BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 871,189
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 20Nov24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Chinese Ship Detained in Sea Cable Sabotage / Putin Readies Nukes / Charities Pull Out of Haiti / Boys-Girls-Bathroom Debate on the Hill / US Military Suicides Up / Russia to Tax Mining, Trading Crypto at 15% / US House Grills Chokepoint 2.0 Mastermind / Brazil Continues CBDC Push / Saylor to Speak to Microsoft on Bitcoin / Day One of BTC ETF Options Draw $2B / Senate Explores UFOs / Rumble CEO Considers BTC Treasury, Saylor DMs / Bitcoin Rally Draws Gullible to Altcoins
Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $94,288, 35.75 oz Gold, .22 Median US House
24hr Hi: $94,254 / Lo: $91,059
Vol: $76B (Up 5%)
Mkt Cap: $1.86T (Up 2%)
HashRate: 765 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 19 sats/vBtye (Up 110%)
Nodes: 19,528
---Reports---
-International Events-
1. Chinese Ship Suspected of Undersea Cable Sabotage Detained in 'NATO Lake': International concern surrounds the cutting of the 730-mile C-Lion 1 cable connecting Finland and Germany and the 130-mile link between Sweden and Lithuania on Monday. The Financial Times reported that investigators of the severed cables are looking into the movements of the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which was enroute to Egypt's Port Said from the Russian port of Ust-Luga. Social media reports said that the vessel had a Russian captain, although this has not been independently confirmed. (Newsweek) (AC-Nation-States and international organizations are angry with the escalation of sabotage here. The consequences of these actions may come quickly, but the populace may not see them or even be clear on who conducted the sabotage.)
2. Putin lowers the threshold for using his nuclear arsenal after Biden’s arms decision for Ukraine: President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles. The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. (AP)
3. Charity workers pulled out of Haiti’s capital after police threaten to rape and kill them: The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) will stop operations in Haiti’s capital after its staff were threatened by members of the police. Amid escalating violence in the country, including a deadly attack on one of MSF’s ambulances last week, the charity said it will suspend health services in Port-au-Prince “until further notice”. (TelegraphUK)
-US Events-
1. Trumps Latest Cabinet Picks: Business executive and former WWE CEO Linda McMahon to lead the Education Department. Howard Lutnick, the Cantor Fitzgerald CEO who’s been tapped to run the US Commerce Department, has in recent years become a prominent cheerleader for Tether, the company behind one of the world’s biggest crypto assets. and celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz as administrator of Medicare and Medicaid. (Various) (AC-Counter-crypto and pro-Bitcoin discernment will become very important in the next administration.)
2. Mace eyes legislation banning trans women from restrooms in federal buildings: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) plans to file legislation that would prohibit trans women from using women’s restrooms and changing rooms in all federal buildings, going further than a resolution Monday to bar transgender women from Capitol facilities. Mace’s original resolution, which she filed late Monday, comes just a week after Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.) made history as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. (TheHill) (AC-The culture war comes to DC, with the expected conflicts.)
3. US Military Suicides Continued To Increase In 2023: Pentagon Report: A total of 523 service members—including active, reserve, and National Guard—died by suicide in 2023, up from 493 in 2022, according to the Pentagon’s report, while the total force rate of suicide deaths per 100,000 service members was 9 percent higher than in 2022, at 25.6 per 100,000. (ZeroHedge) (AC-These are active duty numbers, not even separated/retired veterans. We must do better, starting with leadership.)
-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Crypto Mining and Trading In Russia Will Attract 15% Tax: According to Interfax, the Russian Government has approved draft amendments to the bill on taxation of income and expenditures from mining and trading digital assets. Digital asset transactions will be exempt from value-added tax (VAT). Instead, income from crypto transactions will be treated similarly to income from securities transactions. As a result, the maximum individual tax liability from digital asset transactions will not exceed 15%. (Bitcoinist)
2. Operation Choke Point 2.0 Mastermind Martin Gruenberg Faces Heat In House Hearing: Martin Gruenberg, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman, faces scrutiny in a high-profile House Financial Services Committee hearing. Lawmakers are calling for his immediate removal as the market participants cite his controversial role in “Operation Choke Point 2.0.” Notably, the allegations involved regulatory overreach and a toxic workplace environment under his leadership, raising questions about the FDIC’s integrity. (CoinGape)
-Central Bank Digital Currencies/World Currencies-
1. Brazilian CBDC Pilot Leverages Chainlink Technology to Automate International Trade Settlements: Brazil's Central Bank has initiated phase two of its DREX digital currency pilot program, partnering with Microsoft, Chainlink, and other tech firms to test automated cross-border payments. (Blockonomi)
-Institutional Concerns-
1. Michael Saylor to pitch Microsoft board on Bitcoin buying strategy: Bitcoin bull and MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor said he agreed to make a three-minute presentation to Microsoft’s board of directors about investing in Bitcoin. “I think it’s not a bad idea to put it on the agenda of every company. It ought to be put on the agenda of Berkshire Hathaway and Apple and Google and Meta because they all have huge hordes of cash, and they’re all burning shareholder value,” Saylor said. (CoinTelegraph)
2. Bitcoin ETF Options Attract $2B on Day One, Shifting BTC’s Market Structure: On their first trading day, IBIT options amassed nearly $2 billion in notional exposure, an unusual volume for new options. More call options were traded compared to puts (4.4:1 ratio), likely contributing to BTC’s new record highs. (CoinDesk)
-Economic Indicators-
1. US Housing Starts at 3-Month Low: Housing starts in the United States fell by 3.1% to 1.311 million in October 2024, compared to a downwardly revised 1.353 million in September and below forecasts of 1.33 million as construction activity fell sharply in the South due to hurricanes. (TradingEconomics)
-Security Incidents and Concerns-
NSTR
-Technology and Science-
1. Senate Hearing Delves Into UFO Sightings: The U.S. Senate held a hearing on UFO sightings, discussing explanations for some incidents while acknowledging unexplained encounters. A new office, AARO, investigates unidentified phenomena for the Department of Defense, with Director Kosloski highlighting cases like the "Go Fast" UFO sighting. (Decrypt)
-Bitcoin Community-
1. Chris Pavlovski Stirs the Crypto Pot—Should the Video Platform Rumble Hold Bitcoin?: On Tuesday, shortly before bitcoin reached a lifetime high of $94,057 per coin, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski posed a question to his 289,300 followers, asking whether Rumble should adopt bitcoin as a strategy and add it to its balance sheet. The post on X caught the attention of Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor, who replied enthusiastically “Yes. I would be happy to discuss why [and] how with you.” Pavlovski launched a poll on the topic, and with 19,092 votes cast so far, a whopping 93.7% have said “yes” to Rumble adding BTC to its balance sheet. Natalie Brunell, host of Coin Stories said, “If you decide to, come discuss it on my show and we will stream it live on Rumble.” (BitcoinCom)
2. Dogecoin, XRP Trading Volumes Flip Bitcoin’s in South Korea: Trading volume in XRP and dogecoin (DOGE) is much higher than that of bitcoin (BTC) on South Korean crypto exchanges this week, a frenzy that may have helped raise prices of the two tokens in the crazed market. (CoinDesk) (AC-Although reporting on altcoins is rare in the DIB, it is important to know that as the bitcoin rally continues, altcoins will attract the uninformed and gullible. Continue to spread the message that "There is no second best", and "Don't shitcoin.")
-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 83/100 (Down 7 pts)
Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR
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Analyst: BV2A
END REPORT
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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report
