DIB 27 FEB 2025

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 885,560
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 27Feb2025
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Hamas Returns 4 Bodies / Austria Gets New Coalition Government / SCOTUS Sides With Trump on Foreign Aid, For Now / Trump Announces 25% Tariffs on EU / Gene Hackman, Wife Found Dead / Epstein Files To Be Released Today / SEC Drops Suit on Gemini / 4 States Say No To Bitcoin Reserves / New Home Sales Fall Unexpectedly / Chinese Citizen Dead in South Korea Wrench Attack / FBI Confirms North Korea Culprit of ByBit Hack / Amazon Alexa Gets AI / Moon Lander Launched By SpaceX / Block Announces Inheritance Feature / MARA Profit Excels

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $86,364, 29.83 oz Gold, .20 Median US House
24hr Hi: $88,401 / Lo: $82,131
Vol: $71B (Up 20%)
Mkt Cap: $1.71T (Down 2%)
HashRate: 775 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 8 sats/vBtye (Up 100%)

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Hamas Returns Bodies of 4 Hostages to Israel: The first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas was completed early Thursday when the Palestinian terrorist group handed over four bodies belonging to hostages whom it murdered on October 7 and afterwards. In return, Israel released over 600 convicted Palestinian terrorists, who were sent to a variety of different locations. There are 63 hostages still in Gaza, 24 of whom are presumed to be alive. (Breitbart)

2. Austria is getting a new coalition government without the far-right election winner: Three parties reached a deal on Thursday to form a new centrist Austrian government, five months after a far-right party won an election but later failed to form an administration. (AP) (AC-Coalition governments seem to defy logic.)

-US Events-
1. Trump Administration Gets A Breather As Supreme Court Temporarily Pauses Foreign Aid Deadline: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts stepped in Wednesday to pause a court-imposed deadline requiring the Trump administration to release $2 billion in frozen foreign aid. The Trump administration argued that it was unable to meet the midnight deadline set by Washington-based U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, Reuters reported. (IBTimes)

2. Trump vows to impose 25% tariffs on imports from the European Union: A European Commission spokesperson responded, stating the EU will “react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade”. The European Union currently has a 10% tariff on passenger cars, while the U.S. Has a 2.5% tariff on the same, potentially leading to increased prices for American consumers. (GroundNews)

3. Hollywood Legend Gene Hackman and Wife Found Dead at Home: A statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico, as reported by the BBC, said: “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail. “This is an active investigation – however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.” (Breitbart)

4. AG Pam Bondi Announces Thursday Epstein Files Release As 250 Victim Names Redacted: “What you’re going to see, hopefully tomorrow, is a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information… it’s pretty sick what that man did,” Bondi said yesterday. (ZeroHedge) (AC-The redactions are reported to be victims, not perpetrators.)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. SEC Drops Decision to Pursue Gemini: The SEC informed Gemini Trust it would not pursue enforcement action after a 699-day investigation, marking a shift in its aggressive crypto enforcement campaign. (Decrypt)

-CBDCs/World Currencies/Strategic Reserves-
1. U.S. State Bitcoin Reserve Plans Hit Roadblock as Multiple Bills Rejected: Of the 50 U.S. states, over 20 have introduced or are considering legislation related to Bitcoin reserves or investments in digital assets, but over the past few weeks, several states—including Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming—have dealt setbacks to the growing Bitcoin reserve initiative. (Decrypt)

-Institutional Concerns-
NSTR

-Economic Indicators-
1. US New Home Sales Fall More than Expected: Sales of new single-family homes in the United States dropped 10.5% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 657,000 in January 2025, falling short of market expectations of 680,000. It marked the lowest level in three months, as persistently high mortgage rates continued to dampen demand, while severe weather conditions, particularly in the South, added further pressure. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Chinese National Killed While Trading Cryptocurrency: A Chinese national was murdered in a luxury hotel in Jeju City, South Korea, while trading cryptocurrency. Four individuals have been arrested in connection with the murder case. The killer also stole nearly $59,000 from the victim. (BitcoinCom) (AC-Another apparent wrench attack.)

2. FBI confirms North Korea-backed Lazarus hackers stole $1.5 billion from Bybit: In a Feb. 26 Public Service Announcement (PSA), the agency attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a malicious cyber campaign linked to North Korean threat actors. TraderTraitor refers to a series of malware-infested applications disguised as crypto trading and price prediction tools. These applications, built using cross-platform JavaScript and the Electron framework, originate from various open-source projects. (CryptoSlate)

-Technology and Science-
1. Amazon rolling out AI-driven Alexa+ service: The e-commerce giant unveiled the technology at a highly anticipated event Wednesday, and Amazon described Alexa+ as “much more conversational, smarter, personalized and capable of getting even more things done for customers.” (Fox)

2. SpaceX rocket launches private moon lander and NASA ‘trailblazer’ to hunt for lunar water: If all goes according to plan, the Athena lander will touch down near the moon’s south pole on or around March 6. Athena — which was built by the Houston-based spaceflight company Intuitive Machines — carries 10 NASA science instruments, many of which are designed to hunt for signs of water ice. (SpaceCom)

-Bitcoin Community-
1. Jack Dorsey’s Block Implements Bitcoin Inheritance Feature: Block states that this is a solution to a multibillion-dollar problem waiting to happen. Owners of Bitkey, the company’s hardware wallet, will be able to link a partner address where the funds will be deposited six months after the owner’s death. (BitcoinCom)

2. Bitcoin Miner MARA Holdings Exceeds Q4 Analyst Forecasts, Bags $214M in Revenue: MARA Holdings exceeded analysts’ expectations in Q4 2024, with a 37% revenue increase to $214.4 million and a 248% rise in net income to $528.3 million. Despite a drop in Bitcoin production due to the halving event, Marathon increased its total blocks won by 25%. (Decrypt)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 10/100 (Down 11 pts) (This is the lowest reading in the 13 months of reporting from the BV BTC DIB.)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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