BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 852,608
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 17Jul24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
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BLUF: Poisoning In Bangkok Kills Six / ISIS Attack in Oman / Knifewielding Homeless Man Near RNC Killed By Cops / Biden Targets SCOTUS / USSS Director Takes 'Full Responsibility' / California Cuts Out Parents From Gender Issues / Musk Commits to Move Both SpaceX and X Out of CA / Bitcoin Basher Convicted of Bribery / BTC ETF Inflows High / Dow Up, UST Yields Down / BOJ Injects 2T Yen / Disney Hacked / Europeans Can Buy BTC Through Stripe Now
Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $64,753, 26.18 oz Gold, .15 Median US House
24hr Hi: $66,066 / Lo: $63,155
Vol: $38B (Down 5%)
Mkt Cap: $1.28T (Up 2%)
HashRate: 618 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 4 sats/vBtye (Down 25%)
Nodes: 8,722 (*Anomaly: Detected nodes have dropped this week from an average of 19K to below 10K)
---Reports---
-International Events-
1. Cyanide poisoning likely killed six found dead in luxury hotel, including two US citizens: Six people, including two US citizens, who were found dead inside a luxury hotel room in central Bangkok likely drank from tea and coffee cups laced with cyanide following a dispute linked to bad investments, Thai police said Wednesday. Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Noppasin Poonsawat told reporters they believe one of the members of the group may have poisoned the five others. (CNN)
2. Islamic State claims responsibility for rare attack at Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Oman: The attack on Monday, which is unusual in the wealthy, Sunni Muslim-dominated Gulf states, raises fears that the Islamic State group may be trying to gain a foothold in new territory. "Three suicide attackers from the Islamic State attacked last night a gathering of Shi'ite (Muslims) while they were practicing their annual rituals at a temple in the Wadi al-Kabir district in the (Omani) capital," (Reuters)
-US Events-
1. Knife-wielding man fatally shot by out-of-state officers near Milwaukee's Republican National Convention: Ohio police officers in Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention shot and killed a man who was wielding two knives near the convention, Milwaukee's police chief said Tuesday. A cousin and others identified the man killed as 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe. Linda Sharpe said her cousin lived in a tent encampment across the street from King Park, where the shooting occurred. (CBS)
2. Biden set to announce support for major Supreme Court changes: President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans. Term limits and an ethics code would be subject to congressional approval, which would face long odds in the Republican-controlled House and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate. Under current rules, passage in the Senate would require 60 votes. (WaPo)
3. Secret Service ‘solely responsible’ for implementation and execution of security at the Trump rally site, USSS director tells CNN: Director Kimberly Cheatle added that no assets from the agency were diverted from the rally that day, even though there were other events in the state on Saturday requiring agency protection. (CNN)
4. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill banning schools from notifying parents of child's gender identity: AB 1955 has won praise from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups who say the ban will help protect transgender and gender-nonconforming students who live in unwelcoming households. The conservative group, the California Family Council, said the law violates parents' rights. AB 1955 also requires the state Department of Education to develop resources for families of LGBTQ+ students in grade 7 through high school. The law will take effect in January. (Fox)
-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Elon Musk to move SpaceX, X headquarters out of California over new law on children's gender identity: American billionaire Elon Musk announced Tuesday that he would move the headquarters of SpaceX and X out of California, one day after the state's Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that bans school rules requiring staff to disclose children's gender identity changes to their parents. "This is the final straw," Musk wrote on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. "Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas." Soon after making the SpaceX announcement, Musk wrote another statement announcing that X would also be moved out of the Golden State, from San Francisco to Austin, Texas. (ChinaDaily)
2. U.S. Senator Who Called Bitcoin 'Ideal Choice for Criminals,' Convicted of Bribery: U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (Dem) from New Jersey, a staunch crypto critic, was found guilty of accepting bribes, including gold bars and a luxury car, in exchange for his political clout by a jury on Tuesday. The development saw the crypto community point out the irony of a crypto critic who once alleged that bitcoin (BTC) "is an ideal choice for criminals" getting convicted as a criminal. (CoinDesk)
3. Judge grants Tornado Cash dev Roman Storm's request to delay trial over prosecutors' objections: Storm's defense attorneys had requested the trial delay due to the complexity of the case and the voluminous nature of the discovery, according to a court filing. (TheBlock)
-Central Bank Digital Currencies-
1. The Digital Yuan is a Disaster: The Chinese central bank has released the latest statistics regarding its CBDC pilot project. The cumulative transaction volume was a mere 6.6 billion yuan ($910 million) between January 1 and the end of May. This is a sevenfold increase compared to the previous year, but it remains a drop in the bucket compared to the 5,000 trillion yuan traded annually in China… Additionally, the number of downloaded “wallets” has dropped from 261 million in 2021 to 120 million in 2023. The CBDC is thus in its fifth year of testing. (CoinTribune)
-Institutional Concerns-
1. Bitcoin ETF Inflows Hit Six-Week High of $422.5M: On Tuesday, the 11 funds recorded a cumulative net inflow of $422.5 million, the highest single-day tally since June 5, extending the seven-day winning run. These funds have collectively drawn in over $1 billion in just the last three days. (CoinDesk)
-Economic Indicators-
1. Bitcoin Tops $65K as ETF Inflows Accelerate: Bitcoin climbed above $65,000, hitting its highest levels in nearly a month amid a resurgence in bullish sentiment toward cryptocurrencies. Data showed that the 11 US-based spot bitcoin ETFs saw daily net inflows of $422.67 million on July 16, marking the highest inflow since June 5 and extending the positive reading to eight straight days. (TradingEconomics)
2. Dow Closes at Fresh Record: On Tuesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, and the Dow Jones surged 742 points, extending its record close for the second consecutive day with its strongest performance since June 2023. The Nasdaq 100 edged higher by 0.2% as investors shifted from large-cap to small-cap stocks. (TradingEconomics)
3. US 10-Year Yield Hovers at 4-Month Low: The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note held around 4.17%, hovering at its lowest levels in four months amid firm expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates in September, with two more reductions seen before the end of the year. (TradingEconomics)
4. BOJ may have pumped 2 trillion yen in propping up currency: The government and the Bank of Japan may have intervened in the foreign exchange market twice last week to support the yen against the U.S. dollar, according to market estimates based on BOJ data. The yen surged sharply against the dollar overnight on July 11, and again the following night. (AsahiShimbun)
-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Internal Disney Communications Leaked Online After Hack: Data from Disney’s internal Slack workplace collaboration system have been leaked online, including discussions about ad campaigns, studio technology and interview candidates. An anonymous hacking group that calls itself Nullbulge said in a blog post that it published data from thousands of Slack channels at the entertainment company, including computer code and details about unreleased projects. (WSJ)
-Technology-
1. Dune-Inspired Spacesuits Can Recycle Urine Into Drinking Water: A study from a research staff member, Sofia Etlin, of Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University unveiled a prototype inspired by the sci-fi movie Dune, particularly its stillsuits, offering a spacesuit that can recycle urine into drinking water for astronauts to safely consume. It is said that it offers 87 percent efficiency in its filtration system and can deliver 500 milliliters of potable water in under five minutes.
-Bitcoin Community-
1. South Korea Considers Deferring Crypto Taxation Until 2028: The ruling party of South Korea is, once again, considering the postponement of the enactment of crypto-specific taxes, as this could influence public opinion towards the government. The party aims to implement these taxation rules by 2028, citing a lack of necessary regulations and institutional infrastructure as the primary reasons for this measure. (BitcoinCom)
2. Stripe Enables Crypto Purchases in Europe: European customers can buy Bitcoin and other cryptos with their credit or debit cards. Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols are in place to verify users’ identities, making the process simpler and covering the requirements for financial transactions involving cryptocurrency. (BitcoinSensus)
-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 69/100 (Up 4 pts)
Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR
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Analyst: BV2A
END REPORT
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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report
