Saud has been chosen to represent Saudi Arabia in the G20-Startup20 engagement group, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
Launched earlier this year under the Indian Presidency of G20 2023, the Startup20 engagement group is one of 11 official networking groups.
Al-Saud expressed his gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the exemplary support they provide to entrepreneurs.
“Today we witness the impact of this support on the entrepreneurship system in the Kingdom. This has resulted in accelerated growth in our national economy,” he said.
Having been appointed to represent the Kingdom due to his extensive entrepreneurial experience, Al-Saud stressed the importance of Saudi Arabia’s participation in the Startup20 official group summit.
“The Kingdom is a leading country in entrepreneurship and an enabler for startups under Vision 2030, which aims to raise small and medium enterprises’ contribution to GDP from 20 percent to 35 percent,” he said.
The chair of the board of directors of the Saudi Entrepreneurship Vision, Al-Saud said that the Startup Summit in India was an opportunity to exchange creative and innovative ideas, find strategic partnerships and investment opportunities, and learn about the experiences of the G20 countries, in addition to promoting the projects of Saudi entrepreneurs.
The group is distinguished as the first official group specialized in emerging companies, which are considered the most critical engines of economic growth and sustainable development, according to SPA’s report.
The group seeks to communicate the voice of the global start-up system through the G20 countries, and recommendations will be developed to be formally submitted to the G20 leaders for consideration.
Outreach groups are independent collaborative groups led by civil society organizations in the host country each year.
Al-Saud has founded several companies in various fields. He holds a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California.
PIF’s joint venture with Ma’aden to help establish mining sector: top official
There is ‘as much as $1.3 trillion in untapped resources sitting under the ground in the country’
Updated 03 June 2023
Reina Takla Nirmal Narayanan
RIYADH: With metals and mining being identified as one of the 13 strategic sectors to focus on to achieve the goals outlined in Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund’s joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Co., also known as Ma’aden, will help unlock the potential of the mineral wealth in the nation, a top official said.
In an interview with Arab News, Mohammed Aldawood, head of industrials and mining sector for Middle East and North Africa investments at the Public Investment Fund, said that the joint venture will help to establish the mining sector as the third pillar of the Kingdom’s economy, along with providing an opportunity to explore new territories.
“We (PIF) plan to support the growth of mining as a key enabler of this mission to help establish the industry as the third pillar of the economy. Saudi Arabia is fortunate to be endowed with healthy mineral reserves that are currently underexplored. We estimate that there is as much as $1.3 trillion in untapped resources sitting under the ground in the country,” said Aldawood.
He added: “This is a really exciting development that is going to give the PIF and Ma’aden an extensive international footprint in the mining space. It’s going to give the partners a platform to access minerals not available in Saudi Arabia and gives us an opportunity to move into new geographical territories.”
It was in January that Ma’aden and the PIF agreed to form a joint venture to invest in mining assets globally.
Ma’aden will own 51 percent of the venture while the PIF will own 49 percent.
The new venture’s strategy will initially focus on investing in iron ore, copper, nickel and lithium as a non-operating partner taking minority equity positions.
Mohammed Aldawood, Head of industrials and mining sector for Middle East and North Africa investments at PIF
Aldawood said that the new venture’s strategy “will initially focus on investing in iron ore, copper, nickel and lithium as a non-operating partner taking minority equity positions.”
“When we commence the partnership, the company’s paid-up capital will amount to $50 million and we will review that as operations grow. We have agreed if additional funding is required, both PIF and Ma’aden will fund the new company up to $3.12 billion,” he added.
Rising demand for critical minerals
Aldawood also talked about the growing electric vehicle market segment where the demand for critical minerals is growing, amid insufficient investments globally by mining firms.
Citing consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie, Aldawood said that mining companies will need to invest nearly $1.7 trillion over the next decade to accelerate the shift to a low-carbon world.
The PIF official further said that the fund will work with large mining companies and trading houses in developing projects to address the acute shortage of future minerals as the world undergoes an energy transition where demand for critical minerals will rise sky-high.
“Through our JV with Ma’aden and our combined skills sets and knowledge of the industry, I am confident that we will play a role in the critical minerals supply response for the EV value chain. We’ll work with large mining companies and trading houses in developing projects that address an expected acute shortage in future minerals and ensure that Saudi Arabia retains a leading position,” Aldawood added.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The official discussed the growing electric vehicle market segment where the demand for critical minerals is growing, amid insufficient investments globally by mining firms.
• Citing consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie, he said that mining companies will need to invest nearly $1.7 trillion over the next decade to accelerate the shift to a low-carbon world.
• The PIF official said the fund will work with large mining companies and trading houses in developing projects to address the acute shortage of future minerals.
According to Aldawood, the PIF is committed to bringing core mining projects to life, supplying the world with critical minerals, and helping to meet decarbonization targets at the same time.
“The PIF has all the right attributes to be successful in this journey. We have access to capital and the appetite to invest globally and across the life cycle of an asset,” he said.
JV with Baosteel and Saudi Aramco
In May, the PIF, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and China-based Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. signed a shareholders’ agreement to establish an integrated steel plate manufacturing complex in the Kingdom.
Aldawood said that this new facility will be the first of its kind in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, and will help advance the regional steel industry ecosystem.
“The project aims to enhance the domestic manufacturing sector through localizing the production of heavy steel plates, transferring knowledge and creating additional export opportunities. It’s a significant investment and a vital development for the industry,” Aldawood noted.
This JV complex is expected to be located in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City, and the facility would have a steel plate production capacity of up to 1.5 million tons per year.
According to Aldawood, this investment decision has been made to significantly reduce the reliance on imported steel and to serve more customers in several strategic industrial sectors including pipelines, shipbuilding, rig manufacturing, offshore platform fabrication plus tank and pressure vessel manufacturing.
“As with our investment in the mining sector, the investment aligns with the PIF’s strategy to unlock the capabilities of promising sectors and strategically important industries that can drive diversification of the local economy,” Aldawood concluded.
DUBAI: Shared mobility is gradually gaining a foothold in the Gulf Cooperation Council region as the automobile industry predictably joins other sectors in adapting to the sharing economy.
Whether it is renting out office space, an Airbnb vacation home, or a fancy dress for a special occasion, more people around the world are embracing the concept of sharing resources and services as opposed to owning them.
Companies are also changing their business models by leveraging the ongoing shift to a sharing economy and the transport sector is no exception.
In fact, the number of users in the car-sharing segment worldwide is likely to grow to 62.11 million by 2027, according to a report issued by Germany-based data-gathering platform Statista.
In the GCC, companies such as Udrive and ekar have dominated the car-sharing space providing customers with an alternative to the existing rental options in cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh.
“There’s a lot of demand for the product,” said Nicholas Watson, the co-founder, and CEO of Udrive, a car-sharing provider in the region.
“The methodology or business model that car-sharing represents, is a fully digital experience with no human interaction. And through that, you streamline access to the vehicles,” which can then be parked anywhere in the city, he said.
With a fleet of 1,000 cars in the UAE mainly Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, Udrive charges customers 1-2 dirhams ($0.27-$0.54) per minute with several options for daily rates.
The car-sharing platform recently launched its operations in the Saudi capital Riyadh with plans to expand its fleet to 1,000 cars by the end of 2023.
It also plans to launch a 1,000-strong fleet of electric vehicles in the next 18 months in Dubai but have similar plans for the Kingdom in near future.
The car-sharing option will also help mitigate the effects of climate change as according to a World Bank report the transportation sector is a major source of emissions accounting for close to 20 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
European statistics show that every car shared removes 17 vehicles off the road, said Udrive CEO.
“That’s where sustainability comes in with car-sharing, we are fractionalizing car rental itself and we are making it available to everybody by the minute,” Watson added.
Reports show that an average passenger car sits idle for 22.5 hours per day. “The key is that the more people become aware that you can rent a car through your mobile phone, open the car through your mobile phone, and drive wherever you want, and end the trip wherever you want,” he told Arab News.
The majority of clients in this region are expatriates, who typically prefer vehicle subscriptions over simply sharing a car from point A to point B. — Soham Shah, CEO of Selfdrive.ae
Unlike rental companies, car-sharing covers all costs for petrol, parking, and insurance without requiring customers to put down any deposit amount or worry about minor damage.
In case of an accident, customers must obtain and submit a police report, as per the law, with all damages covered under comprehensive insurance.
“It removes all the barriers of entry for people who normally wouldn’t be able to rent a car,” many of which fall in the middle to lower-income bracket, also considered the largest mobile and working population, said Watson.
Reports by Statista show the car-sharing segment in Saudi Arabia is projected to grow by 7.54 percent in the next five years with the market volume expected to reach $148.60 million in 2027.
In the UAE, the segment is projected to grow by 5.6 percent during the same period with the market volume likely to hit $102.60 million in 2027.
“When you look at these cities, it’s more about population density and the distances (covered) in average travel,” said Watson.
For example, Dubai is a city with horizontal highways such as Emirates Road and Sheikh Zayed Road, which extend from one end of the emirate to the other.
It consists of areas with huge vertical infrastructures and a high density of people per 100 sq. meters looking to move from one area to another.
We have observed a trend where individuals are moving away from traditional car ownership, and instead are opting for longer-term rentals to meet their needs. — Vilhelm Hedberg, Founder of ekar
This makes Dubai an ideal place for car-sharing, says Watson, whereas Abu Dhabi follows a grid-based system resulting in less congested areas.
“Car-sharing is indeed gaining significant momentum in the Middle East,” said Vilhelm Hedberg, founder of ekar, a self-drive mobility platform.
He pointed to a twofold year-on-year increase in user registrations and usage over the last three years on the platform.
According to him, the shift in consumer behavior is due to several factors, including a higher demand for environmentally friendly urban mobility options, which are affordable, convenient, and flexible at the same time.
HIGHLIGHTS
• More people around the world are embracing the concept of sharing resources and services as opposed to owning them.
• Companies are changing their business models by leveraging the ongoing shift to a sharing economy and the transport sector is no exception.
• The number of users in the car-sharing segment worldwide is likely to grow to 62.11 million by 2027, according to a report issued by data-gathering platform Statista.
“The prices for chauffeur-driven alternatives have increased, making car-sharing a more attractive and cost-effective option,” said Hedberg
He believes, the increase in the adoption of car-sharing services is partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted a shift away from public transportation.
“We have also observed a trend where individuals are moving away from traditional car ownership, and instead are opting for longer-term rentals to meet their mobility needs,” he said.
In response to this demand, ekar has recently introduced subscription leasing, offering flexible rental options ranging from 1 to 9 months with a door delivery service.
Similarly, Soham Shah, CEO of Selfdrive.ae, a car rental and monthly subscription platform, believes there is a growing acceptance of car subscription programs, particularly among expatriates residing in the Gulf countries.
According to him, subscription services are especially attractive to individuals who seek a personalized mobility experience but are unable to purchase a car immediately upon arrival in the country.
We are fractionalizing car rental itself and we are making it available to everybody by the minute — Nicholas Watson, Co-founder and CEO of Udrive
“Whether they are in the process of settling down or are aware of a certain timeframe before making a buying decision, they require monthly mobility solutions,” he said.
“The majority of clients in this region are expatriates, who typically prefer vehicle subscriptions over simply sharing a car from point A to point B,” Shah added.
He also described the GCC taxi market as “well-established, highly regulated and maintained,” pointing out that there is a strong inclination toward using local taxis or opting for services like Uber that offer car-sharing.
However, Shah believes the future of mobility in the GCC lies in a sustained ecosystem of on-demand mobility that provides a car-ownership experience without the need for purchasing a car.
The subtle shift in the automobile industry coincides with the region’s increased attention toward combating climate change and its unified vision to create smarter, greener transportation systems.
By providing individuals with convenient access to transportation without the need for private vehicle ownership, car-sharing promotes a shift toward “a more sustainable and environmentally conscious lifestyle,” said Hedberg.
There is no doubt that sharing mobility offers more efficient utilization of vehicles, reducing the number of cars on the road, he added.
