2022 Recap: A look at all the interesting stories of 2022

Hello folks! 

2022 has been a wild ride, and we're just about at the end of it. We've worked hard to bring you all the important stories and information you need to make informed decisions, and we've had a blast telling compelling tales along the way. So, as we close out this crazy year, let's take a moment to reminisce about some of the most interesting stories of 2022.

The year started off with a bang as Zomato and Swiggy, the top food delivery companies in India, both had record sales on New Year's Eve, each delivering over two million orders. 

The boom of Indian startups continued in 2022 as Reliance Retail invested about $200 million in hyperlocal delivery start-up Dunzo, giving it a 25.8% stake as the company sought to join the trend of quick commerce and express grocery delivery.

Then, everyone went crazy for NFTs (non-fungible tokens). These are essentially shares of ownership in a digital asset, like a piece of art or music stored digitally. In January 2022, NFT trade volume soared nearly three-fold to reach an all-time high of $6.86 billion. But as people realized NFTs are about as useful as a fork for soup, the trade volumes have plummeted since the fad died down.

January 2022 wasn't great for Netflix either, as its stock plummeted more than 20% in a week due to underwhelming performance. As countries reopened in 2022, the pandemic-induced subscription boom faded, making it a difficult time for the streaming giant.

Then came February, the month of love and budgets! This year's budget saw the spotlight on crypto tax, rather than cigarette tax. The budget said, any income made from virtual digital assets (like cryptocurrencies and NFTs) will now be taxed at a 30% rate, and if you give away your crypto as a gift, the recipient will have to pay tax on it as well. Plus, if you sell your crypto, you'll have 1% TDS. The move made us all wonder whether the government has legalized crypto or not. 

2022 also saw two major frauds: the NSE Yogi scam and the ABG shipyard scam. In the first case, a Yogi controlled the largest exchange in India, and in the second, a shipbuilding company duped several of India's largest banks out of Rs. 23,000 crore.

March was a year of mergers, with Zomato and Blinkit merging, and Inox and PVR joining hands.

April brought us the highly entertaining corporate boardroom drama between Elon Musk and Twitter's BOD. We watched as Musk had to swallow a poison pill in order to take over Twitter.

May, the hot month, saw a coal crisis in the country. As electricity consumption soared with the use of air conditioning and coolers, states ran out of coal leading to frequent power cuts. 

We also saw the fall of Edtech companies as major Edtech companies like Unacademy, and Vedantu started laying off staff. Lido learning was on the brink of shutting down when Reliance stepped in to offer some assistance.

RBI made some interesting moves this year as well, announcing plans to allow linking credit cards to UPI (Unified Payment Interface). This move could challenge the foundation of BNPL (buy now, pay later) businesses.

Unfortunately, cryptocurrencies had a rough year, with exchange Vauld suspending withdrawals, trading, and deposits, and Binance disowning Wazir X. 

However, the Adani group had a banner year, acquiring India's largest cement maker, Ambuja and ACC, and even snagging a stake in Bloomberg Quint's parent company. Adani's stock also gave impressive returns, even as Indices gave tepid returns.

There was also the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the oil-rich country reportedly spent over $200 billion on the sports event. The economics of the world cup did not make sense.

Wow, what a wild ride it's been this past year! We've had our ups and downs, twists and turns, and everything in between. But through it all, we've had a blast bringing you these stories and we can't wait to bring you even more in the coming year.

So hang on tight, because it looks like the rollercoaster of life is only getting more thrilling! 

As we wave goodbye to this year and say hello to the next, we wish you a joyful, healthy, and happy 2023! As the saying goes, we'll see you next year.