Block: 851,250
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 08Jul24
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Russia Sends Hypersonic Missiles into Kyiv / France Election Splits Country / Japan and Philippines Sign Defense Pact / Beryl Hit Houston / Insurers Bilk Medicare for $50B / Chicago is Warzone / Germany Continues Selling BTC / Others are Buying BTC / Is it Coordinated?
Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $57,046, 24.03 oz Gold, .13 Median US House
24hr Hi: $58,727 / Lo: $53,717
Vol: $32B (Up 59%)
Mkt Cap: $1.12T (Down 1%)
HashRate: 640 EH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 5 sats/vBtye (Down 21%)
Nodes: 19,397
---Reports---
-International Events-
1. Russian missiles hit a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital and kill at least 20 elsewhere: The Russian barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types, hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. It was the heaviest Russian bombardment of Kyiv in almost four months. The daylight attacks included Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, one of the most advanced Russian weapons, the Ukrainian air force said. The Kinzhal flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept. (AP)
2. France election highlights: Leftists win most seats, but no party wins majority: A leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, has won the most seats in the 2024 French legislative election, beating back a far-right surge but failing to win a majority. The outcome leaves France facing the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and threatens political paralysis in a pillar of the European Union and Olympic host country. (AP)
3. Japan and the Philippines sign a defense pact in the face of shared alarm over China: Japan and the Philippines have signed a defense pact allowing Japanese forces to deploy in the Southeast Asian country for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills. Filipino forces will be able to enter Japan for joint combat training. Under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Japan has taken steps to boost its security and defensive firepower, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from the country’s postwar principle of focusing only on self-defense. It’s doubling defense spending in a five-year period to 2027 in a move to bolster its military power and make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China. (AP)
-US Events-
1. Hurricane Beryl makes landfall in Texas: Beryl has made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, as a Category 1 hurricane. It is the first storm in the Atlantic hurricane season to make landfall in the US. (CNN)
2. Insurers Pocketed $50 Billion From Medicare for Diseases No Doctor Treated: Private insurers involved in the government’s Medicare Advantage program made hundreds of thousands of questionable diagnoses that triggered extra taxpayer-funded payments from 2018 to 2021. (WSJ) (AC-This is just one example of how federally printed money moves into the economy and through the hands of administrator's friends. It is worth looking into the political donations of these insurers to see how it comes back around to politicians.)
3. At least 100 people shot, 17 fatally, during violent Fourth of July weekend in Chicago – up 27% from last year’s holiday: The tally of Independence Day weekend gun violence in Chicago this year marks around a 27% increase in shootings over last year. (CNN) (AC-One weekend, over 100 shot. Chicago is comparable to any conflict zone worldwide.)
-Regulatory and Legal-
NSTR
-Central Bank Digital Currencies-
1. Taiwan builds CBDC prototype platform, plans hearings for next year: Taiwan’s Central Bank Governor, Chin-Long Yang, said in a research report on Sunday that building a digital currency isn’t an international competition and that the central bank has yet to set a fixed timeline for CBDC issuance
-Institutional Concerns-
1. German Govt Moves 1000 Bitcoin To Coinbase & Other Addresses: The German government has recently transferred 1000 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at approximately $55.79 million, to various destinations including Coinbase, Bitstamp, and addresses beginning with 139Po. In the past 19 days since June 19, the German government has moved a total of 11,032.3 BTC, valued at approximately $668.2 million. Despite these transfers, the government still retains a substantial 39,826 BTC, worth an estimated $2.15 billion. (CoinGape)
2. Bitcoin weakness spurs $441M digital asset inflows: Last week, inflows were primarily seen in the United States with $384 million, followed by Hong Kong ($32 million), Switzerland ($24 million) and Canada ($12 million), whereas Germany saw $23 million in outflows. (Cointelegraph)
-Economic Indicators-
1. US 10-Year Yield Holds Decline on Dovish Fed View: The US 10-year Treasury note yield held its recent decline to around 4.3%, hovering near one-week lows as soft US economic data reinforced a dovish outlook on Federal Reserve monetary policy. On Friday, data showed that the US unemployment rate rose to a 2-½-year high of 4.1% in June, adding to signs of a cooling labor market.
-Security Incidents and Concerns-
1. Bitcoin Exchange Hack Leads Surging Tally of Crypto Stolen in 2024: Crypto thefts totaled $1.38 billion up through June 24 of this year, more than double the $657 million stolen as of the same time in 2023. Notable incidents include the theft of more than 4,500 BTC valued at over $300 million from Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin in May, potentially due to stolen private keys or address poisoning. Per TRM, the most prominent attack vectors remain private key and seed phrase compromises, smart contract exploits, and flash loan attacks. (Decrypt)
-Technology-
1. Apple Removes VPN Apps from Russian App Store Amid Russian Government Pressure: This includes the mobile apps of 25 VPN service providers, including ProtonVPN, Red Shield VPN, NordVPN and Le VPN, according to MediaZona. (HackerNews)
-Bitcoin Community-
1. Bitcoin Mining Profitability Rose in June as Market Adjusted for the Halving: Bitcoin mining was more profitable in June than May as the price of the cryptocurrency rose 2% and the network hashrate dropped by 5%, and as the market adjusted to the effects of the halving, investment bank Jefferies said in a research report on Monday. (CoinDesk)
-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 28/100 (Down 1 pts)
Analyst Comments (AC): The volatility in bitcoin price the last few weeks is a result of significant transfers from governments such as the US and Germany. Add to this the return of BTC to Mt Gox customers, many of whom are selling the BTC, and you have the recipe for the fluctuations we've seen in the price. Meanwhile $441M in inflows reveal that there are buyers of bitcoin too. It's not hard to conjecture on some possible coordination of these events, which is certainly making some people short-term gains, but also allowing key players to purchase significant volumes of BTC at lower prices. The nature of global finance does not allow definitive assessments of cooperation, but warrant analysis to understand the players and their objectives.
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Analyst: BV2A
END REPORT
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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report
