DIB 18 OCT 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 866,192
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 18Oct24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Hamas Leader Killed in Gaza / NK Troops Fight for Russia / Biden Announces Student Debt Relief / Father and Son Indicted for School Shooting / US Treasury Uses AI to Claw Back Payments / Tesla Moves $765M in BTC after 2 Years / BTC ETFs on 7-Day Tear / “Not Satoshi” Wright Heads to Court Against Bitcoin Core

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $67,740, 24.99 oz Gold, .16 Median US House
24hr Hi: $68,334 / Lo: $66,647
Vol: $35B (Up 6%)
Mkt Cap: $1.34T (Up 1%)
HashRate: 668 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 37 sats/vBtye (Up 120%)
Nodes: 19,094

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar killed in Gaza: Soldiers stumbled across Sinwar during a routine ground patrol in Rafah, Israeli officials said. Drone footage released by the Israeli military showed what seem to be Sinwar’s final moments. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar marks “the beginning of the day after” for the militant group. He vowed that Israel would keep fighting in Gaza until all hostages are returned home. (CNN)

2. N Korea to send troops to fight with Russia: North Korea has started sending troops to fight with Russia in Ukraine, South Korea’s spy agency has said as Seoul warned of a “grave security threat”. The allegation comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed 10,000 North Korean soldiers could join the war, based on intelligence information. According to the spy agency, 1,500 troops have already arrived in Russia – with anonymous sources telling South Korean media the final figure could be closer to 12,000. (BBC)

-US Events-
1. Biden-Harris administration announces $4.5bn in additional student debt relief: The Biden-Harris administration announced today an additional $4.5bn in student debt relief for over 60,000 public service workers. The latest round of relief has brought total student loan cancellation to over $175bn for nearly 5 million people since Biden took office in 2021, roughly 11% of all outstanding federal student loan debt, including 1 million public service workers holding $74bn in federal student debt. (TheGuardian)

2. Grand jury indicts Colt and Colin Gray for Apalachee High School mass shooting: A Barrow County grand jury has indicted Colt Gray, 14, and his father, Colin Gray, in connection with last month’s mass shooting at Apalachee High School. Colt’s father, Colin Gray, faces 29 charges, including second-degree murder, second-degree cruelty to children, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless conduct. Prosecutors allege that he saw warning signs of his son’s behavior but took no action and even purchased the firearm used in the shooting as a Christmas gift. (Fox5)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. The FBI arrested an Alabama man for allegedly helping hack the SEC’s X account: A 25-year-old Alabama man has been arrested by the FBI for his alleged role in the takeover of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account earlier this year. The hack resulted in a rogue tweet that falsely claimed bitcoin ETFs had been approved by the regulator, which temporarily juiced bitcoin prices. The FBI has identified Eric Council Jr. as one of the people allegedly behind the exploit. Council was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, according to the Justice Department. (Engadget)

2. US Treasury Taps Machine Learning AI To Recover $4 Billion In Fraud: This year’s recovery of more than $4 billion is a threefold increase over the $652.7 million reported in fiscal 2023. The agency recovered $2.5 billion through identifying and prioritizing high-risk transactions and recovered $1 billion via expediting the identification of Treasury check fraud with machine learning AI. Treasury Department securely disburses approximately 1.4 billion payments valued at over $6.9 trillion dollars to more than 100 million people annually. With a wide range of payments, such as Social Security and Medicaid benefits, federal workers’ paychecks, tax refunds, the U.S. Treasury is a prime target for fraudsters. (IBTimes) (AC-Its amazing that 1 in 3 Americans receive some form of payment from the US Treasury.)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies/World Currencies-
NSTR

-Institutional Concerns-
1. Tesla moves $765 million in Bitcoin to unknown wallets, putting Musk’s crypto plans in the spotlight: the company has moved approximately $765 million worth of Bitcoin to unknown wallets. It’s unclear whether the EV maker, the fourth-biggest holder of Bitcoin among U.S public companies has plans to sell. (YahooFinance)

2. Global Bitcoin ETPs Register Biggest Seven-Day Inflow Since July: In the past four trading days, Bitcoin ETFs have purchased around 48 days of the mined bitcoin supply. On a seven-day basis, bitcoin ETPs have seen 25,675 BTC ($1.74 billion) in net inflows, the biggest since July. (CoinDesk)

-Economic Indicators-
1. US Stocks Rise Boosted By Economic Data, Chip Stocks: Stocks in the US were higher on Thursday, following strong economic data. The S&P 500 added 0.5%, the Nasdaq rose 0.7% and the Dow Jones increased about 140 points after closing at a record level in the previous session. Retail sales rose more than expected last month, continuing to point to a robust consumer sector in the US. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Historic bitcoin theft tied to Connecticut kidnapping, luxury cars, $500K bar bills: Two young men accused of swindling a Washington, D.C., resident out of $230 million in bitcoin went on a spending spree, buying exotic cars and a $2 million watch and renting mansions, prosecutors said. The Aug. 18 cyber heist swindled a Washington, D.C., resident out of $230 million in cryptocurrency. To date, at least $100 million in bitcoin stolen from the victim remains unaccounted for, prosecutors said in a recent court filing in District of Columbia federal court. (CNBC)

-Technology and Science-
NSTR

-Bitcoin Community-
1. Craig Wright (Who Is Not Satoshi) Launches Bitcoin Core Legal Battle: Craig Wright, discredited in the UK High Court’s ruling against his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, has launched another legal action. Once again, he is targeting the Bitcoin Core developers. Wright claims that the Bitcoin Core developers have misrepresented BTC as the original bitcoin, while he insists that Bitcoin SV, also known as BSV, is the true version of bitcoin. (Forbes)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 73/100 (Up 2 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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