BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)

Block: 881,202

DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 28Jan25

Precedence: Routine (RR)

Controls: Public Release

QQQQ

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BLUF: Congo Fighting Rages / Mexican Cartels, US Border Patrol Exchange Fire / Trump Pauses All Grants and Loans / 4 EOs To Reshape the Military / Senate Confirms Bessent as Treasury Secretary / Ripple CEO Pushes XRP for SBR / BTC EFT Inflow Almost $2B / Nasdaq Proposes In-Kind Redemption (Not for Retail) / Stocks Drop on DeepSeek Info While Hackers Target DeepSeek / Sam Altman's WorldCoin Hits Snag in Brazil / Cramer Says 'Own Bitcoin'

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $102,835, 37.39 oz Gold, .24 Median US House

24hr Hi: $103,359 / Lo: $98,861

Vol: $60B (Down 4%)

Mkt Cap: $2.03T (Up 1%)

HashRate: 775 EH/s

Avg Fee Rate: 2 sats/vBtye (Down 30%)

Nodes: 21,451

---Reports---

-International Events-

1. Fighting rages in Congo's Goma while embassies attacked in capital: Dead bodies lay in the streets, gunfire rang out and hospitals were overwhelmed in east Congo's largest city on Tuesday, as M23 rebels backed by Rwanda faced pockets of resistance from army and pro-government militias. A day after the rebels marched into the lakeside city, protesters in the capital attacked a U.N. compound and embassies including those of Rwanda, France and the United States, (Reuters)

2. Mexican Cartel Terrorists Open Fire on U.S. Agents in Texas near Border: Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents exchanged gunfire with the cartel members and sought cover as reinforcements were summoned. The agents did not sustain injuries during the initial exchange of gunfire. (Breitbart)

-US Events-

1. All federal grants and loan disbursement paused by White House: Federal agencies “must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance,” White House OMB acting director Matthew Vaeth said in the memorandum. The pause also blocks the issuance of new grants. The memo specifies that the pause will not affect Social Security or Medicare benefits, nor does it include “assistance provided directly to individuals.” (CNN)

2. Trump signs 4 executive orders to reshape the military: "First is an executive order reinstating members of the military who were terminated or forced to separate because of the vaccine mandates. The second item was an executive order establishing a process to develop what we're calling an American Iron Dome; a comprehensive missile defense shield to land the American homeland," Scharf said. "The third executive order that President Trump signed relates to eliminating gender radicalism in the military, and the fourth is about eliminating DEI set asides and DEI offices within the military," Scharf added. (ABC)

3. Senate confirms Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary: The vote was 68-29. As head of the Treasury, 62-year-old Bessent faces pressure to address the federal debt limit and work with congressional Republicans to extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He’ll also have to contend with Trump’s plans to enact tariffs on goods coming in from Mexico, Canada and China. (CNN)

-Regulatory and Legal-

NSTR

-Central Bank Digital Currencies/World Currencies-

1. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse opposes Bitcoin only reserve for US: In a Jan. 28 post on X, Garlinghouse suggested that a future US digital asset reserve should reflect the diversity of the crypto ecosystem. He argued that restricting such a reserve to a single token would fail to capture the broader landscape of the industry. Garlinghouse’s comment comes as tensions between the XRP community and Bitcoin supporters have escalated, with claims that Ripple has lobbied against establishing a Bitcoin reserve. (CryptoSlate) (AC-Bitcoiners are hitting the Ripple CEO pretty hard, mostly with facts and distain for his anti-bitcoin past.)

-Institutional Concerns-

1. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Add $1.9 Billion During Trump's Busy First Week: Bitcoin made the most significant gains last week, accounting for $1.6 billion, or more than 80%, of all inflows into digital asset-based products. (Decrypt)

2. Nasdaq Proposes In-Kind Redemptions for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF: Nasdaq has proposed a new system for BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF, allowing institutional investors to redeem shares directly for bitcoin instead of cash. This innovative model aims to streamline operations, cut costs, and reduce market impact, marking a significant step forward in the evolution of Bitcoin ETFs. While this option would only be available to institutional participants and not retail investors, experts suggest that the improved efficiency could indirectly benefit everyday investors. (BitcoinMag)

-Economic Indicators-

1. US Stocks Drop on AI Concerns, Nvidia Falls 16.8%: U.S. stocks, particularly in the tech sector, plunged on Monday, with chipmakers like Nvidia falling 16.8%, while Broadcom, Oracle, and Arista lost between 13.8% and 22.4%. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed down 2.8% and 1.3%, respectively, after rising concerns over a new AI competitor from China. (TradingEconomics)

-Security Incidents and Concerns-

NSTR

-Technology and Science-

1. DeepSeek hit with large-scale cyberattack, says it’s limiting registrations: DeepSeek has seen its web traffic surge from a mere 280,000 visitors all the way to 6.2 million. The interest in DeepSeek may have also caused hackers to launch a DDoS attack against the company’s site. On Monday morning, the Chinese company "temporarily" blocked some access to new users, citing “large-scale malicious attacks”. (PCMag)

2. Sam Altman's 'World' Project Banned in Brazil to Stop Collecting Iris Scans for Crypto Payments: The Sam Altman co-founded venture, World, has been making significant buzz in the tech industry, particularly as it offers the Worldcoin cryptocurrency as payment for a person's biometrics. Brazil's ANPD revealed that it is taking preventive measures against Tools for Humanity and World as it sought to protect Brazilians' data, more particularly their iris scans from being kept by the company on record. (TechTimes) (AC-Win!)

-Bitcoin Community-

1. Bitcoin Miner Hive Digital to Buy Paraguay Site From Bitfarms for $85M: The acquisition of the site in Yguazú, Paraguay will increase the company's hashrate to 25 EH/s from 6 Eh/s by September. (CoinDesk)

2. Mad Money host Jim Cramer says 'you should own Bitcoin' instead of MicroStrategy: "If you want to own Bitcoin, own Bitcoin," Cramer said on Mad Money. "I own Bitcoin, you should own Bitcoin, Bitcoin is a great thing to have in your portfolio but not MicroStrategy, that's enough." (TheBlock) (AC-Is the "Cramer effect" fading?)

-Bitcoin Sentiment-

1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 72/100 (Up 1 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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