DIB 17 SEP 2024 - Bitcoin Veterans

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 861,690
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 17Sep24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ

BLUF: Putin Expands Draft / 1 Million Toll in Ukraine War / Philippines Send New Ship to Disputed Area / Congress Debates on USSS Funding and Effectiveness / NatGas Pipeline Burning in Houston / Meta Culls RT From Feeds / Trump’s New DeFi Project May Draw Fire / Most of Globe is Exploring CBDCs / All Eyes on Fed / Wrench Attacker Given 47 Years / Chrome Malware Steals Login Data

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $59,100, 22.93 oz Gold, .14 Median US House
24hr Hi: $59,241 / Lo: $57,501
Vol: $29B (Up 4%)
Mkt Cap: $1.17T (Up 1%)
HashRate: 629 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 3 sats/vBtye (Up 50%)
Nodes: 19,245

—Reports—
-International Events-

Putin orders expansion of Russia’s military to 1.5M active troops: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s military to expand to 1.5 million active troops, bringing the total military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, according to a decree dated Monday. It marks Putin’s third official expansion of Russia’s military since the war with Ukraine began in early 2022. (TheHill)
One Million Are Now Dead or Injured in the Russia-Ukraine War: The number of Ukrainians and Russians killed or wounded in the grinding 2½-year war has reached roughly one million, a staggering toll that two countries struggling with shrinking prewar populations will pay far into the future. (WSJ)
Philippines deploys new coast guard ship to Sabina Shoal, defying China’s demands for withdrawal: “The Philippine side’s actions have seriously infringed on China’s territorial sovereignty,” Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China’s coast guard said. Sabina Shoal, which China refers to as Xianbin Reef and the Philippines as the Escoda Shoal, lies 93 miles west of the Philippine province of Palawan, well within the country’s exclusive economic zone. (Fox)

-US Events-

Congress mulls new Secret Service funding after apparent attempt on Trump’s life: Leaders of both parties and top appropriators say one possibility is to attach emergency funding for the Secret Service to a short-term funding bill that Congress must pass by Sept. 30 to avert a government shutdown. But they’re also studying another option: giving the Secret Service the opportunity to shift resources and spend more money to guard protectees in the final stretch of the campaign. (NBC)
Massive pipeline fire burning near Houston began after a vehicle struck a valve, officials say: A towering flame gradually subsided Tuesday morning in the aftermath of a massive pipeline explosion after a vehicle drove through a fence and struck an above-ground valve, officials said. Deer Park officials said police and local FBI agents initiated investigations and found no preliminary reports that would suggest a coordinated or “terrorist” attack and that “this appears to be an isolated incident.” (AP)
Meta bans Russian state media outlet RT over ‘foreign interference activity’: “After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity,” a Meta (META) spokesperson said in a statement. (CNN) (AC-Censorship is not going away.)

-Regulatory and Legal-

World Liberty Financial could spark swift SEC stance change on crypto if Trump wins: Donald Trump and his team have released information on the pending launch of World Liberty Financial, a new DeFi project built on the Aave tech stack. Following a 2-hour X (formerly Twitter) Space last night, the team confirmed the initiative aims to transform the traditional financial system by leveraging blockchain technology. It focuses on tokenizing real estate assets to make high-value property investments accessible to a broader audience, bypassing conventional banking barriers. (CryptoSlate) (AC-Though officially a ‘shitcoin’ project, this could have an effect on Bitcoin due to the political nature of the participants.)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies-

Research reveals 98% of global economy exploring CBDC solutions: A new report by the Atlantic Council reveals that 134 countries, covering 98% of the global economy, are exploring digital currencies, with 44 currently piloting CBDCs. The data shows that over 65 countries, including India, Australia, and Brazil, are in advanced stages of CBDC exploration, whether in development, pilot, or launch phases. Every G20 country is now investigating its own CBDC, with 19 in the advanced stages of exploration, per the think tank. (CryptoNews) (AC- For context, the Atlantic Council is highly pro-UN and globalist in scope and agenda. This report, though accurate in some ways, embellishes the positive momentum of CBDCs, probably in an effort to normalize the eventual (forced) adoption of the digital control currency.)

-Institutional Concerns-

BlackRock’s IBIT clocks first daily net inflows in three weeks as spot Bitcoin ETFs attract $12.8 million. (TheBlock)

-Economic Indicators-

US Futures Steady Ahead of Fed Meeting: US stock futures were little changed on Tuesday as investors treaded carefully ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting. Markets currently see an over 62% chance for a larger 50 basis point rate cut from the Fed, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. Traders also awaited US retail sales data for August to gain fresh insights on the health of the US consumer. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

Man Sentenced to 47 Years for Violent Home Invasions Targeting Bitcoin Owners: Remy St Felix, the leader of a home invasion crew, has been sentenced to 47 years in prison for orchestrating a series of violent attacks targeting cryptocurrency owners. St Felix and his co-conspirators used brute force and SIM-swapping attacks to steal $3.5 million in digital assets. The crew’s victims were assaulted, bound, and forced to transfer their cryptocurrencies to wallets controlled by the criminals. (Decrypt) (AC-Wrench attacks are real, so build your defenses in depth; low signature, multi-signature cold wallets and strong physical defenses are some key principles.)
Hackers Might Be Forcing Chrome Users to Give Their Google Passwords Through ‘Annoyance’ Method: Google Chrome is at risk of running malware-ridden extensions, but that’s not the only risk you are running into. In fact, you need to be extra careful when it comes to credential-stealing campaigns involving your Google account passwords. Recently, hackers did this by using a piece of malware called StealC that locks Chrome into kiosk mode and disables the F11 and ESC keys essentially keeping the users in full-screen mode. This annoying attack is aimed at making the user input their Google login details which are then harvested by the attackers. (TechTimes)

-Technology and Science-

UN Chief: Unregulated AI Threatens Democratic Systems: UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that unregulated artificial intelligence (AI) poses a risk to democratic systems, exacerbating disinformation and gender inequality. He urged countries to establish AI governance guidelines and promote responsible use. Guterres noted AI’s potential benefits, including enhanced public participation and equality, but emphasized the need for international cooperation to mitigate risks. (BitcoinCom) (AC-When did ‘Democracy’ come to mean the ‘tyrannical elite’?)

-Bitcoin Community-

New Research Raises Concerns About Bitmain’s Influence Over Proxy Mining Pools: Recent research has confirmed that Bitmain, a major player in the bitcoin mining industry, has significant influence over proxy mining pools. The study found that many supposedly independent mining pools are actually passing along Bitmain-templated work to their miners. This raises concerns about the centralization of bitcoin mining and the control exerted by Bitmain in the day-to-day operations of these pools. (Decrypt)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 33/100 (Down 4 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

Analyst: BV2A
END REPORT
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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report