⁨📷⁩ ⁨BTC Daily Intelligence Bulletin (DIB)
Block: 963,037
DTG/ICOD: 1200Z 18Aug2026
Precedence: Routine (RR)
Controls: Public Release
QQQQ
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BLUF: Kushner Meets With Bibi After Hamas / Iran Takes Page From Vietnam War / Second Invasion Occurs in Ceuta / CBP Pauses Construction in Big Bend Border Park / Wife Of US Soldier Pulled From Deportation Flight / Pentagon Warns Universities Over NatSec Issues / US Treasury Seeks Input on GENIUS Act / China CBDC Expands / Jane Street Has $1B in Bitcoin ETFs / UST Yield at Highs, Stocks Drop / ColdCard Losses Slow Down / SC Loan Company Data Hacked / OpenAI Says More AI is Defense Against Rogue AI

Market Data: Price: 1 BTC= $64,235, 14.62 oz Gold/1 BTC, 6.7 BTC/Median US House
24hr Hi: $64,547 / Lo: $63,374
Volume: $20B (Up 74%)
Mkt Cap: $1.28T (Up 39%)
Hashrate: .935 ZH/s
Avg Fee Rate: 1.0 sats/byte (Even)
Daily Total ETF Inflow/outflow (last 24 hrs): +$297M
Relative Strength Index: 48

---Reports---
-International Events-
1. Jared Kushner meets Netanyahu on Gaza plan after talks with Hamas: U.S. envoy Jared Kushner held a multi-hour meeting in Jerusalem on August 17 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following a meeting the previous day with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt. The talks aimed to advance a U.S.-backed 15-point roadmap for Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal; officials reported moderate optimism but no firm Israeli commitment, with agreement to form working groups on disarmament and public health. (AP)

2. Iran betting it can outlast Trump if Dems take Congress, Gingrich says: ‘Trying to win in America politically’ like North Vietnam: Iran is wearing down the American public to defeat the US politically — attempting to copy North Vietnam’s playbook against President Trump, according to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich theorized that Tehran is banking on Democrats roaring back to power and opening a bevy of investigations into Trump that will keep him distracted from achieving his military objectives. “The Iranians have a strategy very much like the North Vietnamese communists. Their goal is to survive, to not give in to anything basic.” (NYPost)

3. Moroccan security forces arrest nearly 300 migrants trying to reach Spain’s Ceuta: Hundreds of migrants trying to reach the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by land and sea were arrested by Moroccan security forces as authorities tightened security along the border following calls for a new mass crossing. The attempted crossings followed a surge in social media posts calling on migrants to make their way to Ceuta. The latest attempt comes two weeks after tens of thousands of would-be migrants, driven by poverty and misinformation, rushed toward Ceuta in one of the deadliest migration crises to hit the region. At least 90 people died on both sides of the border, according to official numbers, while human rights groups reported higher figures. (AP)

-US Events-
1. Trump administration pauses border construction in Texas’ Big Bend National Park: U.S. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott ordered a temporary pause on all border construction activity in Big Bend National Park. The border wall project has faced strong bipartisan opposition from conservationists, local residents, and Texas officials who argue that the region's steep cliffs and rugged terrain already act as a natural deterrent. (GroundNews)

2. Wife of US soldier is removed from deportation flight and released from federal immigration custody: A U.S. soldier’s wife who spent more than a month in federal immigration detention said she is back home after officers removed her from a deportation flight to Brazil. Maisa Lopes Eliaser was placed on a deportation flight Wednesday to her native Brazil when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on the plane received a phone call about her midflight, she told the AP. She said she was then asked by an ICE officer whether she wanted to continue on to Brazil or go back to the U.S.. Eliaser stayed on board and returned to Louisiana. (AP)

3. Pentagon Orders 30 Universities to Audit Foreign Ties: These audits target partnerships with 130 international organizations identified under Section 1286 of the National Defense Authorization Act, including entities from China, Russia, and Iran deemed to pose national security risks. "The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security," said Emil Michael, the Pentagon's top research and engineering chief, regarding new fiscal 2026 restrictions on "fundamental research." (GroundNews)

-Regulatory and Legal-
1. US Treasury Asks For Public Input on Landmark Genius Act Crypto Legislation : The Treasury said that it was welcoming input from stakeholders on a proposed rule that would provide clarity to industry regarding who needs a license to issue a stablecoin. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in 2025. The legislation allows banks and other entities to issue stablecoins if they back the tokens with assets like U.S. Treasuries and provide monthly disclosures of their reserves. (BitcoinMag)

-CBDCs/World Currencies/Strategic Reserves-
1. China expands digital yuan network to 30 operating banks: The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has added eight banks to its digital yuan operating network, bringing the total number of institutions authorized to provide digital yuan services to 30. Commercial banks serve as the second layer of the system. These banks open digital yuan wallets for consumers and businesses through their own platforms, provide payment services and handle customer security, compliance and anti-money-laundering obligations. The PBOC remains responsible for the underlying rules, standards and infrastructure. (CryptoBriefing) (AC-Social scores, CBDCs, and invasive tech. Liberty at the behest of the behemoth.)

-Institutional Concerns-
1. Jane Street Reveals Nearly $1B | 15,556 BTC Bitcoin Position: The Wall Street giant holds $990 million in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, spread across major ETFs like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust. (BitcoinMag)

-Economic Indicators-
1. US 10Y Bond Yield Hits 19-month High: US 10 Year Government Bond Yield increased to 4.75%, the highest since January 2025.

2. US Stocks Drop as Middle East Risks Escalate: US stock indices closed lower on Monday amid concerns that elevated oil prices will fuel inflation as hopes for a deal to end the war in the Middle East faded. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq lost 0.2% and the Dow shed 273 points.

-Security Concerns-
1. Losses Top $115M | 1,789 BTC In Coldcard Bitcoin Hack: New data from Galaxy Research shows that $115 million | 1,789 BTC in bitcoin has been lost in the Coldcard theft and it had spoken with over 200 victims to support them and gather intelligence on the attackers. . Galaxy Research last week said that it estimates at least 15 separate attackers were exploiting the bug independently. (BitcoinMag)

2. Nearly 750k had financial info, SSNs leaked in South Carolina loan company breach: Cybercriminals breached the cloud system of a debt consolidation loan company in May, stealing troves of sensitive financial information and personal data on about 750,000 customers. The company, Heights Finance, published a warning to customers last week about the data breach and told regulators in Texas on Friday that 734,828 people were affected. (RecordedFuture)

-Technology and Science-
1. OpenAI’s Answer to Rogue Agents and Hacks Is More AI, Not Less: OpenAI wants every security team running AI agents, starting immediately. President Greg Brockman published a policy essay Monday, titled “The Defender's Window,” describing a narrow window before attackers catch up to what AI can already do. "The OpenAI-Hugging Face incident was a watershed moment for cybersecurity," Brockman wrote. OpenAI lists four internal pillars: using Codex to catch vulnerabilities before code ships, letting models triage security alerts before humans see them, running frontier models to probe its own infrastructure, and reinforcing basics like least-privilege access. His advice to everyone else: give your security team an agent, and apply for OpenAI's Trusted Access for Cyber program for vetted use of GPT-Daybreak-Blue during incident response. (Decrypt)

-Bitcoin Community
NSTR

-Bitcoin Sentiment-
1. Fear(0)/Greed(100) Index: 41/100 (up 10 pts)

Analyst Comments (AC): NSTR

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*NSTR-Nothing Significant To Report⁩