DIB 14 MAY 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 843,414
DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 14May24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: IDF Tanks Push Into Rafah / Mumbai Billboard Kills 14 / USG Shuts Down Chinese-Owned Crypto Miners Near Nuke Base / Crimes Boom Near US Border / Biden Announces Tariffs on Chinese Goods / Russian Going After Crypto Miners in Apartments / Canada Targets Crypto Gains / JPMorgan, Wells Fargo Reveal Holdings in BTC ETFs / CBDCs Spy on You, What Are You Gonna Do About It / Coinbase Has Major Outage Again

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $61,808, 26.38 oz Gold, .14 Median US House
24hr Hi: $63,422 / Lo: $61,400
Vol: $25B (Up 11%)
Mkt Cap: $1.22T (Down 1%)
HashRate: 579 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 16 sats/vBtye (UP 23%)
Nodes: 17,898

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Israeli tanks push into Gaza’s Rafah, as displaced civilians flee again: Israeli tanks forged deeper into eastern Rafah on Tuesday, reaching some residential districts of the southern border city where more than a million people had been sheltering after being displaced in seven months of war. Israel’s international allies and aid groups have repeatedly urged against a ground incursion into refugee-packed Rafah, warning of a potential humanitarian catastrophe. Fighting across the strip has intensified in recent days, including in the north, with the Israeli military heading back into areas where it had claimed to have dismantled Hamas months ago. (Reuters)

2. Billboard that collapsed in Mumbai storms killed at least 14 and injured 75: The rains, accompanied by high winds, caused the 30-meter-tall (100-foot-tall) billboard to fall onto a gas station in the suburb of Ghatkopar. Videos on social media and television showed the billboard shaking amid heavy winds before giving way. It collapsed onto several cars parked in the gas station, flattening and crushing them to the ground. (AP)

-US Events-
1. U.S. Blocks China-Tied Crypto Miners as ‘National Security Risk’ Near Nuke Base: President Joe Biden ordered a cryptocurrency mining facility near Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming to halt operations on Monday, calling it a threat to national security. The White House order said the British Virgin Islands company behind MineOne, which is majority owned by Chinese nationals, must remove all the improvements and mining equipment on the property located within a mile of the military facility in Cheyenne – a base that houses Minuteman III nuclear missiles. (CoinDesk)

2. UNC Chapel Hill board votes to dismantle DEI programs, use funds on campus police after anti-Israel protests: The unanimous decision by the trustees will reallocate $2.3 million that the university spends on DEI programs toward police and public safety measures as part of its annual budget approval process. (Fox)

3. Illegal Immigration Overload: Border Town’s Criminal Prosecutions Explode by 5,000%: During a House Budget Committee hearing last week, Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith told lawmakers that in 2020, under former President Donald Trump, the county reported just 134 criminal charges for prosecution. After Biden “issued multiple executive orders, revoking numerous border security policies,” Smith said criminal charges for prosecution skyrocketed in 2021 to nearly 3,000, roughly 6,800 in 2022, and more than 5,800 in 2023. (Breitbart)

4. Biden hiking tariffs on Chinese EVs, solar cells, steel, aluminum — adding to tensions with Beijing: The tariffs are to be phased in over the next three years, with those that take effect in 2024 covering EVs, solar cells, syringes, needles, steel and aluminum and more. There are currently very few EVs from China in the U.S., but officials worry that low-priced models made possible by Chinese government subsidies could soon start flooding the U.S. market. (AP)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Russian Authorities Propose Steep Fines for Crypto Miners Operating in Residential Apartments: Russian authorities have reportedly proposed to impose hefty fines on suspected crypto miners operating from residential properties. Authorities may also consider including amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses which imposes liability on those misusing electricity. (BitcoinCom)

2. Canada’s Tax Agency Targets $40M in Uncollected Crypto Taxes as Trudeau Seeks Major Capital Gains Hike: The agency estimates that there is nearly $40 million in undeclared taxes related to digital currencies. Concurrently, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is proposing an increase in capital gains taxes from 50% to 66% for any Canadian taxpayer whose gains exceed $183,000 annually.(BitcoinCom)

-Institutional Concerns-
1. America’s Largest Bank JPMorgan Chase Discloses Spot Bitcoin ETF Holdings: The SEC filing by JPMorgan Chase provides specific insights into the bank’s exposure to spot Bitcoin ETFs. JPMorgan’s disclosure comes just hours after Wells Fargo, America’s third largest bank, also made a similar revelation about its spot Bitcoin ETF exposure. (BitcoinMag)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-
1. ‘Open-source’ CBDCs aren’t going to protect you from government: Brazil’s central bank published the source code for its pilot CBDC and it took just four days for people to notice that the CBDC had tools for surveillance and control embedded within its code. But what recourse is there for CBDC users when a CBDC is the epitome of centralized money under government control? Fundamentally, the problem with CBDCs is that they risk centralizing money more than ever before, so much so that it risks giving the government virtually unlimited power over citizens’ economic choices. (CoinTelegraph)

-Economic Indicators-
1. US Small Business Optimism Recovers Slightly: The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index in the US rose to 89.7 in April 2024, slightly recovering from a more than 12-year low of 88.5 in March and beating forecasts of 88.1. Although down 3 points from March, inflation remained the primary concern for 22% of owners surveyed. (TradingEconomics)

2. The Producer Price Index (PPI) is due today.

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Coinbase website down as crypto exchange cites ‘system-wide outage’: Coinbase notified users of the outage on its official status page, sharing that a “major outage” began at 4:15 am UTC on May 14. (CoinTelegraph)

2. Crypto Exchange Rain Hit by $14.8M Exploit: Bahrain-based crypto exchange Rain fell victim to a $14.8 million exploit, with the stolen funds having been divided up into wallets containing 137.9 BTC and 1,881 ETH, both of which have been inactive since the exploit occurred on April 29. (CoinDesk)

-Technology-
1. Bitcoin Runes Protocol Sees Traction Waning After Much-Hyped Introduction: User activity has plunged after a hyped run-up to the introduction of the Runes protocol, which was expected by some to mirror Solana’s meme coin ecosystem. (CoinDesk)

-Bitcoin Community-
NSTR

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 66/100 (Up 9 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): One can open the US Code and read the rules on how the US Government can legally monitor financial transactions on the American populace, with little to no recourse for citizens. CBDCs will be a much more useful tool in surveillance of transactions worldwide, and once they become commonplace, citizens will similarly not have recourse against the issuers. Opt out, use Bitcoin instead.

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