DIB 23 MAY 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 844,743
DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 23May24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: China Encircles Taiwan / Russia Launches Space Weapon / Surprise Election in UK / Trump Campaign Now Takes Bitcoin / FIT-21 Passes House, WH Won’t Veto / Anti-CBDC Bill Also in Congress / FOMC Minutes Highlight Inflation / Tech Companies Unite Against Scams / Biden Seeks Meme Lord

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $70,003, 29.51 oz Gold, .16 Median US House
24hr Hi: $70,623 / Lo: $68,977
Vol: $32B (Down 13%)
Mkt Cap: $1.38T (Even)
HashRate: 707 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 17 sats/vBtye (Down 7%)
Nodes: 17,193

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Mainland China launches PLA blockade around Taiwan, 3 days after William Lai speech: The People’s Liberation Army has launched a two-day exercise around Taiwan, “testing joint combat capabilities” by blockading the island. The drills include mainland China’s army, navy, air force and rocket forces. (SCMP)

2. Pentagon: Russia Launched Space Weapon in Path of U.S. Satellite: “Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter-space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Pat Ryder told a press briefing late Tuesday. (Breitbart)

3. British Leader Sunak Calls Snap Election as His Party Trails in Polls: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a surprise summer election for July 4, a gamble by the British leader to galvanize his restive Conservative Party as it trails the opposition Labour Party by double digits in the polls. In going to the polls, Sunak is attempting one of the biggest turnarounds in recent British political history. Many pollsters, and even members of the Conservative Party, have written off the Tories’ chances of securing a fifth successive term, as its popularity has tanked on the back of a postpandemic cost-of-living crisis and successive political scandals. The Conservatives have been in power since 2010. (WSJ)

-US Events-
1. America’s First Bitcoin President: Trump Now Accepts Bitcoin Donations: President Trump, in a press release published on his website this afternoon, announced that his campaign to take back the White House will begin accepting donations using Bitcoin. “The effort to reduce the control of government on an American’s financial decision-making is part of a seismic shift toward freedom. Today’s announcement reflects President Trump’s commitment to an agenda that values freedom over socialistic government control.”, the announcement said. (BitcoinMag)

2. Arizona Senate advances measure allowing local, state police to arrest migrants illegally crossing border: The measure now heads to the GOP-controlled House and will end up on the Nov. 5 ballot if passed by the legislature (Fox)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. White House Will Not Veto FIT21 Cryptocurrency Bill: The White House just communicated its position on the Financial Innovation and Technology for 21st Century Act (FIT21). President Biden says he will not threaten to veto it. The policy statement also expresses the government’s opposition to FIT21. The bill just passed the House yesterday and is headed toward the Senate for deliberation. (Cryptopolitan) (AC-The White House also indicated it’s lack of support on the bill and desire to work with Congress to configure it)

-Institutional Concerns-
NSTR

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-
1. CBDC bill: Why Republicans say they fear a central bank digital currency: This week, the House of Representatives will vote on legislation sponsored by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) called the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act. The bill is relatively straightforward, but in sum would stop the Fed from issuing any form of CBDC without congressional approval. The legislation is expected to pass in the House, where Republicans hold the majority, and could even earn some bipartisan support. But the bill faces a tougher battle in the Democratic-controlled Senate and would have to get a stamp of approval from President Joe Biden should it become law before the next session of Congress. (WashExaminer)

-Economic Indicators-
1. US Stocks Extend Losses After FOMC Minutes: US stocks extended their lower momentum to close in the red on Wednesday, with key indices easing further from their recent peaks as markets digested hawkish signals from the Fed’s last meeting. Minutes showed that the FOMC grew more concerned about the lack of progress on curbing inflation in the US economy, and various policymakers noted they are willing to tighten monetary policy further if needed. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Coinbase, Ripple, Meta Join Forces to Fight Crypto Scams, Including Pig Butchering: Leading crypto and tech companies, including Coinbase, Ripple, Meta, Kraken, and Gemini, have formed a coalition to combat online fraud, including crypto scams like the pig butchering scheme. “We are dedicated to disrupting emerging online scams through collaboration, information sharing, and enhanced consumer education,” said Coinbase’s chief security officer. (BItcoinCom)

-Technology-
1. Meme Lord Wanted! Team Biden Seeking Meme Manager for 2024 Re-election Campaign: President Joe Biden’s reelection effort took a surprising turn when a job advertisement for a “Partner Manager, Content and Meme Pages” tasked with supervising the online meme environment was released. The position involves leading daily operations to interact with prominent content and meme platforms on the internet. It offers a competitive salary of up to $85,000. (TechTimes)

-Bitcoin Community-
1. Bitcoin Runes hype fades, transactions plummet 84%: As of May 22, Runes represented 12.7% of Bitcoin transactions, much higher than Bitcoin Ordinals (0.7%) and BRC-20 (1.5%). The rest was taken up by BTC. As a result, Runes transactions are down by over 84% since their all-time high. (CoinTelegraph)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 76/100 (Even)

Analyst Comments (AC): With the “crypto” bills going through congress and Trump now making a point of accepting bitcoin, look for the increased politicization of bitcoin and crypto. The US government is skilled at taking issues and manipulating them for political ends while consolidating power. As much as the normal citizen dislikes the political arena, it is important to fight for freedom and privacy as much as possible and with the help of freedom technologies, which are the individual’s key tools in this fight. Narrative, legal and lobbying tactics are complementary tools to maintain these freedoms.

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