DIB 26 JUL 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 854,028
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 26Jul24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ

BLUF: France’s Trains Sabotaged Before Olympics Opening / Rockets Fired at US Troops in Al Asad / Sinaloa Cartel Chiefs Arrested / Netanyahu Speech To Congress Divides / Obama Endorses Harris / FBI Director Doubts Trump Bullet Wound / RFJ Holds Most Wealth In Bitcoin / Sen Marshall Backs Out of AML Bill / Sen Warren Doubles Down / Brazil To Push Super-App with CBDC / Jersey City to Invest in BTC / OpenAI Takes on Google Search / Day 1 of Bitcoin2024 Has Big Headliners

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $67,304, 28.34 oz Gold, .16 Median US House
24hr Hi: $67,466 / Lo: $63,473
Vol: $34B (Down 2%)
Mkt Cap: $1.33T (Up 5%)
HashRate: 723 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 4 sats/vBtye (Down 68%)
Nodes: 16,817

—Reports—
-International Events-

France’s train network hit by arson attacks hours before Olympic ceremony: Saboteurs struck France’s TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks that caused chaos on the country’s busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
The coordinated sabotage took place as France rolled out an unprecedented peacetime security operation involving tens of thousands of police and soldiers to lockdown the capital for the Games, sucking in security resources from across the country. (Reuters)
Rockets launched at US forces stationed at Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq: Four Katyusha rockets were launched at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase that houses US-led coalition forces late on Thursday, two security sources said, with no immediate confirmation of any casualties or damage. (AlArabiya)
Sinaloa Cartel Supreme Leaders Arrested in El Paso — Boss El Mayo, and El Chapo’s Son: The man known as El Mayo was the leader of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and was considered the supreme boss of the organization. Guzman Lopez was considered the eldest heir of the Chapitos faction, which was previously run by his father El Chapo. (Breitbart)

-US Events-

Netanyahu’s speech was cheered in Congress, decried by hostage families back home: Netanyahu railed against Hamas and Iran in his Wednesday address, and he said Israel would not settle for anything less than “total victory” in its offensive in Gaza, which he said “could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders, disarms and returns all the hostages.” Shortly after the prime minister’s defiant speech, the Israeli military said the bodies of five hostages had been recovered in Gaza: those of teacher Maya Goren and four soldiers. (NBC)
Obama Endorses Harris, as Trump Prepares to Meet With Netanyahu: Former President Barack Obama was the most prominent Democrat to have held out on endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. Former President Donald J. Trump is set to meet with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Florida on Friday. (NYT)
FBI Director Not Convinced Trump Is Telling the Truth on Bullet Injury: FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that it’s not clear whether Donald Trump was hit by a bullet. Appearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Wray testified about the agency’s investigation into the attempted assassination, expressing uncertainty about the nature of the injury Trump suffered to his ear. (NewRepublic) (AC: When the head of the FBI testifies before Congress and will not admit to an observable, provable fact then you know 5GW narrative warfare is in action against truth.)

-Regulatory and Legal-

U.S. Presidential Candidate RFK Jr. Says He’s ‘Fully Committed’ to Bitcoin: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doubled down on his support for bitcoin at the BTC 2024 conference in Nashville. “I am a huge supporter of Bitcoin. I have most of my wealth in Bitcoin,” he said. I am fully committed.” Kennedy, a libertarian-leaning candidate, took aim at the Federal Reserve, saying the central bank had the interest of bankers, not the general public, at heart. (CoinDesk)
Republican Senator Roger Marshall Backs Out of Controversial Crypto Bill: Republican Senator Roger Marshall has withdrawn his support for the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act (DAAMLA), an anti-crypto bill he co-authored with Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren. (CryptoNews) (AC: Grassroots political pressure and general Republican acceptance of Bitcoin has led to a weakening of opposition as seen by Marshall’s retreat.)
Elizabeth Warren Says Foreign Adversaries Use ‘Cryptomines’ to Spy on U.S. Military: In the hearing, Warren claimed that “one third of crypto mining facilities in the U.S. are owned by citizens of the People’s Republic of China, including people with direct ties to the Chinese government,” seemingly citing a March 2024 report by Inca Digital. (Decrypt)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies-

Brazil’s Central Bank to Launch AI-Integrated Super App Featuring CBDC by 2025: The initiative will integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), known as “Drex.”. Specifically, it plans to incorporate instant payment methods like Pix and leverage AI technologies similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. (BeInCrypto) (AC: What could go wrong?)

-Institutional Concerns-

Jersey City to Invest in Bitcoin ETFs, the Latest Pension to Dive Into Crypto: The municipal pension plan of Jersey City, New Jersey, will soon invest in bitcoin via exchange-traded funds, according to a Thursday social media post from Mayor Steven Fulop. (CoinDesk)

-Economic Indicators-

Dollar Steadies Ahead of PCE Inflation Data: The dollar index steadied around 104.3 on Friday after facing heightened volatility in recent sessions, as traders braced for the latest PCE price index report, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. (TradingEconomics)
US Stocks Gain Traction: US stocks gained traction on Thursday afternoon, trimming losses from yesterday’s selloff that saw the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq book their worst sessions since 2022 after skepticism over the sustainability of the AI-driven rally magnified the rotation to traditional sectors of the US economy. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

U.S. DoJ Indicts North Korean Hacker for Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals: “Rim Jong Hyok and his co-conspirators deployed ransomware to extort U.S. hospitals and health care companies, then laundered the proceeds to help fund North Korea’s illicit activities,” said Paul Abbate, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “These unacceptable and unlawful actions placed innocent lives at risk.” (HackerNews)

-Technology and Science-

OpenAI officially takes on Google with SearchGPT: OpenAI announced that it’s testing SearchGPT in a blog post on Thursday. It calls it a “temporary prototype” and only posts a waiting list for access. It will accept natural language queries, which is not unlike Google, but unlike the world’s most popular search engine, SearchGPT will accept follow-up queries. (TechRadar)
Brazil Sees Elon Musk’s Starlink as a Political Threat: Starlink is growing fast in the country’s Amazon and farming regions, bastions of support for former President Jair Bolsonaro, in opposition to current leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. (WSJ) (AC: Technology is against proving to be a powerful force against tyranny.)

-Bitcoin Community-

Bitcoin 2024: Politics takes center stage in Nashville: The Bitcoin 2024 conference kicked off on July 25 in Nashville, Tennessee, with high-profile speakers, including Donald Trump, Michael Saylor, Cathie Wood, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Russell Brand and Edward Snowden, set to draw record crowds. “2024 is year one of mainstream Bitcoin adoption” — Michael Saylor. (CoinTelegraph)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 68/100 (Down 1 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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