| Bitcoin plunges 31% — then surges 33%. The once-unstoppable commodities rally is crumbling. Some vaccines help nations exit the pandemic faster than others. Here's what you need to know to start your day. Bitcoin whipsawed investors on Wednesday, plunging 31% in the U.S. morning before surging 33% in the afternoon. The extreme price swings in an asset known for its turbulence caused outages on major crypto exchanges and dominated chatter on Wall Street. The tumult elicited a tweet from Elon Musk that implied Tesla wasn't among the sellers, while Cathie Wood said her monitors flashed a "capitulation" that put the digital token "on sale." Other cryptocurrencies also fell but failed to match Bitcoin's rebound: Ether, Dogecoin and Binance Coin all remained down by at least 20% in afternoon trading. Columnists Mark Gilbert and Lionel Laurent say it goes to show that while crypto is a phenomenal mechanical bull for professional traders to ride, it's not the future of money. Asian stocks looked set for a mixed open Thursday after U.S. shares dipped and Treasury yields rose in the wake of Federal Reserve minutes that flagged the possibility of a debate on scaling back asset purchases. Futures were steady in Japan and Australia but lower in Hong Kong. Energy and commodities futures swooned, raising doubts about the prospects for a much-vaunted commodity "supercycle." The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 1.67% in U.S. hours and a gauge of the dollar rose. U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. must defend open and safe sea lanes in the Arctic and South China Sea as nations including China and Russia seek to assert greater control over the maritime regions. "It's of vital interest to America's foreign policy to secure unimpeded flow of global commerce," Biden said at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in his first commencement address as president. The Philippines protested China's unilateral fishing ban in the South China Sea, which runs from May 1 to August 16 and includes areas the Southeast Asian nation has jurisdiction over, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. New Covid-19 cases in Malaysia have risen to the highest since the pandemic began despite social-distancing curbs, while Taiwan has extended its soft lockdown island-wide. In India, daily deaths have reached a record even as reported infections decline from the highs of early May. Singapore rejected a claim made by New Delhi's chief minister that a new variant was discovered in the city-state. More than 70% of U.K. adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine and Europe is reopening for more travel. Meanwhile, signs are emerging that while all vaccines reduce serious illness and deaths, some are helping the nations that use them exit the pandemic faster than others. A mysteriously wobbling skyscraper in Shenzhen, SEG Plaza, has prompted the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou to urge Americans to avoid it. The building has 72 floors above ground and four below, and it hosts Asia's largest electronics market. The tower's owner, Shenzhen Electronics Group, said that tenants felt it shake at 12:31 p.m. Tuesday and building management immediately organized an evacuation. No earthquake struck the city. No signs of cracking on the ground or damaged curtain walls were detected, it said in a statement on its website. What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours: And finally, here's what Cormac's interested in todayThe dollar is on the back foot again, threatening to fall to a more than six-year low. Buying interest in commodity currencies, a resurgent pound and a euro boosted by improving sentiment toward the European economy have combined to help push the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index down more than 1% so far this month. It's flirting with negative territory for the year.  Underlying the weakness is the retreat in U.S. real yields, which means the greenback no longer has the support from the bond market that helped spark a mini rally at the beginning of the year. The yield on 10-year inflation protected Treasuries has fallen back through minus 0.8% after rising above minus 0.6% in mid-March. With strategists suggesting that a move back below minus 1% is soon on the cards, dollar bulls will be reluctant to buy the dip until real yields show signs of stabilizing or moving higher once more. Cormac Mullen is a cross-asset reporter and editor for Bloomberg News. | 
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