Mar 15, 2018

Cryptocurrency values plunge after Google ad ban

A Bitcoin exchange shop in Poland. Photo: Beata Zawrzel / NurPhoto via Getty Images

The overall cryptocurrency market cap dropped from $372.9 billion to $310.4 billion on Thursday, CNBC reports — largely due to a newly-announced ban from Google on cryptocurrency advertising and a sell-off from Mt. Gox, a collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. Bitcoin, the market's top commodity, fell under $8,000 once again and went as low as $7,715 on Thursday morning.

What they're saying: Scott Spencer, Google's director of sustainable ads, weighed in on the company's decision to CNBC: "We don't have a crystal ball to know where the future is going to go with cryptocurrencies, but we've seen enough consumer harm or potential for consumer harm that it's an area that we want to approach with extreme caution."

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Axios

Updated 7 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 5 a.m. ET: 12,051,561 — Total deaths: 549,735 — Total recoveries — 6,598,230 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 5 a.m. ET: 3,055,144 — Total deaths: 132,309 — Total recoveries: 953,420 — Total tested: 37,532,612 — Map.
2020: Houston mayor cancels Texas Republican convention.
Public health: Deaths are rising in hotspots — Déjà vu sets in as testing issues rise and PPE dwindles.
Travel: United warns employees it may furlough 45% of U.S. workforce — How the pandemic changed mobility habits, by state.
Education: New York City schools will not fully reopen in fall — Harvard and MIT sue Trump administration over rule barring foreign students from online classes.

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Sam Baker, Andrew Witherspoon

26 mins ago - Health

Coronavirus cases rise in 33 states

Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Map: Andrew Witherspoon, Sara Wise, Naema Ahmed, Danielle Alberti/Axios

The coronavirus pandemic keeps getting worse, all across the country. Thirty-three states saw their caseloads increase this week, continuing a scary nationwide trend that’s been getting worse since mid-June.

Why it matters: The U.S. is right back in the situation we were afraid of earlier this year, with a rapidly spreading outbreak, strained hospitals, and projections of more than 200,000 deaths by the end of the year.

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Rashaan Ayesh

10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Photo: Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.