Crypto's tender moment... Last week, El Salvador became the first country to approve Bitcoin as legal tender. Businesses there will be required to accept Bitcoin as payment, and Salvadorans will be able to pay taxes and bank loans in BTC. This could be a valuable experiment for developing countries considering crypto as legal tender, since it can be a cheaper way to move $$$ across borders. But analysts worry about the economic risks posed by BTC’s extreme volatility.
Big vax headlines... The US will donate 500M doses of Pfizer's Covid vaccine to 100 countries, in an effort to stem the pandemic. Globally, Covid deaths this year have already exceeded 2020’s toll, as cases surge in poor and developing countries (see: The Great Divide). Meanwhile, the US halted new shipments of J&J's one-shot Covid vaccine as states deal with too many expiring doses. Developed nations are on track to vaccinate 72% of their citizens this year, versus ~30% for developing nations.