CNBC.com's Pippa Stevens brings you the day's top business news headlines. On today's show, CNBC.com's MacKenzie Sigalos reports on ethereum's London hard fork update and what it means for miners. Plus, President Joe Biden announces a new electric vehicle initiative with carmakers, but Tesla is left out of the event.<\/p>\n
Ethereum just activated a major change called the \u2018London hard fork\u2019 \u2014 here\u2019s why it\u2019s a big deal<\/p>\n
Ethereum's much-hyped and somewhat controversial "London" hard fork has just activated.<\/p>\n
So far, news of the successful upgrade has coincided with a runup\u00a0<\/strong>in the price of ether, the native token of ethereum's blockchain. The cryptocurrency is at $2,620,\u00a0<\/strong>up 3.9% in the last 24 hours.<\/p>\n A big part of the enthusiasm has to do with the fact that the software upgrade means a few big \u2014 and necessary \u2014 changes are coming to the code underpinning the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency.\u00a0<\/p>\n It has always been a tough go for ethereum users. The blockchain has a long-standing problem with scaling, and its highly unpredictable and sometimes exorbitant transaction fees can annoy even its biggest fans.<\/p>\n The problem has become worse in recent months thanks to a surge in interest in nonfungible tokens, which are mostly built on ethereum's blockchain, as well as an explosive growth in the world of decentralized finance, or DeFi, which also largely uses the ethereum blockchain.<\/p>\n Target to pay 100% of college tuition and textbooks in bid to attract workers<\/p>\n Target\u00a0said Wednesday it will offer new perks to woo workers: a debt-free way to get a college degree and payments toward graduate programs.<\/p>\n Starting this fall, the big-box retailer said it will cover the cost of tuition, fees and textbooks for part- and full-time workers who pursue a qualifying undergraduate degree at more than 40 institutions. It will also fund advanced degrees, paying up to $10,000 each year for master's programs at those schools.<\/p>\n The national retailer\u00a0is the latest company to dangle perks to attract job candidates\u00a0in a competitive labor market. With the move, Target joins other retailers and restaurant chains \u2014 including\u00a0Chipotle\u00a0and\u00a0Starbucks\u00a0\u2014 that have programs that help employees pay for college.\u00a0Walmart\u00a0recently announced it would\u00a0cover the full cost of college tuition and books\u00a0for its employees, after previously requiring them to pay $1 a day.<\/p>\n Biden pushes for electric vehicles to make up half of U.S. auto sales by 2030<\/p>\n President Joe Biden will set a new national target on Thursday for the adoption of electric vehicles, calling for them to represent half of all new auto sales by 2030, according to senior administration officials. \u00a0<\/p>\n The target is expected to be supported by companies such as\u00a0General Motors,\u00a0Ford Motor\u00a0and\u00a0Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler. Executives of the Detroit automakers are scheduled to attend an event Thursday at the White House and pledge EV sales of between 40% and 50% by 2030.<\/p>\n Though the president will sign an executive order, the sales target is not mandatory. Instead, the document encourages the U.S. auto industry and government to promote legislation and the adoption of electrified vehicles. The target includes zero-emission vehicles powered by\u00a0fuel cells\u00a0and batteries as well as plug-in hybrid models with internal combustion engines.<\/p>\n The order "doesn't function as a mandate, but it does create the conditions for us to meet that goal," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. "We have got to act, the transportation sector is the biggest part of our economy emitting greenhouse gases, and cars and trucks are one of the biggest parts of that."<\/p>\n