Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - China crushes crypto

The world’s second largest economy dealt another big blow to crypto Friday. China banned all cryptocurrency transactions and mining. It’s a significant turning point in a multiyear pivot for China, which was once an early backer of digital currency. It also spurred a wipeout of as much as $159 billion in the market value of coins, from Bitcoin and Solana to XRP. But you know what they say: when one door closes, another opens. Here’s your market’s wrap.—Margaret Sutherlin

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

It was up to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky to sort out a crucial question: which Americans should get Covid-19 booster shots. A panel of outside advisers sided with the Food and Drug Administration: limit boosters to those over 65. The CDC director overruled them. Here’s how the decision played out.

Rochelle Walensky  Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times

President Joe Biden is backing a new proposal to tax billionaires for the appreciation in their investments on an annual basis, a change that would prohibit some of the richest Americans from deferring their tax bills.  

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou and U.S. prosecutors reached a deal to resolve criminal charges filed against her. Lawyers said they will defer prosecution and dismiss the case entirely if Meng complies with terms of the agreement. Meng admitted she misled HSBC Holdings about the telecom company’s business with Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions. Her 2018 arrest sparked a diplomatic crisis between China, Canada and the U.S.

Meng Wanzhou  Photographer: Jimmy Jeong/Bloomberg

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is setting up a series of high-stakes votes, betting that differences among some Democrats won’t block Biden’s economic plan as it moves through Congress. 

A former Tesla factory worker who alleges racism was rampant on the assembly line already has achieved a rare feat: forcing the electric-car maker to fight him in open court. 

The hot U.S. housing market and runaway prices are fueling angst on TikTok over the role of big corporations in the market.

When Donald Trump was in the White House, Jair Bolsonaro sought to learn political tactics from the Republican. Now, Trump adjutants are working with the far-right Brazilian leader, who has already taken one lesson to heart: he’s claiming without any evidence that Brazil’s voting system is rigged.

Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro in March 2020 Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg

• U.S. Covid-19 hospitalizations in this wave may have peaked. 
• There’s a new bank on Wall Street ready to shatter the glass ceiling. 
• Walmart’s promotion of Black people into management is slowing. 
• The IMF leader implicated in a World Bank probe speaks. 
• Another Cuomo was accused of sexual harassment. 
• Panic buying is back as the U.K.’s energy crisis deepens.
• There’s a massive paper shortage. 

Dried-out forests, hotter temperatures and more ferocious wind patterns are combining to break wildfire records year after year. And yet—Americans are moving in droves to areas where they’ll be more at risk of dying in devastating forest fires. Find out why.

Trees near South Lake Tahoe burn during the Caldor Fire in Califonria. Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

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Bloomberg New Economy Conversations—Getting to Net Zero: The cost of scaling up renewable energy has fallen dramatically. Is 2021 the year in which we’ll see major investments in areas like green hydrogen, carbon capture and other technologies needed to prevent environmental catastrophe? What are the most promising new areas and who is at the forefront? Join New Economy Editorial Director Andrew Browne on Sept. 28 at 10 a.m. as he discusses these issues with HSBC Group Chief Executive Noel Quinn, Hyundai Motor Co. Vice President of New Energy Business Development Jae-Hyuk Oh, and others. Register here.