DIB 11 APR 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 838,750

DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 11Apr24

Precedence: Routine (RR)

Controls: Public Release

QQQQ

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BLUF: Higher Inflation Surprises Markets / FISA Renewal Shot Down / IDF Kills 3 sons of Hamas Leader / SEC Commissioner is Rare Crypto Supporter / Most EFT Inflows Still Retail, Not Institutional / KC Fed Reports on CBDC Study / Proton Ups Pro-Privacy Portfolio

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $70,117, 30.05 oz Gold, .16 Median US House

24hr Hi: $71,256/ Lo: $67,503

Vol: $37B (Up 13%)

Mkt Cap: $1.38T (Up 2%)

HashRate: 547 EH/s

Avg Fees: 11,985 sats/tx (Up 38%)

Nodes: 17,969

—Reports—

-International Events-

1. South Korea’s opposition wins in landslide parliamentary elections: South Korea’s liberal opposition party won a landslide victory in the country’s parliamentary elections, putting President Yoon Suk Yeol in a challenging position for the three remaining years of his term. (NPR) (AC-This is a move leftward in political parlance, as the Liberal Party is left of the People Power Conservative Party)

2. Israeli attack kills three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh: The Israeli military has confirmed it killed three sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an air attack in Gaza. Four of Haniyeh’s grandchildren are also reported to have been killed in the strike on the Shati refugee camp on the first day of Eid al-Fitr. (ALJazerra)

3. Vietnamese billionaire sentenced to death for $44bn fraud: In Ho Chi Minh City, a 67-year-old Vietnamese property developer was sentenced to death on Thursday for looting one of the country’s largest banks over a period of 11 years. It’s a rare verdict – she is one of very few women in Vietnam to be sentenced to death for a white collar crime. (BBC)

-US Events-

1. House Lawmakers Strike Down FISA Renewal Measure: House lawmakers voted against a procedural measure that would have begun debate to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, hours after former President Donald Trump encouraged lawmakers to “KILL FISA.” (Forbes)

2. EPA has limited six ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water – but there are 15,000: Strong new limits for some PFAS compounds in drinking water set by the US Environmental Protection Agency this week are being celebrated for how far they go in reducing exposures to the dangerous chemicals. The rules also address only six compounds, although about 15,000 PFAS exist, and the vast majority remain unregulated or unstudied.(Guardian)

-Regulatory and Legal-

1. ‘What Are We Waiting for’? SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Discusses Moving Crypto Regulation Forward: Known for her fiery dissenting opinions, “Crypto Mom” discusses how the SEC operates, why she wants to see crypto thrive and her “Safe Harbor” proposal to allow projects to decentralize. (CoinDesk) (AC-A rare champion for ‘crypto’ on the board of commissioners at the SEC is often at odds with Chairman Gensler. The bitcoin community may consider supporting her efforts)

-Institutional Concerns-

1. 90% of Bitcoin ETF inflows are still retail — VanEck CEO: Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have attracted significant amounts of capital in 2024, but traditional banks and institutional investment have yet to enter the fray. (CoinTelegraph)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-

1. Russian Central Bank Chief: Mass Adoption of Digital Ruble Expected in 5 to 7 Years: Elvira Nabiullina, chair of the Bank of Russia, has stated that the pilot phase for the digital ruble will be extended, but any decision on mass scaling will not be made before 2025. (BitcoinCom)

2. Observations from the Retail CBDCs of the Caribbean: Three retail central bank digital currencies (rCBDCs) have been issued in the Caribbean, but thus far all have struggled to achieve expected adoption from both consumers and merchants. The efforts to launch these rCDBCs offer three takeaways: 1) the underlying technologies of rCBDCs may have little effect on adoption; 2) an rCBDC may need to demonstrate value added to entice consumers to use it; and 3) an rCBDC platform may need to be integrated into the larger financial ecosystem to be widely adopted. (KansasCItyFed)

-Economic Indicators-

1. US Stocks Fall Sharply After Hot Inflation Report: Stocks in the US declined sharply on Wednesday, with the three major averages down about 1%, as bets for the Fed’s rate cuts this year declined following another hotter-than-expected inflation print. The CPI rose by 3.5% in annual terms in March from 3.2% in the earlier month and above market expectations of 3.4%, while the core gauge surpassed estimates for a fourth straight month at 3.8%. (TradingEconomics)

2. US 10-Year Treasury Yield Soars to 4.55%: The yield on the US 10-year Treasury surged to 4.55% on Wednesday, over 25bps above the session lows, to the highest level in five months. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

1. Proton picks up Standard Notes to deepen its pro-privacy portfolio: Switzerland-based Proton, the privacy-focused firm behind end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) webmail ProtonMail and other apps, has acquired Standard Notes, a note-taking app founded back in 2017. It offers the same kind of robust privacy promise to its 300,000+ users by also applying E2EE. (TechCrunch)

-Bitcoin Community-

1. Bitcoin mining difficulty sets new high of 86T pre-halving: Bitcoin mining difficulty has experienced another adjustment before the upcoming Bitcoin halving, hitting a new all-time high of 86.4 trillion. (CoinTelegraph)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 76/100 (Down 2 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): The article from the KC Federal Reserve Bank is interesting in that the US Fed is studying implementations of CBDCs across the globe. The takeaways are telling, in that without some sort of incentive or coercion, the retail CBDCs will not be readily adopted. This opens the door for discussion on how to force populations to adopt a CBDC such as a manufactured crisis or monetary incentives such as UBI.