DIB 18 SEP 2024

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BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 861,844
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 18Sep24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ

BLUF: Exploding Pagers Injure over 2,800 Hezbollah / Ukrainian Drone Attack Triggers NASA Satellites / US DoD Beefs Up Alaska Islands / Secret Service Didn’t Inspect Golf Course Fence Line / Unknown Powder Sent to US Election Officials / SpaceX Fined by FAA / SEC Charges FTX Auditor / Singapore’s Largest Bank Offers BTC Options / Bhutan 4th Largest Country Holding BTC / US FED Rate Cut Expected Today / Asteroid Passes Close by Tonight / Winklevoss’ Dad Donates BTC To School Teaching Austrian Economics

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $59,889, 23.24 oz Gold, .14 Median US House
24hr Hi: $61,316 / Lo: $58,901
Vol: $40B (Up 39%)
Mkt Cap: $1.18T (Up 1%)
HashRate: 708 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 3 sats/vBtye (Even)
Nodes: 19,043

—Reports—
-International Events-

  1. Exploding pagers belonging to Hezbollah kill at least 9 and injure more than 2,750 in Lebanon: More than 200 people were in critical condition, the public health minister, Dr. Firas Abiad, told reporters. Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was among the injured, according to the country’s embassy. One of those killed was Muhammad Mahdi, the son of Ali Ammar, a Hezbollah member of Parliament. Hezbollah says it has handed out pagers to members, many of whom stopped using cellphones out of fear that Israel could use them to track and monitor them. (NBC)
  2. Ukrainian drone attack triggers earthquake-sized blast at arsenal in Russia’s Tver region: Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting high into the night sky and multiple detonations thundering across a lake about 380 km (240 miles) west of Moscow. NASA satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of about 14 square kilometres at the site in the early hours and earthquake monitoring stations picked up what sensors thought was a small earthquake. (Reuters)
  3. US moves soldiers to Alaska island amid Russian military activity increase in the area: The U.S. military has moved about 130 soldiers along with mobile rocket launchers to a desolate island in the Aleutian chain of western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military planes and vessels approaching American territory. Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in the past week as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. (ABC)

-US Events-

  1. Secret Service admits it did not search the perimeter of Trump’s golf course: The Secret Service did not search the perimeter of the golf course where a suspect lurked for nearly 12 hours in the apparent hope of killing Donald Trump, the agency has admitted. Routh’s presence in the area immediately before Sunday’s incident has been established from his mobile phone data. “The president wasn’t even really supposed to go there,” the Secret Service’s acting director, Ronald Rowe Jr, told journalists, adding that Trump did not have a visit to the course on his official schedule. (TheGuardian)
  2. FBI investigating suspicious letters containing unknown substance sent to state election officials: The Associated Press reported powder-containing packages were sent to secretaries of state and state election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming, citing officials in those states. The secretaries of state for Colorado, Connecticut and Indiana also reported Tuesday that similar envelopes were either intercepted or received. (CBS)
  3. SpaceX fined for ‘illegal’ launch of rockets: Just days after regulators grounded SpaceX’s Mars-bound Starship rocket for two months, Elon Musk’s firm is facing a major fine for alleged safety violations of two launches last year. The US FAA proposed $633,009 in civil penalties for the private space firm, claiming that it failed to follow license requirements in May and July 2023. Mr Musk responded to the proposed fine in a post to X, writing: “SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach.”(IndependentUK)

-Regulatory and Legal-

  1. SEC says FTX auditor did not understand the crypto market: The US SEC has charged the auditor of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX with misconduct, saying the firm took on Sam Bankman-Fried’s company as a client without properly understanding the crypto market. Prager Metis, an accounting firm that ranks outside the top 50 US firms by revenue, gave a clean bill of health to FTX’s financial results for the two years before it collapsed in November 2022 with an $8bn hole in its balance sheet. (FT)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies-

  1. Australia’s central bank launches 3-year program for wholesale CBDC: RBA Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the potential benefits of a retail CBDC in Australia appear modest or uncertain at present. (CoinTelegraph)

-Institutional Concerns-

  1. Singapore’s DBS Bank to Launch Bitcoin and Crypto Options for Institutions: Singapore’s largest bank, DBS, will begin offering OTC bitcoin and crypto options trading for institutional clients in Q4 2024. DBS is the first major Asian bank providing sophisticated Bitcoin derivatives amid rising allocation demand. (BitcoinMag)
  2. Bhutan Government Holds $750 Million in Bitcoin: Bhutan, known for its involvement in cryptocurrency mining, now holds the fourth-largest government stash of Bitcoin, with over 13,000 BTC valued at $750 million. Unlike other governments, Bhutan’s Bitcoin reserves come from its green-powered mining farms, taking advantage of its abundant hydroelectric power. In addition to Bitcoin, Bhutan’s state investment arm also holds other cryptocurrencies such as ETH, BNB, MATIC, and USDT. (Decrypt)

-Economic Indicators-

  1. Markets Await Fed Decision: Bitcoin Spikes, Gold Drops, Stocks Wobble: Bitcoin saw its value leap to $61,331 on Tuesday, just a day before members of the U.S. Federal Reserve convene to discuss a potential rate cut for federal funds. While BTC posted a 5% gain, stock markets exhibited mixed signals, hovering near previous highs, and gold dipped more than half a percent that day. (BitcoinCom) (AC-The Fed is expected to announced their decision today.)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

  1. North Korean Hackers Target Energy and Aerospace Industries with New MISTPEN Malware: A North Korea-linked cyber-espionage group has been observed leveraging job-themed phishing lures to target prospective victims in energy and aerospace verticals and infect them with a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed MISTPEN. (HackerNews)

-Technology and Science-

  1. NASA issues alert for fast-moving, stadium-sized asteroid approaching Earth tonight: Dubbed 2024 ON, the celestial space rock measures 950 feet in diameter — approximately the size of a football stadium. Despite 2024 On’s intimidating speed and size, it’s expected to pass about 621,000 miles from Earth, or 2.6 times further out than the moon’s average distance. (NYPost)
  2. Decrypt Will Store Its Content on the Decentralized Storage Solution Walrus, Preventing Link Rot and Ensuring Integrity: Decrypt, a Web3 trade publication, will store its news articles, videos, and photos on the decentralized storage solution Walrus. This will create an unalterable archive of Decrypt’s content, ensuring the integrity and availability of the news stories. Storing the content on decentralized storage protocols like Walrus helps prevent link rot and offers a secure and tamper-proof record of the publication’s content. (Decrypt) (AC-Decentralized storage warrants research.)

-Bitcoin Community-

  1. Winklevoss Twins’ Father Donates $4M Bitcoin to School Teaching Theory That Inspired Satoshi: Howard Winklevoss, father of the famous crypto twins, is donating $4 million in bitcoin {BTC} in a first-of-its-kind donation to Grove City College, where he developed an interest for sound money and the Austrian school of economics that also later influenced Satoshi. His Bitcoin donation is the first bitcoin gift the college has received and will fund new business programs, Grove City said in a press release on Tuesday. (CoinDesk) (AC-Bitcoiners are a special breed.)
  2. AI-focused Bitcoin miners are outperforming rivals: AI-focused Bitcoin miners such as Core Scientific, IREN and Terawulf are outperforming their “pure play” rivals in terms of stock price due to stronger conviction in the data center thesis amid choppy bitcoin price action, according to analysts. While their hash rate growth may generally be slower than that of pure-play Bitcoin miners, AI-focused operators are expanding their data center infrastructure in parallel, which provides additional opportunities. (TheBlock)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

  1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 45/100 (Up 12 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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

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