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Hereâs what you need to know
Bitcoin shot past $41,000 for the first time since April 2022... The worldâs largest cryptocurrency is responding to the possibility that spot bitcoin exchange traded fundsâor a pooled investment security that can be bought and sold like stocksâare close to being approved.
âŚwhile gold prices hit an all-time high. The $2,100 price per ounce reached yesterday comes as people turn toward the metal as an inflation hedge and a safe investment in times of conflict.
The UK announced new migration measures. A minimum salary threshold will be raised to ÂŁ38,700 ($48,800) for migrant workers looking to get a work visa.
A big Swiss bank admitted to helping US taxpayers hide $5.6 billion from the Internal Revenue Service. As part of a settlement, Banque Pictet agreed to pay nearly $125 million in restitution and fees.
Latin America and the Caribbean are behind on their yearly climate goals by up to $2.8 trillion. The investment needed to reach those benchmarks is equivalent to between 3.7% and 4.9% of the areaâs GDP.
Wages are even hotter than takeout food prices
No, youâre not imagining itâmenu prices are rising. But US restaurant workers are seeing their pay increase even faster than food prices, and itâs helping to chip away at wage inequality.
In the last decade, restaurant workersâ wages have risen about 66%, while prices for food consumed outside the home have increased by 48%, according to a Quartz analysis of data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Quartzâs Michelle Cheng explains how this discrepancy came to be and how restaurants are responding to it.
Spotifyâs employee count, wrapped
2,300: Number by which Spotifyâs employee count has decreased since the start of the year
The Swedish music streamer has echoed several tech giants, including Meta, Microsoft, and Amazonâwhich over-hired during the pandemic and resorted to several rounds of job cuts this yearâin blaming this downsizing decision on slow economic growth and rising capital costs. And like Metaâs Mark Zuckerberg, Spotifyâs CEO Daniel Ek is chasing efficiency.
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Surprising discoveries
Tomato growers are trying to see if they can grow the plant with less water. It could become essential if we still want ketchup and pizza sauce in a warming world.
Did you know that humans have an interstitium? The organ wasnât discovered until 2018, mostly because of humansâ belief systems.
Oxfordâs word of the year is ârizz.â Even if you donât know what it is, you may have it.
Spacetime may be wobbly. A new theory aims to bridge the gap between quantum physics and Einsteinâs theory of general relativity, which work independently but not together.
A leaning tower had to be secured in Italy to stop it from collapsing. It wasnât that one.
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, climate change ketchup, and towers of pizza sauce to talk@qz.com. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.