DIB 5 JUL 2024

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 850,798
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 05Jul24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: UK Votes in New Labour Party PM / Hezbollah Strikes Back / Drones Rule the Black Sea / Shark Attacks on July 4th / US Servicemembers Mental Health Highest Risk / EU Clamps Down on All Crypto Transactions / German Lawmaker Warns Government to Reconsider Bitcoin Strategy / Bitcoin FUD is Strong / Amazon Uses AI for Finances / US Treasuries on the Blockchain

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $55,459, 23.47 oz Gold, .13 Median US House
24hr Hi: $58,727 / Lo: $53,717
Vol: $52B (Up 41%)
Mkt Cap: $1.09T (Down 4%)
HashRate: 550 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 7 sats/vBtye (Down 71%)
Nodes: 19,380

—Reports—
-International Events-
1. Rishi Sunak resigns as Tory leader as well as PM after election defeat: Rishi Sunak apologized to the country after his catastrophic election loss and said he had heard voters’ “anger and disappointment” and desire for change. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street after a disastrous night for the Conservative party, Sunak confirmed his resignation as prime minister and said: “To the country I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry.” Labour leader Keir Starmer will become the new PM. (TheGuardian)

2. Hezbollah fires 200 rockets and drones into Israel in response to commander’s death: Israel’s military said one of its officers was killed in the barrage, which started a number of fires. The military also said it had targeted Hezbollah “military structures” and other targets in southern Lebanon in response. The Hezbollah commander killed yesterday in an Israeli air strike near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, Mohammed Nimah Nasser, was one of the most senior figures in the group to have been killed in the conflict. (BBC)

3. Who needs warships when you’ve got drones? Russia loses control over Black Sea: In a multiple drone February attack, a big, expensive warship was taken down by Ukraine’s cheap, remote-controlled pack hunter drones like the Magura, is just one of many illustrations of how the full-scale war has been, in a word, asymmetrical. While Russians have made gains on land, they may as well have lost their dominance and security in the Black Sea for the foreseeable future. (KyivIndependent)

-US Events-
1. 3 bitten in shark attacks in Texas and Florida on the Fourth of July: A 21-year-old Ohio man was bitten by a shark on his foot while playing football in “knee-deep water” at Florida’s New Smyrna Beach. In Texas, four people encountered a shark as they took to the waters off South Padre Island on the Independence Day holiday, two of whom were bitten and another who was injured while trying to help. (CNN)

2. Mental Health Is Leading Cause of Hospitalizations Among US Troops in 2023, Study Reveals: According to recent reports from the Defense Health Agency, this trend started in 2009 but has shown improvements over the past three years. In 2023, active-duty service members were hospitalized approximately 62,806 times. Nearly one-third of these hospitalizations, or 31%, were due to mental health treatment. For men, the leading diagnoses were adjustment disorders and alcohol abuse. For women, the most common diagnoses were adjustment disorders and major depressive disorder. (TechTimes)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. EU Extends Crypto Travel Rules, Mandates Compliance in 6 Months: The Europe­an Union (EU) is ramping up its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing with the­ imminent enforceme­nt of Travel Rule guideline­s for crypto-asset service provide­rs (CASPs). Announced by the European Banking Authority (EBA), the­se guidelines will be­come mandatory for all crypto exchanges ope­rating within the EU by Decembe­r 30, 2024. CASPs must gather user data for transactions, identify service-related purchases, and detect potentially suspicious transfers. Crypto service providers and intermediaries must establish clear policies for handling multi-intermediated transactions and cross-border transfers. (CoinSpeaker)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies-
1. UK election victory for Labour could see a focus on RWA tokenization and CBDC development, analyst says: A potential Labour government in the UK could impact the crypto sector by seeing a focus on real-world asset tokenization and the development of CBDC technology, according to deVere Group CEO Nigel Green. (TheBlock)

-Institutional Concerns-
1. German MP urges government to stop selling Bitcoin: Bundestag member Joana Cotar strongly criticized the German government’s recent decision to sell a substantial portion of its Bitcoin holdings. In a series of tweets, Cotar condemned the government’s move, contrasting it with discussions in the US, where Bitcoin is being considered as a strategic reserve currency. She emphasized the counterproductive nature of this approach and invited the officials to attend an upcoming lecture event titled “Bitcoin Strategies for Nation States” on Oct. 17. (CryptoSlate)

-Economic Indicators-
1. Bitcoin Drops to Over 4-Month Lows: Bitcoin dropped below $55,000 on Friday, hitting its lowest levels in late February and losing about 13% so far this week in what analysts attributed to further liquidations by leveraged investors. The selloff was also exacerbated by fears that bankrupt Japanese exchange firm Mt. Gox’s repayments of more than $9 billion worth of Bitcoin to approximately 127,000 creditors will likely trigger widespread profit-taking. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-
NSTR

-Technology-
1. Amazon Leans Into Generative AI to Manage Its Finances: The e-commerce giant initially adopted rules-based systems, one of the earliest forms of AI that use a set of rules to solve problems and make decisions, in its finance organization, which it then augmented with machine learning. Generative AI now assists finance employees with more complex analyses. Its finance teams are turning to generative AI in areas such as fraud detection, contract review, financial forecasting, personal productivity, interpretation of rules and regulations, and tax-related work, moves in part aimed at reducing costs, boosting efficiencies and increasing accuracy, company executives said. (WSJ)

-Bitcoin Community-
1. RWA Startup Hamilton Tokenizes US Treasury Bills on Bitcoin L2 Solutions: Hamilton, a startup specializing in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, initiated the tokenization of U.S. Treasury bills on Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions—Stacks, Core, and BoB—on July 4, 2024. This effort highlights a pivotal step in integrating traditional financial instruments with the security and transparency of Bitcoin. (BitcoinCom)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 29/100 (Down 15 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): FUD, or fear, uncertainty and doubt are common human reactions to life situations and changes. Media also know that FUD drives human action and inaction. It also sells. When FUD is high in the mainstream media, look for objective opportunities to better your situation, ignoring the agendas of those spreading FUD. There are times to be as logical and rational as Spock, such as when making financial decisions. Consider his advice and live long and prosper.

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