DIB 22 JUL 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 853,370
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 22Jul24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ


BLUF: Biden Drops Out of Race / Israel Strikes Back at Yemen / Vietnam’s Communist Leader Dies / Ukraine Launches Drone Attack / VP Harris Gets Ready for Presidential Campaign / Bitcoiners Prepare for Significant Week / Seven US States Challenge SEC Over Crypto / CashApp to Depart UK / Airports Still in Disarray / Hackers Take Advantage of CrowdStrike Fail / Elon Laser Eyes Draw Speculation

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $67,600, 28.20 oz Gold, .16 Median US House
24hr Hi: $68,480 / Lo: $65,842
Vol: $32B (Up 76%)
Mkt Cap: $1.33T (Up 1%)
HashRate: 600 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 4 sats/vBtye (Down 33%)
Nodes: 7,412 (*Anomaly: Detected nodes have dropped the past two weeks from an average of 19K to below 10K)

—Reports—
-International Events-

  1. At least 6 killed as Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen day after Tel Aviv drone attack: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its fighter jets struck “military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime” in the area of Yemen’s Hodeidah Port on Saturday, in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a direct response to the death of a 50-year-old Israeli in a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv on Friday. This is the first time Israel has struck Yemen, according to Israeli officials. (CNN) (AC-This is a major expansion in war for Israel. They are now fighting Iranian proxies on three fronts; Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and now Houthis in Yemen.)
  2. Death of Vietnam’s Top Leader Raises Questions of Succession: With the death Friday of Vietnam’s long-serving Communist Party general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, the country’s top leadership role has been left at least temporarily to President To Lam, who is best known for implementing a sweeping anticorruption drive. Whether he will retain the duties of general secretary on a more permanent basis depends on the Politburo, which is expected to decide whether to confirm his new role. Vietnam analysts said it was unlikely that the death of Mr. Trong would lead to any changes in foreign policy or trade relations, as Vietnam will continue balancing its relations with the United States, China and Russia. (NYT)
  3. Ukrainian Drone Attack Sets Oil Refinery Ablaze, Russian Officials Say: Russia’s military said early Monday that its forces had downed 75 Ukrainian drones overnight, with regional authorities reporting that falling debris set fire to a major oil refinery on the Black Sea coast. Rostov region Governor Vasily Golubev said no one was injured during an overnight wave of attempted drone strikes in his region, but added that falling debris had caused some fires. (MoscowTimes)

-US Events-

  1. World leaders react to Biden’s exit from the 2024 US presidential race: Messages of gratitude and support for US President Joe Biden poured in following his stunning announcement Sunday that he is exiting the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the next Democratic nominee. It was the second seismic moment in US politics in just over a week, following the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, which saw global leaders rally around him as the Republican nominee. One Weibo (Social Media in China) user remarked, “that one shot didn’t kill Trump but dropped Biden,” while another described the political situation in the US as “a total mess”. (CNN)
  2. Harris races to lock up White House bid, Trump campaign pivots: Harris, 59, was due to speak at the White House at 11:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT) on Monday. Harris spent Sunday working the phones as she spoke with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a potential vice presidential running mate. Harris’ campaign had raised $49.6 million since Biden’s exit, a campaign spokesperson said on Monday.(Reuters)
  3. Janet Napolitano joining review of Secret Service response to Trump shooting: Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday named one of his predecessors, Janet Napolitano, to a bipartisan panel of experts tasked with conducting a 45-day independent review of the attempted assassination of former President Trump. The panel is charged with conducting a review “of the planning for and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during, and after the rally, and the U.S. Secret Service governing policies and procedures,” according to a DHS press release. (TheHill)

-Regulatory and Legal-

  1. Bitcoin Traders Brace for ‘Fat Tails’ as Focus Shifts to Trump’s Nashville Bitcoin Conference Speech: “This week we’re going to hear Trump speak at the Nashville Bitcoin conference. As long as Trump remains a front-runner, this is a potential catalyst for “something to happen” this week. The derivative markets seem to agree, and we’re seeing pricing support the “something is about to happen” narrative.” (CoinDesk)
  2. 7 US States Unite to Challenge SEC’s Crypto Overreach: Iowa announced earlier this month that Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led a seven-state coalition in filing an amicus brief opposing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attempt to regulate cryptocurrencies. The amicus brief, supported by Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, was filed on July 10 to challenge the SEC’s overreach. “Congress never gave the SEC power to regulate cryptocurrency, and there is no accountability to ensure the actions the SEC takes are legitimate and necessary,” the Iowa Attorney General’s Office stressed. (BitcoinCom)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies-

  1. Kazakhstan pays for rail line to China using programmable CBDC: “During the pilot launch of the digital tenge platform, the money allocated to finance the project was marked. The marked digital tenge is paid only to organisations that have fully fulfilled the required obligations.” (CoinTelegraph) (AC-The programmable facet of CBDCs are coherent with tyrannical governance.)

-Institutional Concerns-

  1. Cash App Announces Exit from UK Market to Concentrate on US Growth: Cash App, the popular mobile payment service owned by Jack Dorsey’s Block (formerly Square), has announced its decision to cease operations in the United Kingdom. For Block, this move represents a strategic refocusing of resources. By concentrating on its home market, the company aims to deepen its penetration and expand its service offerings to American users. (Blockonomi)

-Economic Indicators-

  1. Treasury Yields Fall Slightly: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note steadied edged lower to 4.22% on Monday after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. (TradingEconomics)
  2. US Futures Rise as Biden Drops Out of 2024 Race: US stock futures rose on Monday after President Joe Biden announced that he will not seek reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Nominee. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

  1. Flight Cancellations Caused by Tech Outage Continue Through Weekend: Travelers confronted a third day of flight snarls and long waits at U.S. airports Sunday, as many monitors still displayed the telltale blue screens of the technology-fueled meltdown that began Friday. This weekend has been one of the worst for travel this year. More than 1,700 U.S. flights were canceled Sunday, adding to the roughly 5,500 that were called off Friday and Saturday. Businesses in many other industries whose Microsoft Windows-based machines melted down due to the buggy update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike recovered by the end of the day Friday. But the continuing cascade of flight cancellations speaks to the airline industry’s heavy reliance on interconnected technology systems and its fragility when things go awry. (WSJ)
  2. Cybercriminals Exploit CrowdStrike Update Mishap to Distribute Remcos RAT Malware: The attack chains involve distributing a ZIP archive file named “crowdstrike-hotfix.zip,” which contains a malware loader named Hijack Loader (aka DOILoader or IDAT Loader) that, in turn, launches the Remcos RAT payload. (HackerNews)

-Technology-

  1. NSTR

-Bitcoin Community-

  1. Bitcoin Is Unaffected by Global CrowdStrike Outages: A faulty software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike caused widespread computer outages, affecting major systems such as government offices, banks, and airlines. However, Bitcoin remained unaffected due to its decentralized nature and independence from centralized providers. (Decrypt)
  2. Elon Musk Sports Bitcoin Laser-Eyes: Joining Trump At BTC 2024?: In a move that has ignited fervent discussion across the Bitcoin community, Tesla CEO Elon Musk updated his profile picture on X (formerly Twitter) to feature the notable “laser eyes,” a meme symbolizing bullish sentiment towards BTC. This change occurred just days before the Bitcoin 2024 conference scheduled in Nashville from July 25-27, where prominent figures, including US presidential candidate Donald Trump, are slated to speak. (Bitcoinist)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

  1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 70/100 (Up 10 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): “May you live in interesting times” has meaning this week.

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