DIB 7 MAR 2024

BTC DAILY INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN (DIB)
Block: 833,571

DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 07Mar24

Precedence: Routine (RR)

Controls: Public Release

QQQQ

__________________________

BLUF: Houthi Kills 3 With Missiles / No Ceasefire for Hamas for Ramadan / Biden’s SOTU Tonight / BlackRock Hit High Inflows / ECB Holds Rates Steady for Now / US Firms Lay off More Employees / UnitedHealth Hack Having Serious Consequences

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $66,794, 30.91 oz Gold, .15 Median US House

24hr Hi: $67,513/ Lo: $65,351

Vol: $52B (Down 51%)

Mkt Cap: $1.31T (Up 1%)

HashRate: 742 EH/s

Avg Fees: 8,346 sats/tx (Down 53%)

Nodes: 18,680

—Reports—

-International Events-

1. Three dead in first fatal Houthi attack in the Red Sea: The U.S. Central Command said late Wednesday night that Houthi forces struck the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday with an anti-ship ballistic missile, leading to several fatalities. The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship. All remaining crew abandoned ship. (CNBC)

2. Hamas delegation leaves Cairo, ceasefire talks set to resume next week: Hamas’s delegation left Cairo on Wednesday with no breakthrough in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations that had been underway since Sunday. The talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire in Gaza before Ramadan are still ongoing. (France24)

3. Russia-Ukraine: Russian foreign ministry summons the US ambassador in Moscow in protest against “interference” in domestic affairs. (AlJazerra) (AC- It is unclear at this time what the reason is.)

-US Events-

1. Biden to highlight rebounding economy during SOTU, renew tax proposals for large corporations: President Joe Biden is expected to spend a large part of Thursday’s State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. addressing the economy as he renews his calls for increased taxes on corporations and billionaires, eliminating student debt and highlighting the economic rebound the U.S. has had since he became president. AC- Donald Trump will be responding real time to the SOTU on X. (ABC)

-Regulatory and Legal-

1. CFTC Boss Says Crypto Here to Stay, Demands Regulation for “False Narrative” Market: CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam told Congress of the critical need for legislation that would offer clear regulatory guidance for the cryptocurrency sector. Benham highlighted that, in the year to October 2023, over 49% of the CFTC’s enforcement actions were connected to digital assets. (CCN)

-Institutional Concerns-

1. BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Marks New Inflow High as BTC Claims ATH: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF devoured over $788 million worth of bitcoin on Tuesday as the reigning crypto king registered a new all-time high above $69,000 for the first time since 2021. The ETF recorded a 30% increase from its previous high of $609 million, set on February 29. (DailyCoin)

2. Is Tesla buying Bitcoin again?: Tesla’s wallet now holds about 11,509 BTC at the time of writing, 1,789 more than the 9,720 BTC it reported during its last earnings report. (CoinTelegraph)

3. Bitcoin/Euro Suffers Flash Crash on Coinbase: On Tuesday, BTC momentarily plunged to €48,529 from €60,000 on Coinbase, while on Kraken, for instance, the price only went as low as €58,400. The reason for the flash crash remains unclear and it took 10 minutes for the price to rebound back to parity with other exchanges. (CoinDesk)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-

1. Hong Kong’s Central Bank Announces New Wholesale CBDC to Support Tokenization Market: Project Ensemble will “seek to explore innovative financial market infrastructure (FMI) that will facilitate seamless interbank settlement of tokenized money,” HKMA said. (CoinDesk)

-Economic Indicators-

1. US Companies Cut More Jobs in February: US-based employers announced plans to cut 84,638 jobs in February 2024, the most in eleven months, compared to 82,307 in January, and 77,770 a year earlier. (TradingEconomics)

2. ECB to Hold Rates, Maintain Cautious Stance on Rate Cuts: The ECB is expected to maintain interest rates at record-high levels for the fourth consecutive time on Thursday, amidst concerns about an impending recession and persistently falling inflation despite underlying price pressures remaining stubbornly high. (TradingEconomics)

-Technological Updates-

1. President Biden would ban TikTok. But candidate Biden is using it for his campaign: The White House has thrown its support behind a bill in Congress that would effectively ban TikTok, the social media app that is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, in the United States. The bipartisan legislation would require ByteDance to sell the app because of national security concerns about the way it uses and stores data — or face a ban. (NPR)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

1. US gov to pay hospitals struggling in UnitedHealth hack, advocates want more: US hospitals and providers struggling to pay bills since the cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s (UHG) technology division will now receive accelerated payments from US government health agencies to help keep them afloat – but medical advocates say more needs to be done. (CyberNews)

-Bitcoin Community-

1. Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Shutters Canadian Facility Amid Energy Crisis: This decision, informed by a thorough analysis highlighting the diminishing profitability due to soaring energy costs and voltage issues, is poised to streamline the company’s operations. (BeInCrypto)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 82/100 (Up 7 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): Infrastructure in the US is straining. The hack of United Health has patients unable to receive medications and hospitals unable to capture payments. Massive immigration is straining cities and states coffers while crime is increasing dramatically. Murders by immigrants are angering Americans while AGs are letting violators go. The emergency BTFP program, currently shoring up US banks with alternate Fed lending, is set to end on March 11th. US firms are laying off more employees than normal. No matter what is said at the State of the Union tonight, the US is struggling.