BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 892,836
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 17Apr2025
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Xi Building New Trade Partners / DPRK Threatens Over Bombers / FAA Contractor Spied For Iran / Greece Excited for New US Ambassador / Puerto Rico Loses All Power / CA Sues Trump Over Tariffs / US Sen. Van Hollen in El Salvador Advocating for Deportee / Panama City Takes Bitcoin Payments / A16Z Want RIAs to Self-Custody / Fed's Powell Tried to Calm Markets / 1 BTC Reward for Quantum Crack of Bitcoin Encryption / AI Deepfake of CZ Worries / Chemicals on Exoplanet Hints at Life / US May Ban DeepSeek / Bitcoin Miners Challenged / Bitcoin Core V29 Released
Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $84,752, 25.42 oz Gold, .20 Median US House
24hr Hi: $85,428 / Lo: $83,314
Vol: $25B (Down 9%)
Mkt Cap: $1.68T (Up 1%)
HashRate: 917 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 2 sats/vBtye (Even)
---Reports---
-International Events-
1. China’s Xi wraps up Malaysia visit with jet, chip deals before heading to Cambodia: Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his first visit to Malaysia in over a decade on Thursday with a flurry of trade and investment pledges – including support for Chinese-made aircraft sales and semiconductor cooperation – as Beijing seeks to position itself as Southeast Asia’s most dependable partner amid Washington’s intensifying trade war. (SCMP)
2. North Korea threatens a response to US flying long-range bombers over South Korea: The ministry described the bombers' deployment as a 'reckless and unnecessary abuse of strength' and a 'grave provocation.' The North warned that U.S. Military actions could have 'serious negative consequences' for its own security situation. (GroundNews)
3. Former FAA contractor pleads guilty to spying for Iran, sharing private info on US airports, energy industry: Abouzar Rahmati pleaded guilty to conspiring to act and acting as an agent of the Iranian government in the US without prior notification to the attorney general. (Fox)
4. Guilfoyle-Mania Sweeps Greece: Hellenic Republic Ready for Kimberly as U.S. Ambassador: The top ally of President Donald Trump, who the president nominated as his U.S. Ambassador to Greece, is eagerly awaited here in the Hellenic Republic. Leaders from the Prime Minister on down through his top officials throughout government to cultural, business, and political leaders throughout the nation are excited to have such a high profile ambassador coming as soon as she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. (Breitbart)
-US Events-
1. ‘Massive Blackout’ Leaves All of Puerto Rico Without Power: More than 1.4 million customers in Puerto Rico lost electricity on Wednesday when all of the island’s power plants were knocked out of service, the latest frustrating blackout for residents who have suffered years of them. (NYTImes)
2. California Sues Trump Administration Over Sweeping Tariffs: California filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to block Trump's broad tariffs on foreign trade partners. California's lawsuit argues that only Congress has the constitutional authority to impose tariffs. It claims that the law Trump used to justify the tariffs—the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—does not give him the power to apply broad taxes on imports without proper justification. (IBTimes)
3. Senator Van Hollen's El Salvador Mission Stalls: Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to advocate for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported following a controversial court ruling. Despite his efforts, including discussions with U.S. embassy staff and Salvadoran officials, Van Hollen was unable to secure a meeting or a phone call with Garcia. (X)
-Regulatory and Legal-
1. Panama City Mayor Announces Bitcoin and Ether Acceptance for Government Payments: Panama City will accept Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoins for taxes and fees, joining Colorado, Lugano and other crypto-friendly jurisdictions. (Blockonomi)
-CBDCs/World Currencies/Strategic Reserves-
NSTR
-Institutional Concerns-
1. A16z Urges SEC to Allow RIAs to Self-custody Crypto Assets, Proposes New Guidance: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has submitted a formal letter to the SEC's Crypto Task Force, advocating for registered investment advisers to directly hold crypto assets under specific conditions. The firm outlined five core "Crypto Custody Principles" to guide reform efforts and ensure investor protections. (Deccyrpt)
-Economic Indicators-
1. US 10-Year Yield Holds Steady as Powell Signals Patience: The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note held above 4.3% on Thursday, steadying after three consecutive days of declines, as investors weighed Federal Reserve policy signals against a backdrop of evolving trade dynamics. In a speech on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that tariffs could stoke inflation and dampen economic growth, complicating the central bank’s dual mandate of price stability and full employment. (TradingEconomics)
-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Quantum Computing Competition Tests Bitcoin Security with 1 BTC Reward: Project Eleven launched “Q-Day Prize” offering 1 BTC to whoever cracks the largest Bitcoin elliptic curve cryptography key using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer. Over 10 million Bitcoin addresses with exposed public keys could be at risk from quantum computing advances. Participants have until April 5, 2026 to complete the challenge, with even small successes (like cracking a 3-bit key) considered newsworthy. (Blockonomi)
2. AI deepfake perfectly clones ex-Binance CEO CZ’s voice, reigniting fraud fears: Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, former CEO of Binance, stated Thursday that he had encountered an AI-generated video that replicated his voice so accurately that he could not distinguish it from a real recording. (CryptoSlate)
-Technology and Science-
1. Chemical Signals Detected on Exoplanet Suggests Potential for Alien Life: The University of Cambridge announced the discovery of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b. This finding, detected by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, could indicate the presence of life beyond Earth. (Decrypt)
2. US Mulls DeepSeek Ban Amid Fears of China's AI Dominance: The U.S. government is considering penalties against Chinese AI company DeepSeek to prevent China from gaining a technological edge in AI. DeepSeek's breakthrough with a cost-effective chatbot has raised concerns about China's AI capabilities surpassing the U.S. (Decrypt)
-Bitcoin Community-
1. Bitcoin Mining Struggles With Declining Hashprice, Network Security Risks, and Trump's Trade War Impact: Bitcoin mining faces challenges as hashprice drops to $44, risking network security and profitability. Trump's trade war exacerbates the situation, leading to concerns about centralization and Bitcoin's long-term trust. The high network difficulty and declining hashprice are causing turmoil in the mining industry. (DLNews)
2. Bitcoin Core V29 Ends Battle Dating Back To Satoshi: he announcement arrived with a statement in the release notes explaining that, starting with v28.0, the “-mempoolfullrbf” startup option had defaulted to 1 and that, with widespread adoption of the practice, the option was now removed entirely. Full Replace-by-Fee (Full-RBF) is a policy that allows any unconfirmed transaction sitting in the mempool to be replaced by another transaction that pays a higher fee, regardless of whether the initial transaction signaled replaceability. (Bitcoinist)
-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 30/100 (Up 1 pts)
Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR
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Analyst: BV2A
END REPORT
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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report