Bitcoin’s Tumble

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What's Happening Today

Happy Friday! It's Kristin with your daily morning digest.

A broad sell-off in cryptocurrencies pushed the price of Bitcoin to a five-month low after Russia's central bank proposed a ban on cryptocurrency mining (how new digital coins are created) and trading. The price of Bitcoin tumbled below $40,000, while the selloff had knock-on effects on the value of other coins like Ether, which fell 12% over the last 24 hours and was below $3,000 this morning.

Efforts are being made by Democrats to revive the ambitious (and expensive) Build Back Better Act, after a lack of support from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) spelled its end. In a press conference yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that the bill might need to be "renamed," but rejected an idea that Democrats would attempt to pass the bill in "chunks," instead admitting that the final bill might be scaled down from its current form.

Today, Intel also announced plans to invest $20 billion in a chip plant in Ohio as the global chip shortage drags on. While the plants aren't set to be operational for a few years, this is important news for American consumers. Chips are in so many things these days—from your phone, to your car, even fridges and microwaves. Anyone who has tried to buy a car lately knows how painful the chip shortage has been (think empty dealer lots and much higher prices). Expanding the production of these important pieces of technology in the United States will not only bring jobs, but will also reduce American reliance on factories in Asia which closed during the pandemic, highlighting the fragility of global supply chains.

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

Feds To Probe In-House Student Loans for Potential Abuses (The Balance)

Pelosi: Build Back Better May Need To Be 'More Limited,' Renamed (The Hill)

IMF Chief Says Fed Rate Hike Could 'Throw Cold Water' on Global Recovery (CNBC)

Fed Kicks Off Debate on Issuing Its Own Digital Currency With New White Paper (Reuters)

Off the Charts

Where are the for-sale signs? Homes for sale plummeted below 1 million for the first time since at least 1999, with just 910,000 homes on the market nationwide in December, data from the National Association of Realtors shows.

Number of the Day

8.75 Million - That's how many people weren't working around the turn of the year because of COVID-19, nearly triple the number in the first half of December.

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