crypto's bull run — the chair of the sec, gary gensler, steps down as bitcoin nears the $100,000 mark. yet another bump in the road for europe's ev industry — battery start—up northvolt battery start—up northvolt goes bust goes bust as uk carmakers call as uk carmakers call on the government on the government to ease sales targets. to ease sales targets. boosting the economy — japan is set to approve a massive stimulus package a massive stimulus package as inflation accelerates. and: the ultimate game — as inflation accelerates. black myth: wukong is crowned black myth: wukong is crowned game of the year game of the year at the golden joystick awards at the golden joystick awards in what has been a tough in what has been a tough year for the industry. year for the industry. live from london, this live from london, this is business today, is business today,

i'm lukwesa burak. i'm lukwesa burak. let's start in the us, where the chair of the us financial regulator — the securities and exchange commission — gary gensler has announced that he is stepping down on the day of donald trump's inauguration injanuary. the president—elect revealed plans to sack mr gensler on day one of his new administration — after the chairman took legal action against crypto firms — the news comes as investors are eyeing bitcoin as it approaches the historic $100,000 mark. gary gensler was seen as aggressive in his oversight of cryptocurrencies — which he described as "the wild west". investors have remained bullish on bitcoin since donald trump's presidential victory earlier this month. 0ur north america business correspondent, ritika gupta, has more. bitcoin is heading towards the

$100,000 threshold. while the milestone is psychological rather than meaningful, it is striking that bitcoin is hitting record after record high, and the latest comes after the securities and change commission chair, gary gensler, who led aden against cryptocurrencies, will step down on the day donald trump enters the white house. the markets remain bullish, with bitcoin soaring 40% since trump's presidential victory. reports of the president—elect�*s transition team discussing the possibility of the a first—ever role for crypto policy also sent the token higher. bitcoin has been a key component of the trump trade,s a as trump has promised to explore crypto—friendly initiatives, including the creation of a bitcoin national stock pile and the replacement of sec chair gary gensler, in addition to the flurry of optimism in recent weeks.

0ptions optimism in recent weeks. options on bitcoin etfs debuted, attracting big inflows. let's discuss all this in more detail with gervais williams, head of equities at premier miton. hello. welcome to the programme. the standing down, or rather resination, of mr gensle, r — does that come as a surprise to the markets? h0. gensle, r - does that come as a surprise to the markets?- surprise to the markets? no, i think he had — surprise to the markets? no, i think he had to _ surprise to the markets? no, i think he had to stand - surprise to the markets? no, i think he had to stand down. i think he had to stand down. 0bviously trump was looking for a change — he would have sought to remove him anyway. from that point of view, it was inevitable. what this does mark, though, is the trump's regime to bring more innovation to the financial world through some of the cryptocurrencies. innovation, or uncertainty? there does still seem to be this debate about what exactly is cryptocurrency?— is cryptocurrency? yeah - what's interesting - is cryptocurrency? yeah - what's interesting about | what's interesting about cryptocurrency is it's already very well—established. the whole kind of — all of the

cryptocurrencies together account for over $3 trillion value. so it's a very well—established thing. what we're looking for is more distributive finance. using cryptocurrency tokens in the smoothing of operations — some of the insurance opportunities, parts of the market where you can bring in blockchain technology where you can improve costs and ultimately improve costs and ultimately improve functionality.- improve costs and ultimately improve functionality. back in jul . improve functionality. back in jul , mr improve functionality. back in july. mr trump _ improve functionality. back in july, mr trump spoke - improve functionality. back in july, mr trump spoke about l improve functionality. back in i july, mr trump spoke about his idea to introduce a crypto council. and there is news now that many go forward

anything which does go forward is regulated well. the nightmare is actually having an unregulated market. that's when you get, obviously, a lot of investors losing out. perhaps you get certain schemes which come together a bit like ponzi schemes and things get too high. ithink schemes and things get too high. i think the idea is to keep things sensible — albeit that you bring in a lot of innovation, albeit that you ultimately might have to find that the us out—competes some of the other financial markets in this sector. figs of the other financial markets in this sector.— in this sector. as with anything _ in this sector. as with anything on _ in this sector. as with anything on the - in this sector. as with i anything on the market, in this sector. as with - anything on the market, there is talk about the sustainability of the current run. we're heading towards the $100,000 mark. buti run. we're heading towards the $100,000 mark. but ijust want to go back to your point of innovation — what exactly do you mean by that? what would be innovative in the crypto industry?— innovative in the crypto industry? the nature of blockchain _ industry? the nature of blockchain technology i industry? the nature of| blockchain technology is industry? the nature of- blockchain technology is that you can actually get things where you can settle simultaneously with your transactions. at the moment, say in the us stock market

businesses, you settle on a next—day basis, and there's always a time between the transaction and the settlement. this allows you to actually simultaneously ensure that all of the conditions are right for immediate settlement. it's a way of really speeding up transactions, allowing markets to be more efficient from that point of view. extra liquidity means ultimately, hopefully, lower cost of capital for companies lower cost of capitalfor companies on the lower cost of capital for companies on the market. fik. companies on the market. 0k. thank you _ companies on the market. 0k. thank you very _ companies on the market. 0k. thank you very much - companies on the market. 0k. thank you very much indeed. there's more bad news for the european ev industry as the battery start—up northvolt has filed for bankruptcy protection in the us. seen as europe's big hope for homegrown manufacturing and countering china's dominance, northvolt had been struggling with production at its factory in northern sweden — and failed to agree a last—minute rescue package with investors. the news comes as, here in the uk, the government is under increasing pressure from the car industry to weaken

rules designed to force them to build more electric vehicles. vehicle manufacturers say they are already being forced to cutjobs to address slowing sales and the costly ev transition. alanjohnston is vice—president of manufacturing for nissan motor in the uk. he told the bbc why they are concerned about the ev targets. market isn't there. the sales customers are not buying evs as we'd been expecting 18 months ago. things have changed. because of that, we'll have to redirect a lot of funding that was dedicated to these projects in the uk — redirect it to subsidise manufacturers who have got no industrial operation in the uk. let's go live now to anna—marie baisden, head of autos & infrastructure research at bmi, a fitch solutions company. hello. welcome to the programme. northvault, this is quite a hit for the sector here

in the uk. is it all about a lack of infrastructure, a lack of planning ahead?- lack of infrastructure, a lack of planning ahead? there do seem to be _ of planning ahead? there do seem to be operational - of planning ahead? there do | seem to be operational issues specific to northvault. it was having problems scaling up its production, which is actually in contrast to some other batteries producers that we've seen where they've invested billions in facilities and then didn't have the demand. northvolt actually has big customers. so it's hoping that this restructuring will help it to address those operational issues. �* , ., , ., issues. there'll be many of these green _ issues. there'll be many of these green energy - issues. there'll be many of. these green energy transition companies that would argue they are trying their best, but they need to work closer with government. i mean, you compare that, for example, to what has taken place in china — there has been huge investment into ev infrastructure there?- ev infrastructure there? yes, absolutely- — ev infrastructure there? yes, absolutely. i— ev infrastructure there? yes, absolutely. i think _ ev infrastructure there? yes, absolutely. i think one - ev infrastructure there? yes, absolutely. i think one of- ev infrastructure there? yes, absolutely. i think one of the |

absolutely. i think one of the points that the car—makers have been making at this meeting that they've had with the government is that the demand isn't there, as our man was just saying. and one of the reasons is that the subsidies for passenger car sales were cut in 2022, which has just added to what was already high—cost vehicles. so, consumers have really been struggling in terms of affording them. and that is now hitting the manufacturers. i wonder if you could tell us a little bit more about this warning from — regarding uk targets. just give us a little bit more context there. yeah - so, the regulation _ bit more context there. yeah - so, the regulation states - bit more context there. yeah - so, the regulation states that i so, the regulation states that these car—makers have to have — well, for 2024, anyway — 22% of their sales have to be electric passenger cars. and then it's passenger cars. and then its intended to ramp up each year towards the 2030 goal of phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles. at the moment, as a whole industry, we're below

that at 18%. so if they're struggling now, it's going to get more difficult as the years go on if demand stays as weak as it is. and then if they don't meet those targets, they face a fine of around £15,000 per vehicle that's below those targets. as we've been saying, car—makers are struggling financially already, so that would be a big hit.- financially already, so that would be a big hit. 0k. thank ou would be a big hit. 0k. thank you very _ would be a big hit. 0k. thank you very much _ would be a big hit. 0k. thank you very much for _ would be a big hit. 0k. thank you very much for that. - would be a big hit. 0k. thank| you very much for that. thank ou. staying in the uk: energy bills could be set to rise from today as the energy regulator, 0fgem, is due to announce the price cap forjanuary in the coming hours. consumers have been warned to expect a disappointing rise in energy bills, adding pressure to household finances, despite earlier hopes that prices may ease early next year. i'm joined now by dr craig lowrey, principal consultant at cornwall insight,

who model the price cap forecasts. welcome to the programme. hello. is welcome to the programme. hello. , ~ , welcome to the programme. hello. ~ , ., welcome to the programme. hello. , ~ , ., hello. is it likely that those rices hello. is it likely that those prices will. _ hello. is it likely that those prices will, indeed, - hello. is it likely that those prices will, indeed, rise - hello. is it likely that those | prices will, indeed, rise into the new year? prices will, indeed, rise into the new ear? ., ., , the new year? unfortunately, we are looking _ the new year? unfortunately, we are looking at — the new year? unfortunately, we are looking at a _ the new year? unfortunately, we are looking at a 1% _ the new year? unfortunately, we are looking at a 1% increase - the new year? unfortunately, we are looking at a 1% increase on i are looking at a 1% increase on the current cap level. we're forecasting an increase to £1,736 per yearfor a forecasting an increase to £1,736 per year for a typical domestic household. that £1,736 per year for a typical domestic household. that is not what consumers, _ domestic household. that is not what consumers, households, l what consumers, households, want to hear at the moment. i mean, the cost—of—living crisis is ongoing? mean, the cost-of-living crisis is ongoing?— is ongoing? indeed. this is bein: is ongoing? indeed. this is being driven _ is ongoing? indeed. this is being driven largely - is ongoing? indeed. this is being driven largely by - is ongoing? indeed. this is i being driven largely by events in the wholesale markets for gas and electricity, reflecting a combination of global geopolitical factors a combination of global geopoliticalfactors as a combination of global geopolitical factors as well as more immediate concerns such as the impact of current weather conditions on demand and what that means for the

supply—demand balance further in the future. supply-demand balance further in the future.— in the future. 0k. looking to the future. _ in the future. 0k. looking to the future, what _ in the future. 0k. looking to the future, what sort - in the future. 0k. looking to the future, what sort of - in the future. 0k. looking to l the future, what sort of impact is this like 3 have on the uk economy?— is this like 3 have on the uk econom ? ~ �* , economy? we've seen with the announcement _ economy? we've seen with the announcement of _ economy? we've seen with the announcement of the - economy? we've seen with the announcement of the inflation | announcement of the inflation figures this week, energy prices feeding into the inflation — clearly, this is not occurring in a vacuum. this will have consequences for inflation and, likely, interest rates in their policy going forward. ,, rates in their policy going forward-— forward. do you think the general _ forward. do you think the general trend _ forward. do you think the general trend is - forward. do you think the general trend is that - forward. do you think the general trend is that it i forward. do you think the l general trend is that it will continue to climb? it's the worst time, isn't it? like you said, the weather — but what is the trend as we go through 2025? what is your firm seeing? we're currently forecasting a slight decrease further in 2025. however, this is going to be marginal, and we're certainly not expecting a

return to the levels of household bills that we saw at the end of the last decade. fik. the end of the last decade. 0k. thank you _ the end of the last decade. 0k. thank you very _ the end of the last decade. 0k. thank you very much _ the end of the last decade. 0k. thank you very much indeed. let's get some of the day's other news now: workers at the german carmaker volkswagen are set to commence strike action from the 1st of december. it comes after fresh talks with the company's management over wages and factory closures on thursday failed to achieve a breakthrough. earlier thousands of workers staged a rally outside vw�*s headquarters in the city of wolfsburg, protesting against drastic cost—cutting plans. the spanish parliament has approved a package of tax reforms targeting multinational companies and banks. the new legislation will impose a minimum tax rate of 15% on profits made by spain—based companies, with an annual turnover of at least 750 million euros. this will enshrine eu law in national legislation and will unlock recovery funds from the bloc.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

now tojapan — where the government is set to approve a mammoth stimulus package today. it comes after the latest inflation data was released this morning, showing a rise of 2.3% in october — just above the central bank's target. let's bring in mariko 0i, who joins us from our asia business hub. good morning to you. give us the details of this stimulus package. the details of this stimulus acka . e. , the details of this stimulus ackare. , ., , package. the size of this stimulus _ package. the size of this stimulus package - package. the size of this stimulus package is - package. the size of this i stimulus package is huge, package. the size of this - stimulus package is huge, as you said — 22 trillion yen, reportedly — that's about

us$140 billion. the prime minister said this morning that the overall impact from this package is expected to be about $250 billion. it will have to be funded by a supplementary extra budget, which prime minister ishiba hopes to pass through parliament after being approved by cabinet later today. this is an important test for him if he can proceed with policy because, of course, his ruling coalition only has a minority in parliament after that election setback. now, the focus of this stimulus package is to help cushion the blow of the cost—of—living crisis. as you said, the latest inflation data coming in at 2.3%, which is above the central bank's target. of course, this is a nation which suffered from decades of no inflation or even falling prices known as deflation. so peopl