Regulators in China are tightening their grip on industries at a dizzying pace — ratcheting up pressure that’s spared few sectors.

• Today it’s crypto: The country’s most powerful regulators banded together for the first time to outlaw all cryptocurrency activity today, Reuters reports — intensifying its years-long war.

One reason for the move: To stamp out competition to its own digital currency before a potential rollout next year, Nikkei Asia reports.

• Think of it like “Beijing bulldozing an apartment building so they can build a new superhighway," the Atlantic Council's Josh Lipsky tells Axios.

It’s not just crypto: Among others in China’s regulatory crosshairs recently …

• Education: In July, officials banned companies that teach school subjects from making profits, going public or raising money.
• Gaming: Earlier this month, new rules vastly curbed the amount of time minors can game.
• Casinos: Last week kicked off an unexpected review of industry supervision in Macao, the world’s biggest gambling hub.

The bottom line: "No one really knows how far Beijing is willing to go to put the state back in the center of China's economic future," says Jordan Schneider, a senior analyst at Rhodium Group.

Federal money for struggling tenants was unleashed at a quicker pace last month, new figures show.

• More than 420,000 households got rental aid last month — about 80,000 more than July.
• In total, just 16% of the total $46 billion set aside in relief packages has been pushed out.

Why it matters: The Biden administration is pressuring states to get the money out faster to blunt evictions.

🧻 Costco will put some purchase limitations on paper, paper towels and other household products amid shortages. (Fox Business)

✈️ United Airlines will pay $2 million for dozens of flights sitting on the ground for several hours — the biggest ever government fine for delays. (AP)

🛳 Carnival says cruise bookings for the latter half of 2022 outpace pre-pandemic levels. (CNBC)

Another Pacific Gas & Electric setback: The utility giant was charged with manslaughter and other crimes in connection with a Northern California wildfire that last year killed four people and burned hundreds of homes, Axios’ Kierra Frazier writes.

• State investigators found that the Zogg Fire was sparked by a gray pine tree that fell onto a PG&E transmission line, per AP.

PG&E has faced hundreds of lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 after its equipment was found responsible for several devastating fires.

The charges come as another fire in Redding, Calif., has forced more than 2,500 people to evacuate their homes.

On Sept. 20, Earth Wind & Fire wrote the best tweet of the day (don’t @ me): “What are y’all doing tomorrow? Asking for a friend,” writes Axios' Aja Whitaker-Moore.

• The question was a nod to their 1978 hit “September” — in which lyrics suggest people should always remember the 21st day of the month.

What happened: It worked. The song was played nearly 1.5 million times, for an all-time high daily number of streams across audio and video platforms, according to MRC Data cited by Bloomberg. That’s up more than 4x from the prior day.

"We were very much expendable before, and we don’t feel quite as expendable now."