DIB 22 APR 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 840,338
DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 22Apr24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Israel Intel Chief Resigns / Global Defense Expenditures at ATH / ARSOF Using Deep Fakes for 5GW / Columbia, Yale Protests Target Jews / SBF Turns on Celebs / Binance Exec to be Extradited to Nigeria / 5GW On Display

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $65,788, 28.11 oz Gold, .15 Median US House
24hr Hi: $66,152/ Lo: $64,277
Vol: $25B (Up 13%)
Mkt Cap: $1.29T (Up 1%)
HashRate: 547 EH/s
Avg Fees: 34,600 sats/tx (Up 102%)
Nodes: 18,448

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over his role in failing to prevent Oct. 7 attack: Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva’s resignation could set the stage for more resignations among Israel’s top security brass over Hamas’ attack, when militants blasted through Israel’s border defenses, rampaged through Israeli communities unchallenged for hours and killed 1,200 people, most civilians, while taking roughly 250 hostages into Gaza. That attack set off the war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month. (AP)

2. US sends land-attack missile system to Philippines for exercises in apparent message to China: China has accused the United States of “stoking military confrontation” with the recent deployment of a powerful missile launcher capable of firing weapons with a range of up to 1,600 kilometers to exercises in the Philippines. The US Army’s Mid-Range Capability (MRC) ground-based missile system arrives in a region on edge following a series of dangerous Chinese-Philippine face-offs in the South China Sea, during which Philippine ships have been targeted with water cannons, injuring several Filipino sailors. (CNN)

3. Global defense budget jumps to record high of $2440bn: For the first time, government military spending increased in all five geographical regions, Sipri thinktank finds. The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded. “States are prioritizing military strength, but they risk an action-reaction spiral in the increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.” The two largest spenders – the United States (37%) and China (12%) – made up around half of global military spending, increasing their expenditure by 2.3% and 6% respectively. (Guardian)

-US Events-
1. How Army special operators use deepfakes and drones to train for information warfare: With a sample of your voice and a gaming laptop, this Army psychological operations instructor can make you appear to say anything: an order for pizza, a call to the doctor, or just hello. Dubbed Ghost Machine, the tool helps Army Special Operations Forces instructors teach operators how cheap, easily-available tech is reshaping governments’ abilities to target and influence soldiers. In one example loaded into the Ghost Machine, the program duplicated a fictional Chinese enemy commander telling his troops to surrender. (DefenseOne) (AC-Fifth Gen Warfare (5GW) brings the shaping of minds, money and operations off the battlefields and into the homes and mobile phones of just about anyone. This is a small example of what is being done now and from known and unknown entities to influence actions on and off the battlefield.)

2. Columbia University president orders virtual classes as anti-Israel protests take over: ‘We need a reset’: Students at Columbia University were told in an overnight statement that all classes will be held virtually on Monday as anti-Israel protesters have taken over the campus, its president announced. Columbia University President Dr. Nemat “Minouche” Shafik said in a statement posted in the early hours Monday morning, that she was “deeply saddened” by certain actions of agitators, who have formed an “encampment” on the campus and have riled students and faculty with anti-Jewish slogans and chants. (Fox)

3. Police storm Yale University’s campus with riot gear as hundreds of students stage anti-Israel protest: Police clad with riot gear started swarming Yale University’s Connecticut campus early Monday where hundreds of students have been staging an anti-Israel protest.Footage posted online showed cops arriving at the Ivy League school and blocking off entrances to a plaza at the New Haven campus where roughly 200 protesters were gathered. Cops have started warning protestors they risk being arrested if they don’t clear out, the Yale Daily News reported. (NYPost)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Sam Bankman-Fried Turns Rat, Cooperates In Lawsuit Vs. FTX Celebrity Backers: SBF, the crypto wunderkind turned convicted fraudster, has agreed to cooperate with investors suing the company’s celebrity endorsers, including sports stars Tom Brady and Shaquille O’Neal, and actor Larry David. The class-action lawsuit against the celebrity endorsers accuses them of deception and making false claims about the safety of FTX’s crypto assets. (Bitcoinist)

2. Binance Exec Who Escaped From Nigeria Has Been Found in Kenya, Faces Extradition: Nigerian authorities have found Nadeem Anjarwalla in Kenya and are working with Kenyan authorities to bring the executive back to the country. Anjarwalla was detained alongside another Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, in February, as Nigerian authorities accused the crypto exchange of manipulating the local exchange rate, tax evasion and money laundering. (CoinDesk) (AC-These charges came quickly after the Nigerian government demanded a $10B fee for continuing to allow Binance to operate in the country. There is a lot to this story which would be an interesting investigative report.)

-Institutional Concerns-
1. Grayscale’s Game-Changing Mini Trust ETF: Grayscale introduced its latest venture: This move entails listing products on the NYSE Arca exchange under the code BTC, featuring a remarkably low fee of 0.15%. In stark contrast to the 1.5% fee associated with its flagship product, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), this reduction positions the Bitcoin Mini Trust as an attractive alternative and boasts the lowest out-of-pocket expenses among its counterparts. (CoinMarketCap)

2. Ex-New York Fed chief joins BinanceUS board: BinanceUS has appointed former New York Federal Reserve Bank compliance chief Martin C. Grant to its board of directors. BinanceUS said the appointment aims to boost compliance efforts and restore user trust after facing extensive regulatory scrutiny over ties to the global Binance exchange. The platform has struggled to grow its userbase in the wake of these challenges, with market data showing that BinanceUS recorded only about $22 million worth of trades during the past day, compared to the $3.4 billion recorded by competitor Coinbase. (CryptoBriefing)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-
NSTR

-Economic Indicators-
1. Treasury Yields Edge Up: The US 10-year Treasury note yield rose to 4.66% to kick off the week, approaching again November highs, as traders brace for key economic data to assess the strength of the US economy and readjust their interest rate cut bets. (TradingEconomics)

2. Week Ahead – April 22nd: In the United States, all eyes will be on Q1 GDP growth rate and PCE prices, alongside personal income and spending figures. Additionally, investors will closely monitor durable goods orders, S&P Global Manufacturing and Services PMI’s and pending and new home sales. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
NSTR

-Bitcoin Community-
1. Bitcoin Halving Event Spurs $107 Million Daily Revenue for BTC Miners: The Bitcoin (BTC) mining landscape has experienced a seismic shift following Bitcoin’s fourth halving event, with daily miner revenue soaring to an unprecedented $107 million, as reported by CryptoQuant. Remarkably, a staggering $80 million, accounting for 75% of this total, was generated from transaction fees alone.

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 57/100 (Down 10 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): In a clear 5GW effort, a simple online search of news articles related to Israel/Gaza conflict shows sympathetic articles to Gazans, Hamas and Palestinians, while portraying Israel as aggressors committing genocide. Certainly young college students in the US are using social media more than online searches, and are getting fed a constant supply of information that is now resulting in the protests seen now on college campuses such as Columbia and Yale. The retoric is turning violent against Jews attending these colleges, shaping the global battlefield via funding, elections and even military action. This is textbook Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW), which most militaries are not prepared to conduct, even though they are slowly coming around to like in the ARSOF article above. Unline kinetic warfare, all populations are part of 5GW and must learn the tactics, strategies and efforts of state and non-state actors to defend against subversive influence operations.

Follow us on NOSTR: @Bitcoin Veterans
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Analyst: BV2A
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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report