You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
39 states
According to investigators who spoke to Bloomberg, Russian intrusions into U.S. voter databases and software systems occurred in 39 states. [Bloomberg]
69
Three astronomers spotted two additional moons of Jupiter in images they took looking beyond the planet into the Kuiper Belt. This would bring the number of moons of the gas giant to 69. [Scientific American]
196
Number of congressional plaintiffs — all Democrats — who have joined a lawsuit against President Trump accusing him of violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which requires the president to get the OK from Congress before accepting foreign gifts. The suit claims that the president’s financial involvement in his businesses violates the clause. [The Washington Post]
436 percent
Urban areas have tried to cut down on the number of people incarcerated before their trials to reduce the population behind bars, but rural jails haven’t followed suit. The pre-trial detention rate in urban centers has dropped over the past several years, but the rate grew 436 percent from 1970 to 2013 in counties with fewer than 250,000 residents. [Wired]
$496
Bitcoin is still the world’s leading cryptocurrency, but it might not stay that way for long. Assuming several factors remain unchanged, if bitcoin drops below $2,182 per coin or Ethereum — its closest rival, which is also blockchain-dependent and is currently worth about $350 per unit — rises above $496 per unit, bitcoin won’t be the leading digital bill on the block. [Motherboard]
$4.48 billion
Verizon has completed its purchase of aging internet giant Yahoo for $4.48 billion. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer scored $23 million in severance on the way out. [Business Insider]
If you see a significant digit in the wild, send it to @WaltHickey.