DIB 10 JAN 2025

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 878,635
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 10Jan25
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Venezuelan Opposition Leader Arrested / Attack on Chad Presidential Palace Kills 19 / Lebanon Elects New President / Trump to be Sentenced Today / LA Fire Devastation Continues / Standard Charted Opens Crypto Custody in EU / Crypto Firms Throwing Money at Trump Inauguration / Bukele Trolls DOJ BTC Sale / Russia Starting Own BTC Reserve Via Treasury / Hong Kong Starts Banks on Blockchain Path / Decentralized Defenses Proposed for AI Replication / Japan Launches Wooden Satellite

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $94,946, 35.47 oz Gold, .22 Median US House
24hr Hi: $95,259 / Lo: $91,220
Vol: $59B (Down 4%)
Mkt Cap: $1.88T (Up 2%)
HashRate: 770 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 5 sats/vBtye (Up 150%)
Nodes: 21,147

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arrested after reappearance at protests: Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was arrested Thursday when her convoy was intercepted by security forces as it departed an anti-government protest in Caracas, according to aides. Machado emerged from months of hiding earlier Thursday and reappeared in public as part of a last-ditch attempt to block President Nicolás Maduro from clinging to power. On the streets, the tension was palpable. Hundreds of Venezuelans, both opposition and pro-Chávez, have begun to march at various points in the Venezuelan capital. (EuroNews)

2. Attack on Chad’s presidential palace leaves 19 dead: The attack on Wednesday night occurred while Chadian President Mahamat Deby Itno was inside the palace, but authorities said the situation was quickly brought under control. Foreign Affairs Minister Abderaman Koulamallah praised the vigilance of the palace guards, describing the attackers as disorganized and intoxicated by alcohol and drugs. When asked if the attack was terrorism, he said it was probably not, as the attackers were local youths from the capital, N’Djamena. (CNN)

3. US-backed army chief elected Lebanon’s president, ending years-long stalemate: Army chief Joseph Aoun was voted president after two rounds of voting. This came after a robust efforts by Saudi Arabia and the United States to rally support for Aoun, who is close to Washington and Riyadh. n his acceptance speech, Aoun hailed the dawn of a “new era” in Lebanon, vowing to disentangle the country from its myriad economic and political crises. He also made a rare promise to “monopolize weapons” under the mandate of the state, a clear allusion to the arsenal of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. (CNN)

-US Events-
1. Trump to be sentenced today on felony charges — 10 days before his inauguration: New York Judge Juan Merchan is expected to give Trump a sentence that would uphold his conviction while sparing him any other punishment. Trump’s last hope, the U.S. Supreme Court, declined to block the proceeding in a 5-4 ruling late Thursday. (NBC)

2. Palisades fire brings a level of destruction Los Angeles has never seen. ‘Everything is burned down’: Entire swaths of the residential district, from its quaint village to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, were completely gone. And even as the skies cleared and the winds calmed a bit, more properties continued to catch fire. Officials, still struggling to calculate all the damage, estimated structure losses in the Palisades to be more than 5,300 based on aerial infrared technology. (LATimes)

3. Kenneth Fire in Woodland Hills Possible Arson, Suspect Detained: Police reportedly have been investigating the Kenneth fire in Woodland Hills near the southside of the San Fernando Valley as possible arson and have detained a suspect. (FoxLA)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Standard Chartered Brings Elite Crypto Custody to Luxembourg, Fuels EU Expansion: Standard Chartered, a leading international banking group known for its presence across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, has announced the launch of a new entity in Luxembourg to offer crypto and digital asset custody services within the European Union (EU). The move aligns with the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Regulation, which provides a unified framework for digital assets in the EU. (BitcoinCom) (AC- Not quite what Satoshi had in mind, but centralized, third-party custody will increase investment. Surveillance, control, and lack of freedom will also increase.)

2. Crypto Firms Like Ripple and Coinbase Are Donating Millions to Trump’s Inauguration Committee: American crypto-related firms are donating millions to Donald Trump’s inauguration committee, seeking to curry favor with the incoming president and his administration. Ripple, Robinhood, Coinbase, Circle, Kraken, Moonpay, and Ondo Finance are among the companies contributing substantial sums to support the event. (Decrypt) (AC-The eternal centralized vs. decentralized power battle will continue under Trump.)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies/World Currencies-
1. El Salvador Aims to Purchase DOJ’s Seized Bitcoin at a Discount: Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador, who has continued to push forward with bitcoin policies in his country, announced that he aims to profit from the potential DOJ sales of bitcoin seized as part of the Silk Road market takedown. (BitcoinCom) (AC-Trolling move…)

2. Russia Takes Bold Step by Selling Seized Bitcoin to Treasury: Recently, a court ruled that Bitcoin valued at 1 billion rubles (approximately 9.79 million dollars) would be transferred to the state treasury. The seized BTC is associated with Marat Tambiev, a former researcher accused of bribery. (CoinTurk) (AC-BTC held by the Russian Treasury means Russia will beat the US in an actual Bitcoin reserve, albeit a relatively small amount.)

-Institutional Concerns-
1. Hong Kong introduces ‘supervisory incubator’ to guide banks in blockchain adoption: On Wednesday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the de facto central bank, announced that the incubator is designed to help banks manage the risks associated with experimenting with blockchain or DLT implementation. The incubator will focus on tokenized deposits as the initiative aims to address potential risks when banks move to productionize relevant services — such as deposits and loans. (TheBlock) (AC-One of the first moves to integrate banks into the digital asset ecosystem.)

-Economic Indicators-
1. US 10-Year Yield Pauses Rally Ahead of Jobs Data: The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note held steady around 4.7% on Friday, pausing its recent rally as investors awaited the December nonfarm payrolls report that could shape the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy. (TradingEconomics)

2. Fed Hints at Moderating Pace of Rate Cuts: FOMC Minutes:Almost all Fed officials judged that upside risks to the inflation outlook had increased, due to recent stronger-than-expected readings on inflation and the likely effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, minutes from the December 2024 FOMC meeting showed. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Vitalik Buterin warns we need decentralized defenses to handle AI risks: He explained that while some AI systems, such as chatbots designed to improve user interfaces, are beneficial, others could lead to significant risks. Specifically, AI agents that function autonomously for extended periods might eventually challenge human control and disempower society. A major part of his strategy involves the concept of Decentralized and Democratic Differential Defensive Acceleration (d/Acc). This approach emphasizes the development of decentralized tools to address emerging AI-related threats. (CryptoSlate)

-Technology and Science-
1. Japan Tests First Wooden Satellite in Space Pushing Sustainable Exploration: Japan’s LignoSat, the world’s first wooden satellite, was deployed from ISS last month. Built with honoki magnolia wood using traditional joinery, it orbits 400km above Earth to test wood’s viability in space conditions. Unlike conventional satellites that create lasting aluminum oxide particles, wooden satellites would completely burn up upon re-entry, offering a solution to growing space debris concerns. (GroundNews)

-Bitcoin Community-
1. Welsh Man Loses Legal Battle to Recover 8,000 BTC From Landfill Over Environmental Concerns: James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, lost his legal battle to recover 8,000 Bitcoin from a hard drive discarded in a landfill in 2013. Despite offering a recovery plan and compensation, the council denied access due to environmental concerns. (Decrypt)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 50/100 (Down 19 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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