CoinMarketCap News, Sept 30: Storm Clouds Are Gathering at Meta

Self-styled "on-chain sleuth" ZachXBT has accused crypto influencer Lark Davis of promoting low-cap projects to his audience — "just to dump on them shortly after."  In a thread published on Thursday, Zach gave eight examples, and said he had discovered Lark's wallet after linking it to an NFT posted on Twitter. Davis has shot back against the allegations, describing them as "ridiculous." ZachXBT claimed $1.2 million in low-cap altcoins was offloaded in these cases — describing it as "one of the more egregious instances of dumping on followers I've seen." Davis said selling tokens after launch is "common investing practice," adding: "There is also nothing wrong with selling and making money."

Every Facebook and Instagram user in the U.S. can now share their NFTs — and cross-post them across both social networks. Meta has also confirmed that everyone in the 100 countries where digital collectibles are available on Instagram can now access the feature. Slowly but surely, the tech giant has been rolling out crypto collectibles to its users — and says no fees are associated with posting or sharing NFTs. It means that millions of people can now interact with non-fungible tokens on mainstream sites, in what could be a watershed moment for adoption. Tests have been taking place for several months. Mark Zuckerberg has also been getting in on the action — and selling an NFT version of his childhood baseball card.

All of this comes as clouds begin to form at Meta, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing plans to reduce the company's headcount for the first time ever. According to Bloomberg, the firm is planning its first major budget cut since launching in 2004 — with teams restructured to trim expenses. Zuckerberg was quoted as saying:  "I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now. But from what we're seeing it doesn't yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively." Meta has been struggling to contend with stiff competition from TikTok, which is enticing away younger users. The social network has also been aggressively investing in the metaverse, but some analysts remain skeptical.

The dramatic crash in the crypto markets is a good thing, according to executives. Speaking at the Bloomberg Technology Summit in London, Atomico partner Irina Haivas said the collapse in prices had weeded out "tourists."  She welcomed the fact that hype had left the market — and argued that crypto entrepreneurs "want to build something more sustainable rather than speculate around it."  Another panelist, Revolut's Edward Cooper, said the bear market has also taken care of crypto companies that emerged without a viable business model. He added: "Then the tide goes out and the ones with good business models survive and they become stronger."