Subnostr

Bitcoin Veterans 1y ago

BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)

Block: 831,128

DTG/ICOD: 0800EST 19Feb24

Precedence: Routine (RR)

Controls: Public Release

QQQQ

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BLUF: Houthi Hit Ship in Red Sea, Possible US Drone Downed / Texas Building Military Base on Border / Another Big Storm for CA / BTC Transactions and Fees are Low /

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $52,365, 25.96 oz Gold, .12 Median US House

24hr Hi: $52,483 / Lo: $51,567

Vol: $18B (Down 11%)

Mkt Cap: $1.03T (Up 1%)

HashRate: 568 EH/s

Avg Fees: 7,795 sats/tx (Down 30%)

Nodes: 17,747

---Reports---

-International Events-

1. Houthi rebels’ attack severely damages a Belize-flagged ship in key strait leading to the Red Sea, may have also shot down a US MQ-9 drone: A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that damaged a Belize-flagged ship traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden has forced the crew to abandon the ship, authorities said Monday. Another ship reportedly came under attack as well in the Gulf of Aden. The Iran-backed Houthis also claimed they shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, something not immediately acknowledged by U.S. forces in the region. However, the Houthis have downed U.S. drones before. (AP)

2. Once banned from the US, this fiery ex-army general is poised to lead Indonesia: At 72, Prabowo Subianto, the ex-army general, once banned from the United States over alleged human rights violations, might be decades older than his competitors – both former governors in their 50s – but he says he is more than ready to lead. Official results are not complete yet but he has garnered up to 60% of the vote so far. (CNN)

-US Events-

1. Texas Gov. Abbott Announces Border Military Base to Combat Flow of Migrants: The Texas Military Department is set to construct a Forward Operating Base on 80 acres of land along the Rio Grande that will house up to 1,800 Texas National Guard soldiers, with the ability to accommodate an additional 500, Abbott’s office stated. (Breitbart)

2. Nearly the entire population of California remains under flood alerts as people are urged to stay off the roads due to an incoming storm. (CNN)

3. Suspicious Reversal:’ DOJ Backs Down from Massive Fraud Case Against Dem Megadonor Dish CEO, BlackRock: FCC insiders are raising concerns over the Justice Department’s sudden push to settle a multi-billion dollar fraud lawsuit against Democratic megadonor Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network and BlackRock, just before they were set to be deposed. (Breitbart)

-Regulatory and Legal-

1. Fed Governor Discusses Crypto's Impact on US Dollar Dominance — Says Banks Should Avoid Bitcoin ETFs as Primary Asset: Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller addressed crypto’s impact on the U.S. dollar’s dominance. Additionally, he expressed reservations about the need for a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stated his opposition to banks holding bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as their primary asset. (Bitcoincom)

-Institutional Concerns-

1. Cathie Wood’s ARK Offloads $90M Coinbase Shares Amid Slew of Analyst Upgrades: ARK Invest sold nearly half a million shares of Coinbase Global (COIN), worth around $90 million, on Friday as the Nasdaq-listing cryptocurrency exchange witnessed a slew of analyst upgrades after its fourth-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations. (CoinDesk)

-Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)-

NSTR

-Economic Indicators-

NSTR

-Technological Updates-'

1. Billions Start Flowing to Chip Makers for New U.S. Factories: The U.S. government is giving chip maker GlobalFoundries $1.5 billion in grants to build and expand facilities in New York and Vermont, the first major award in a program that aims to reinvigorate domestic chip production. The award from the Commerce Department kicks off what is expected to be a series of cash injections into semiconductor manufacturing projects in Arizona, Texas, New York and Ohio in the coming weeks. Chip makers Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology have all submitted applications for the government to cover a portion of the billions of dollars it costs to build cutting-edge factories. (WSJ)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

1. $26 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum stolen from FixedFloat exchange: FixedFloat, a non-custodial crypto exchange, confirmed that its platform was hacked over the weekend. In a Feb. 18 post on the social media platform X, the project acknowledged the hack and subsequent fund theft in response to queries from the crypto community. On-chain data shows that the stolen funds from the platform were worth $26 million in digital assets, including 1,728 ETH, worth around $4.85 million, and 409 BTC valued at $21 million. (CryptoSlate)

-Bitcoin Community-

1. Bitcoin Network Faces Downturn in Transactions and Fees as Halving Approaches: The volume of daily transactions on the Bitcoin network has seen a significant decline since Jan. 28, 2024, with numbers falling from peaks above 600,000 to below 300,000 transactions per day. This downturn is in sync with a decrease in the daily creation of Ordinal inscriptions, overall easing congestion and reducing onchain fees. (Bitcoincom)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 75/100 (Down 3 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): Transaction fees for BTC are the lowest they've been in months, making it a good time to consolidate UTXOs.

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