Sometime in the next few days or even hours, the "miners" who chisel bitcoins out of complex mathematics are going to take a 50% pay cut — effectively slicing new production of the world's largest cryptocurrency in half. That could have a lot of implications, from the price of the asset to the day-to-day operations of bitcoin miners themselves. And, as with everything in the cryptoverse, the future is hard to predict. Beyond its infamous volatility, bitcoin is still a relatively young asset. This next halving will be only the fourth to take place since the digital currency's 2009 launch.
President Joe Biden is visiting Arizona, where he'll formally announce a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon. Biden's national climate adviser confirms the president is visiting the area Tuesday and is expected to announce plans to preserve 1,500 square miles just outside Grand Canyon National Park. This would be the Democratic president's fifth monument designation. Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes are invited to attend Biden's remarks. Tribes and environmentalists have advocated for increased protections on the land for decades. Mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business have been vehemently opposed. Arizona is a key battleground state. Winning Arizona would be a critical part of Biden's reelection effort.
When Brazil's environmental authority busted an illegal gold mine inside the Yanomami Indigenous territory operated by the nation's most fearsome gang, they found something that is becoming common at such sites: a Starlink kit. Starlink, part of Elon Musk's SpaceX, has almost 4,000 low-orbit satellites lined up across the skies, giving people connectivity in remote corners of the Amazon and providing a crucial advantage to Ukranian forces on the battlefield. Nefarious forces are also benefiting, among them the Brazilian illegal miners for whom the portable, high-speed internet system has become a new and valuable tool.
Work crews trying to find 47 people missing after an open-pit mine collapse in northern China have had to change their excavation methods to avoid causing more landslides. Six people have been confirmed dead and six injured people have been rescued from the mine in Inner Mongolia's Alxa League. Work crews are digging by layers and using staggered descents to carry on their search from both sides of the mountain. The initial cave-in of a wall in the mine occurred Wednesday and at least one subsequent landslide has temporarily halted work. Authorities have called for safety inspections on open-pit mines in the region.
