DIB 26 FEB 2025

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 885,413
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 26Feb2025
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Leading Romanian Presidential Candidate Arrested / China Holds Shooting Drills Off Taiwan / Chile Plunged Into Darkness / Zelensky to Vistit White House / US House Passes GOP Budget, Sent to Senate / Immigrant Arrests Up in TX / Epstein Files Possibly Deleted / White House Takes Control of WH Press Pool / Crypto Task Force Continues Exploration / China’s Judges Reconsidering Crypto / ECB Doesn’t Like Bitcoin / New FL Gov. Candidate Talks Bitcoin on Balance Sheet / $1B Leave BTC ETFs in One Day / Mortgage Rates, Stocks Drop Too / ByBit Hackers Laundering Quickly / GitHub Has Seen Phrase Hunter Software / BitDeer Takes Big Hit

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $88,934, 30.10 oz Gold, .20 Median US House
24hr Hi: $89,351 / Lo: $86,008
Vol: $58B (Down 24%)
Mkt Cap: $1.73T (Down 2%)
HashRate: 755 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 4 sats/vBtye (Down 50%)

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Romanian police haul in election front-runner Călin Georgescu for questioning: Local media reported the pro-Russia candidate is being quizzed over the financing of his controversial — and successful — election campaign late last year. “Călin Georgescu was going to file his new candidacy for the Presidency. About 30 minutes ago, the system stopped him in traffic and he was pulled over for questioning. (Politico) (AC-There is much more to this story.)

2. China holds ‘shooting’ drills off Taiwan’s coast, vows ‘reunification’ push: Shortly before 9 a.m. (0100GMT), Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a statement, it had detected 32 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a “joint combat readiness drill” with Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait area. Taiwan and China have traded barbs also traded barbs this week over the severing of an undersea communications cable off the island’s southwest coast. (Reuters) (AC-Tension is definitely building in this situation.)

3. State of emergency declared after blackout plunges most of Chile into darkness: Chile’s president has declared a state of emergency after an electricity blackout plunged most of the country into darkness on Tuesday, including the capital Santiago. The outage – in the middle of Chile’s summer, when temperatures in Santiago are around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) – has affected some 8 million homes, President Gabriel Boric said in an address to the nation on Tuesday evening. (CNN)

4. Zelensky To Visit White House Friday To Sign Minerals Deal: Apparently Zelensky finally acquiesced after the negotiating teams reached agreement on a final draft that does not include a US demand that it would have rights to $500 billion in future revenue. Details remain largely unknown at this early stage. (ZeroHedge)

-US Events-
1. House passes GOP budget bill in key step for Trump agenda: Speaker Mike Johnson led a narrow vote passing a budget blueprint through the House, with Republicans voting 217-215 in favor, indicating a key step for President Donald Trump’s agenda. The budget resolution includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and aims for $2 trillion in spending cuts. (GroundNews)

2. 118 Illegal Aliens Arrested in Texas’ Largest Migrant Colony Raids: ICE special agents and state and local law enforcement officials arrested 118 illegal aliens during Monday’s immigration raid inside the Colony Ridge Subdivision near Houston, Texas. According to ICE, the multi-agency immigration raid netted migrants charged with a myriad of criminal charges and criminal convictions. (Breitbart)

3. FBI Files on Epstein Allegedly Being Deleted: A whistleblower has alleged that the FBI is deleting files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s case, sparking discussions on social media and pressure from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s task force, which is also seeking the release of JFK assassination records. These claims are under scrutiny, with no confirmation from official sources yet. (X, Various)

4. ‘White House Press Pool,’ will be determined by the White House Press Team: Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join – but we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility. (WhiteHouse)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. SEC Crypto Task Force Meets With Robinhood to Discuss Digital Asset Regulations: Executives from Robinhood participated in discussions covering special-purpose broker-dealers for crypto, staking, and the application of securities laws to tokenized assets. (BitcoinCom) (AC-This follows recent meetings with Coinbase and Michael Saylor seeking input for future regulations.)

2. China’s judiciary authorities accelerate research on legal treatment of crypto amid ban: A Beijing court disclosed on Tuesday that representatives from the Supreme People’s Court and several other top judiciary authorities and universities held a seminar on Sunday to discuss research studies and the legal treatment of cryptocurrency. (TheBlock)

-CBDCs/World Currencies/Strategic Reserves-
1. ECB Adviser: Nation-State Bitcoin Reserves ‘Risky Idea’: European Central Bank adviser Jürgen Schaaf has reiterated the bank’s negative stance on Bitcoin, stating that nation-state Bitcoin reserves are “risky” due to extreme volatility and susceptibility to manipulation. Arguing that Bitcoin has “no real economic necessity or relevant usage,” Schaaf said that adding Bitcoin to ECB reserves would not stabilize the single currency but fuel speculation. (Decrypt)

2. Potential Florida Governor Plans Bitcoin On State Balance Sheet: Pro-Bitcoin Congressman Byron Donalds has announced his candidacy for the Florida governorship during an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity. The Republican lawmaker, currently representing Florida’s 19th congressional district, underscored his vision for making the Sunshine State a global financial hub, potentially incorporating cryptocurrency into the state’s official portfolio. (Bitcoinist)

-Institutional Concerns-
1. Bitcoin ETFs Experience Record $1 Billion Single Day Outflow: Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) faced a massive $1 billion outflow on Feb. 25, marking the largest single-day withdrawal since their inception. Ether ETFs also experienced a significant net outflow of $50 million. (BitcoinCom)

-Economic Indicators-
1. US Mortgage Rates Fall Further: The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances in the US continued to decline to 6.88% in the week ended February 21st 2025, reaching a new low since December 2024. (TradingEconomics)

2. S&P 500 Marks 4-Day Losing Streak: Stocks in the US closed mixed on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 extending its losses by 0.5%, marking a fourth consecutive decline as concerns over economic growth and global trade tensions weighed on sentiment. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.2%, turning negative for the year, while the Dow Jones outperformed, rising 159 points.(TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Bybit hacker launders $335M as funds continue to move: Bybit hackers have laundered $335 million in crypto since the $1.4 billion exploit, leaving $900 million of stolen assets yet to be moved. (CoinTelegraph)

2. Bybit Offers $140 Million in Bounties to Track Down Its Stolen Ethereum: Bybit, a Dubai-based exchange, is offering $140 million in bounties to trace or freeze $1.4 billion stolen in Ethereum and related tokens. The platform launched a bounty dashboard for users to submit leads on the stolen funds. (Decrypt)

3. Malicious GitHub repositories deploying hidden attacks on crypto wallets: The investigation revealed a campaign dubbed GitVenom, in which threat actors created hundreds of GitHub repositories purporting to offer utilities for social media automation, wallet management, and even gaming enhancements. Although these repositories were designed to resemble legitimate open-source projects, their code failed to deliver the advertised functions. Instead, it embedded instructions to install cryptographic libraries, download additional payloads, and execute hidden scripts. (CryptoSlate)

-Technology and Science-
NSTR

-Bitcoin Community-
1. Bitcoin Miner Bitdeer Stock Drops 20% as It Reports Half a Billion Loss: Bitdeer’s stock plummeted 20% after revealing a $532 million loss in Q4 due to developing proprietary mining chips. The company aims to become a top supplier of energy-efficient ASICs for Bitcoin mining. (Decrypt)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 21/100 (Down 4 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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