DIB 15 MAY 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)

Block: 843,557

DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 15May24

Precedence: Routine (RR)

Controls: Public Release

QQQQ

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BLUF: Putin Visits Xi / Prisoner Breakout in France, 2 LEO Dead / China Targets Influencers / Ocala, FL Bus Crash Kills 8 / Boeing Under DOJ Scrutiny / UK Can Seize Crypto at Will / Wisconsin Buys BTC ETFs / Vanguard Brings in BTC-Friendly CEO / Can CBDCs Save Central Banks? / Household Debt Up, Producer Prices Up / Volcano Pays Off in El Salvador

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $62,452, 26.40 oz Gold, .14 Median US House

24hr Hi: $62,973 / Lo: $61,123

Vol: $26B (Up 4%)

Mkt Cap: $1.23T (Up 1%)

HashRate: 563 EH/s

Avg Fee Rate: 17 sats/vBtye (Up 3%)

Nodes: 16,847

—Reports—

-International Events-

1. Putin to meet Xi in Beijing as world convulses from global conflicts: Their meeting comes months ahead of the American presidential elections and as Washington faces mounting international backlash over its support for Israel’s war on Gaza. It’s set to provide a platform for the leaders to discuss how all this can advance their shared ambition to degrade and offer an alternative to American power. (CNN)

2. Gunmen ambush French prison van to free drug dealer, killing two guards: Gunmen wearing balaclavas ambushed a prison van in northern France on Tuesday to free a drug dealer known as “The Fly,” killing two prison guards, severely wounding three and triggering a major police manhunt. (Reuters)

3. Mainland China targets Taiwanese influencers for punishment over ‘fake and negative’ comments: On Wednesday, Chen Binhua, a spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, listed five people, saying that a small number of Taiwanese commentators had “disregarded the facts of the mainland’s development and progress, deliberately fabricating false and negative information about the mainland”, and disseminated these views widely through media platforms. Based on previous cases, it could mean they and their family members will be barred from entering mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau. (SCMP)

-US Events-

1. 8 dead, dozens hospitalized in Ocala bus crash: According to FHP, the 2010 International bus was transporting 53 farm workers to Cannon Farms in Dunnellon when the crash happened at 6:37 a.m. on SR-40. (WESH-Orlando)

2. Boeing may be prosecuted after breaking safety agreement that prevented criminal charges for 737 crashes, US DOJ says: After a series of safety missteps earlier this year, including a door plug that blew off an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff in January, the Department of Justice said Boeing is now subject to criminal prosecution. (CNN)

-Regulatory and Legal-

1. Welcome to the United Kingdom — Please hand over your crypto: An April change to United Kingdom law will allow authorities to treat crypto like other assets by seizing it without accusing suspects of wrongdoing. In simple terms, the change means that the authorities can seize crypto from those suspected of criminal activity. The authorities will also have the power to seize physical items related to crypto investigations, such as flash drives and written passwords, and to “destroy” a crypto asset if returning it to circulation is not considered to be conducive to the public good. (CoinTelegraph)

-Institutional Concerns-

1. State of Wisconsin Buys Nearly $100M Worth of BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF: The U.S. state of Wisconsin purchased 94,562 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the first quarter of the year, a filing shows. The shares are worth nearly $100 million. (CoinDesk)

2. Vanguard names Bitcoin-friendly former BlackRock exec as new CEO: With Salim Ramji overseeing the approval and launch of BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund earlier this year, his May 14 appointment to Vanguard has industry pundits wondering whether he will try to change the firm’s long-held opposition to Bitcoin (BTC), or even spark a late filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF. (CoinTelegraph)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-

1. DLT and CBDCs can save central banks’ business model says ECB: Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and distributed ledger technology (DLT) could save the central banks’ business model as cash usage continues to dwindle, members of the governing council at the European Central Bank (ECB) said. Speaking at an event hosted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), they expressed concern that central banks’ role is under threat if they fail to adapt to changes in the financial landscape. (CoinGeek)

-Economic Indicators-

1. US Household Debt Reaches New High: Total consumer debt in the US surged by $184 billion, or 1.1%, from the prior quarter to a fresh high of $17.69 trillion in Q1 2024. Overall borrowing levels are $3.5 trillion above they were at the end of 2019. (TradingEconomics)

2. US Producer Prices Rise More than Expected: Core producer prices in the United States, which exclude food and energy costs, rose by 0.5% from the previous month in April 2024, rebounding sharply from the revised 0.1% drop in the previous month, and well above market expectations of a 0.2% increase. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

1. North Korea Allegedly Laundered $147.5 Million in Stolen Crypto Say UN: According to confidential findings by United Nations sanctions monitors and reported by Reuters, North Korea funneled $147.5 million through the Tornado Cash virtual currency platform in March this year, allegedly after stealing it from a cryptocurrency exchange in 2023. (TechTimes)

-Technology-

NSTR

-Bitcoin Community-

1. El Salvador mines 474 Bitcoin using geothermal volcanic energy: The Bitcoin was mined with power from the country’s Tecapa volcano, using 300 mining processors. The country has allocated 1.5 megawatts (MW) to cryptocurrency mining out of the 102 MW produced by the state-owned power plant, according to Reuters.

2. Bitcoin Fee Crash Could Lead to Faster Miner Selling, Analysts Say: Daily average network fees spiked after the halving, offsetting some pain for bitcoin miners. However, fees have since come down as the initial rush of users to the Runes protocol cooled off. (CoinDesk)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 64/100 (Down 2 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): There are numerous articles concerning Tornado Cash, including the UN report mentioned above. The mixing service and anonymizing of crypto transactions continue to be targeted, as self-custody will eventually be too.