DIB 12 APR 2024
BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 838,867
DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 12Apr24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
__________________________
BLUF: US says Famine Begins in Gaza / Russia Re-Nationalization Rising / All Eyes on Iran Response / FISA Re-Emerges With GOP Support / UniSwap in SEC Crosshairs / Hard Assets Continue Rise
Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $70,756, 29.62 oz Gold, .16 Median US House
24hr Hi: $71,222/ Lo: $69,571
Vol: $29B (Down 22%)
Mkt Cap: $1.39T (Up 1%)
HashRate: 497 EH/s
Avg Fees: 21,656 sats/tx (Up 98%)
Nodes: 18,078
—Reports—
-International Events-
1. U.S. aid official says famine has begun in northern Gaza: Famine conditions are present despite the U.S. and other western nations conducting airdrops of humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza. In addition to food, people in Gaza also lack access to clean water, medicine, medical care and other essentials due to damage from Israeli airstrikes and Israel’s blockade of the enclave. (Axios)
2. Russia Seizes Country’s Largest Winemaker Amid Re-Nationalization Wave: Russia has nationalized the country’s largest winemaker linked to an arrested billionaire whose business assets were confiscated earlier this year. Russia’s top prosecutor boasted last month that the government had seized 15 defense companies valued at $3.6 billion since 2023. (MoscowTimes) (AC-Interesting developments as Russia increases nationalization of key companies in Russia. Since Russian leadership is well-versed in mafia style tactics, the nationalizations seem to point to a changing of control of these assets.)
3. US restricts travel for diplomats in Israel amid fears of Iran attack: The US embassy said staff had been told not to travel outside the greater Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Beersheba areas “out of an abundance of caution”. (BBC)
-US Events-
1. House panel tees up vote on revised FISA reauthorization: The House Rules Committee advanced a bill to reauthorize the U.S.’s warrantless surveillance authority late Thursday night, sending the measure to the floor one day after a band of Republicans blocked consideration of a previous version of the legislation. Yesterday, GOP holdouts said that leadership has committed to holding a vote on a bill that would require the government to get a warrant before purchasing information about U.S. citizens from data brokers. (TheHill)
2. O.J. Simpson dead at 76 after battle with cancer (Yahoo)
-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Uniswap in Regulatory Crosshairs: SEC Enforcement Notice and Industry Response: Uniswap, a leading decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX), has found itself in the crosshairs of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after receiving an enforcement notice on April 10, 2024. This development has sent shockwaves through the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) industry, raising questions about the future of regulation in this rapidly evolving space. (CoinPedia)
2. British Columbia cracks down on crypto miners, citing energy consumption: The Canadian government of British Columbia is advancing measures to regulate electricity consumption by cryptocurrency miners due to concerns about high energy use and limited economic benefits.(CryptoNews)
-Institutional Concerns-
NSTR
-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-
1. Australians wouldn’t value retail CBDC for its privacy or safety, RBA finds: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) conducted a study of CBDCs and in short, the study finds little public support for a retail CBDC. The RBA has made numerous previous studies of CBDC, most of which reached positive conclusions. Those studies mainly looked at wholesale CBDC use cases. (CoinTelegraph)
-Economic Indicators-
1. US 10-Year Treasury Yield Rises to 5-Month High: The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note rose past 4.57% in April, the highest in five months, as deeper concerns that the Federal Reserve will hold rates higher for longer triggered a sharper wave of Treasury selling across all durations. (TradingEconomics)
2. Costco Gold Business Booming: Estimates Put Monthly Sales Close to $200 Million: Consumer trust in the organization and its aggressive pricing have made Costco’s one-ounce bars of 24-karat gold a popular choice for investors, who take advantage of 2% over market spot prices. (BitcoinCom)
-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. U.S. says recent Microsoft breach exposed federal agencies to hacking: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, on Tuesday issued a rare binding directive to an undisclosed number of agencies requiring them to change any log-ins that were taken and investigate what else might be at risk. (WaPo)
-Bitcoin Community-
1. Miners Run Down Bitcoin Inventory to 3-Year Low in a Strategic Pre-Halving Move: Bitcoin miners are depleting their coin stashes, possibly to ensure the sustainability of operations in the face of the impending halving of per-block rewards from April 20. The number of bitcoin held by miners, which receive the coins in return for validating transactions in the blockchain block, declined to 1.794 million BTC this week, the lowest since early 2021, according to data source CoinMetrics. (CoinDesk)
2. Bitcoin whales in accumulation phase, with BTC halving just a week away: According to data shared by crypto analytic firm CryptoQuant, the growth in demand from Bitcoin whales has never been stronger. Demand from “permanent holders” has exceeded the market supply of new Bitcoin for the first time. (CoinTelegraph)
-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 79/100 (Up 3 pts)
Analyst Comments (AC): Geopolitical watchers are focused on Iran’s potential kinetics response to Israel’s attack on Iranian forces in Syria. The expectation is a possible direct or proxy strike on Israel proper. This could easily lead to an expansion of warfare between Iran and Israel and the proxies and allies of both. The stakes are high if restraint is not held.
Follow us on NOSTR: @Bitcoin Veterans
____________________
Analyst: BV2A
END REPORT
NNNN
*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report