DIB 10 APR 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)

Block: 838,599

DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 10Apr24

Precedence: Routine (RR)

Controls: Public Release

QQQQ

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BLUF: Italy Hydroelectric Plant Explodes / Russia Floods are Historic / DHS Chief Impeachment Full Political Theater / Hong Kong Fast-Tracking BTC ETFs / 2022 Survey Says 53% of Americans ‘Warm’ to CBDC / CPI Data Today / Insiders Get Economic Data Before Everyone Else in US

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $69,125, 29.36 oz Gold, .16 Median US House

24hr Hi: $70,951/ Lo: $68,212

Vol: $33B (Down 3%)

Mkt Cap: $1.36T (Down 3%)

HashRate: 643 EH/s

Avg Fees: 9,495 sats/tx (Up 12%)

Nodes: 17,439

—Reports—

-International Events-

1. Italy hydroelectric plant explosion kills at least three workers: The blast on Tuesday was at power company Enel’s decades-old Bergi plant, south of Bologna, and happened during maintenance work, according to authorities. Regional fire chief Francesco Notaro told local media that part of the nine-story underground structure collapsed, starting a fire, causing flooding at depths of up to 60 meters (200 feet). (Guardian)

2. Russia’s Orenburg Region Battles Historic Flood: Russia’s southern Orenburg region has been grappling with its worst flooding in decades, with 55 cities and towns fully or partially flooded and thousands evacuated in an unprecedented emergency. According to authorities, almost 7,000 houses were submerged in Orsk over three days and about 2,500 people, including 704 children, were evacuated.

-US Events-

1. GOP squeezes Dems on Mayorkas: ‘I would not want to be them’: Senate Republicans are trying to orchestrate the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to exact maximum political pain on their top Democratic targets in November. “Any senators who vote against holding an impeachment trial for Secretary Mayorkas are absolving Mayorkas and the Biden Administration of their roles in creating this border crisis, and we will hold them accountable in November,” (Politico)

2. Congress one step closer to reauthorizing controversial federal surveillance tool: A bill to reauthorize FISA’s Section 702 passed through the House Rules Committee on Tuesday night, the final hurdle for a piece of legislation before it’s considered House-wide. It passed in a 9 to 2 vote. Section 702 is a provision that allows the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance of a foreign national outside the U.S. if they’re suspected of ties to terrorism — even if the person on the other end of the communications is an American citizen. (Fox)

3. Florida woman is sentenced to a month in jail for selling Biden’s daughter’s diary: Aimee Harris admitted in 2022 that she received half of the $40,000 Project Veritas paid for personal items belonging to the president’s daughter Ashley Biden. (NBC)

-Regulatory and Legal-

1. Senator Tim Scott accuses Biden admin of using crypto as ‘scapegoat’ on illicit finance: During a Senate hearing on April 9, Senator Scott accused the current US administration of making digital assets a scapegoat in its efforts to combat terrorism financing while overlooking more significant traditional funding sources, specifying those that fund Iran. (CryptoBriefing)

-Institutional Concerns-

1. Hong Kong regulator fast-tracks Bitcoin spot ETF approvals: The Securities Regulatory Commission of Hong Kong has reportedly expedited the approval process for four spot Bitcoin. According to local news outlet Tencent News, the first batch of spot Bitcoin ETFs is set to be approved in the region by April 15. (CoinTelegraph)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-

1. Survey: 52.6% of Americans warming up to CBDCs: The Consumer Finance Institute of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has published the results of a 2022 survey asking Americans their views on CBDCs. Overall, 52.6% of the respondents were deemed ‘warm’ to CBDCs, representing a slight majority. Young people, high earners, non-whites, and males were most likely to be warm. Only 42% of the respondents selected the privacy of payments as a top concern. (CoinGeek) (AC- Although the 2022 data is already somewhat dated, the survey reveals the level of ignorance and apathy toward the control assumed by CBDCs over individuals.)

-Economic Indicators-

1. US Mortgage Rates Back to 7%: The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) rose by 10bps to 7.01% in the week ended April 5th, 2024, reaching the highest level in five weeks. (TradingEconomics)

2. US CPI data is due today and expected to be around 3.4% annual inflation rate (a rise from 3.2% last month).

3. Cocoa Extends Gain Back Toward Record High on Global Shortage: Futures climbed as much as 1.6% to head for a fourth straight increase. Prices have surged this year — recently exceeding $10,000 a ton — as poor West African harvests put the world on course for another annual deficit, threatening to further raise chocolate prices. (YahooFinance)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

1. Scandal Rocks Biden’s Labor Dept For Lying About Sharing Non-Public Inflation Data With Secret Group Of Wall Street “Super Users”: A little over a month ago, a scandal erupted among the small group of economists who keep a close eye on the monthly inflation data reported by the Biden Department of Labor, when they learned that there is an even smaller, and much more exclusive group of economists called “super users” who get preferential treatment from the BLS, including wink-wink-nudge-nudge explanations of where the data may diverge from expectations. These “super users” are financial firms JPMorgan, Blackrock and others. (ZeroHedge)

-Bitcoin Community-

NSTR

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 78/100 (Down 2 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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Analyst: BV2A

END REPORT

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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report