DIB 8 MAY 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 842,546
DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 08May24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
__________________________
BLUF: Biden Pauses Bombs to Israel / Russia Strikes Ukraine Energy / Georgia Tightens Up Election Laws / Fluoride in the Crosshairs / Congress Questions DC Police Over Lack of GW Help / Nigeria Full Frontal Attack on Crypto / Brazil Using Crypto in Global Trade / Kenya Looking at Bitcoin Strategy With Marathon

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $62,348, 26.89 oz Gold, .14 Median US House
24hr Hi: $64,298 / Lo: $62,080
Vol: $25B (Up 13%)
Mkt Cap: $1.23T (Down 2%)
HashRate: 462 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 14 sats/vBtye (Down 50%)
Nodes: 18,949

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Biden administration confirms paused shipment of bombs to Israel over opposition to operation in Rafah: One shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs the administration says might be used in Rafah has been placed on hold. “The U.S. position has been that Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go,” the U.S. official said. (Fox)

2. Russia’s biggest airstrike in weeks piles pressure on Ukraine power grid: Russian missiles and drones struck nearly a dozen Ukrainian critical infrastructure facilities in a major airstrike early on Wednesday, causing serious damage at three Soviet-era thermal power plants, Kyiv officials said. The air force said it shot down 39 of 55 missiles and 20 out of 21 attack drones used in the attack, which piles more pressure on Ukraine’s beleaguered energy system more than two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. (Reuters)

-US Events-
1. Georgia governor signs election changes into law: The bill Kemp signed into law — SB 189 — lists death, evidence of voting or registering in another jurisdiction, a tax exemption indicating a primary residence elsewhere, or a nonresidential address as probable causes for removing voters from the rolls. Most controversially, it says the National Change of Address list can be considered, though not exclusively.(NBC)

2. Medical freedom vs. public health: Should fluoride be in our drinking water? Communities across the U.S. are ending public water fluoridation programs, often spurred by groups that insist that people should decide whether they want the mineral — long proven to fight cavities — added to their water supplies. The push to flush it from water systems seems to be increasingly fueled by pandemic-related mistrust of government oversteps and misleading claims, experts say, that fluoride is harmful. Lawmakers in Georgia, Kentucky and Nebraska have filed bills that would end fluoride mandates in some of their larger communities. Within the past few months, local leaders in Collier County, Florida, and Amery, Wisconsin, voted to stop adding fluoride to public water systems. Last year, lawmakers in State College, Pennsylvania, and Brushy Creek, Texas, did the same. (NBC) (AC-The article is obviously slanted towards fluoridation of water but it highlights how push-back from citizens continues to gain steam across the US and the world. (NBC)

3. Police begin clearing GWU protest encampment: D.C. police began clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday and made several arrests, authorities said, hours before the mayor and police chief were set to testify on Capitol Hill about why they had previously declined to take action for over 2 weeks. Members of Congress and university officials had been ratcheting up pressure on the city to move against the demonstrators since the encampment began. (WaPo)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Nigerian SEC to ‘Delist’ Local Currency From P2P Crypto Trading Platforms: The Director General of Nigeria’s Securities Regulator has announced plans to delist the local currency from peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platforms in the coming days. He insisted that the decision to delist the naira aims to eliminate the manipulation of the local currency by P2P cryptocurrency traders. The planned ban on P2P transactions followed the Nigerian Office of the National Security Adviser’s decision to designate cryptocurrency trading as a national security threat. Prior to that, the Central Bank of Nigeria had ordered three fintech firms to cease facilitating P2P crypto transactions, a move that was seen as a warning shot.(BitcoinCom)

-Institutional Concerns-
1. Cryptocurrency Imports in Brazil Break Records and Begin to Affect Trade Balances: Purchases from foreign cryptocurrency exchanges, considered imports, have broken records in Brazil, putting some weight into the nation’s trade balance. During the last 12 months, cryptocurrency purchases reached $14.84 billion, after reaching $12.3 billion last year. Likewise, crypto imports reached $4.69 billion in Q1 2024, rising by 118% compared to the numbers registered in Q1 2023.

2. Bitcoin ETFs Take In $217 Million For Second Consecutive Day Of Net Gains: Yesterday, every single fund was in the green with positive inflows. A total of $217 million entered the newly approved products on Monday. (CoinMarketCap)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-
NSTR

-Economic Indicators-
1. Treasury Yields Continue to Decline: The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note yield declined to 4.43% on Tuesday, the lowest level since April 9th, as traders focus on prospects the Fed will cut interest rates this year after a softer-than-expected labour data. (TradingEconomics)

2. US Economic Optimism Index Continues to Decline: The RealClearMarkets/TIPP Economic Optimism Index in the US fell to 41.8 in May 2024, the lowest level in five months, from 43.2 in April and much worse than forecasts of 44.1. The Six-Month Economic Outlook, which measures how consumers perceive the economy’s prospects in the next six months, dropped sharply to 35.7 from 38.8.(TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. DOJ offering $10 million for help finding man experts say is likely behind Wichita cyber attack: “LockBit, like most other ransomware groups, has a site on the dark web where they list victims, or at least the victims who don’t pay, and they publish whatever data they’ve stolen. Wichita has been added to LockBit’s site,” said Callow. Earlier this week, the City of Wichita announced a big cyber attack that shut down many of its services. Now, Callow says LockBit is demanding an undisclosed amount of money from the city by May 15th. (Kake)

-Technology-
NSTR

-Bitcoin Community-
1. Kenyan President Requests Bitcoin Miner Marathon Digital to Review Nation’s Cryptocurrency Regime: The Kenyan President William Ruto recently revealed that his government has appointed Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital as its consultant to review its cryptocurrency regime. The U.S.-based Bitcoin miner is reportedly set to discuss electricity usage in cryptocurrency mining with the Kenyan Energy Ministry. (BitcoinCom

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 64/100 (Down 4 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): Nigeria has gone full bore against all crypto. They are seeking to eliminiate all P2P transactions and the connection of crypto to the Naira. To designate it as a ‘National Security Threat’ means that they actually have an understanding of the subversive nature of a grassroots currency system upon the centralized nation-state fiat system. It will be interesting to watch the government try to put the genie back in the bottle as the population learns to work around the debased currency. This is a possible template for what may occur in other nation-states.)

Follow us on NOSTR: @Bitcoin Veterans
____________________
Analyst: BV2A
END REPORT
NNNN
*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report