Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #178 of Bitcoin Breakdown, where every Tuesday and Thursday, we bring you the latest must-read Bitcoin thought leadership articles and the newest tools and projects you should know about.

But first, today’s Top Stories:

• 💥 US Crypto Task Force To Establish National Bitcoin Reserve: Bernstein

• 📅 New Theory Links Jack Dorsey As Bitcoin’s Creator

• 🇵🇱 Mentzen's Bitcoin Reserve Revolution

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Feb 18, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

💥 US Crypto Task Force To Establish National Bitcoin Reserve: Bernstein

The US crypto task force aims to establish a national Bitcoin reserve, potentially sparking a global race for BTC and driving a significant bull market for bitcoin and related equities, broker Bernstein said in a recent research report. Potential funding includes the Federal Reserve issuing debt or selling gold reserves, requiring legislative approval. Approximately $20B in bitcoin seized from criminal activities may be added to the national reserve. Decisions need to be made on whether the Federal Reserve or Treasury will manage bitcoin purchases. Bernstein advises investors to prepare for a potential bullish surge in bitcoin and related equities. CoinDesk

📅 New Theory Links Jack Dorsey As Bitcoin’s Creator

A new theory proposed by sleuth Seán Murray links Jack Dorsey to Bitcoin's creation through coincidences and connections. Bitcoin's first transaction and Satoshi's last block align with Jack Dorsey's parents' birthdays, and Satoshi's forum signup coincides with Dorsey's birthday. Murray also suggests that Satoshi's Bitcoin address, ‘jD2m’, stands for ‘Jack Dorsey 2 Mint,’ and links to Dorsey's former address. The 2014 hack of Satoshi's email and a 2009 IRC login with a California IP connect to Dorsey's background and Twitter's location. Critics, however, argue the evidence is circumstantial and question the plausibility of Dorsey's association with Satoshi. Cointelegraph

🇵🇱 Mentzen's Bitcoin Reserve Revolution

Polish presidential candidate Sławomir Mentzen promises a strategic Bitcoin reserve to transform Poland into a leading Bitcoin haven. His vision of low taxes, Bitcoin-friendly banking echoes global trends and signals bold economic reform. Embracing Bitcoin’s unique strengths, Mentzen aims to empower national resilience and attract worldwide investment. Mentzen aligns Poland with global trends in Bitcoin reserves, taking cues from Donald Trump and Hong Kong's strategies. BeInCrypto

POLL

OPINION & ANALYSIS

• Atlas21, a Bitcoin-only news outlet, details Argentine President Milei's controversial endorsement of the LIBRA token that sparked a coordinated pump-and-dump scam causing major investor losses and triggering significant legal and political fallout (Feb 18 | 3 min read).

• Em, staff writer at Privacy Guides, emphasizes the urgency of celebrating incremental privacy improvements to build a sustainable privacy culture that effectively challenges both fatalistic abdication and perfectionism in privacy practices (Feb 17 | 4 min read).

• L0la L33tz, journalist and privacy advocate, uncovers Nigeria's secret swap of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan for US resources to combat illicit finance, emphasizing political pressures and human rights concerns (Feb 17 | 3 min read).

• Saunter, UX designer at Alby, emphasizes integrating an open-source BTC Map to unify proprietary systems, enhance community verification, and drive circular economies by letting sats flow more efficiently across innovative networks (Feb 17 | 5 min read).

• Dave Birnbaum, VP of product at Coinbits, offers a critical analysis of recent crypto scams, including the LIBRA, TRUMP, and MELANIA misadventures that jeopardize sound Bitcoin adoption as a global asset (Feb 16 | 8 min read).

• Alles Voor Bitcoin, a Belgian Bitcoin podcaster, exposes the Value4Value model as a rigged scam that exploits creators and disincentivizes innovation while jeopardizing Bitcoin adoption through a flawed system of goodwill-based exchanges designed to reward community participation (Feb 15 | 10 min).

• DeFi Education Fund, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group, argues in a new paper that DOJ's case against Samourai Wallet misinterprets non-custodial privacy tools as money transmission, which jeopardizes innovation, due process and user-controlled BTC transactions (Feb 14 | 51 min read).

• Kenobi, a Bitcoiner who handles business development and marketing for DMND Pool, presents an analysis of the 'Beef Block', a mysterious solo block exhibiting unconventional coinbase outputs and secret pool activities that intrigue enthusiasts and hint at stealth mining operations (Feb 14 | 4 min read).

• Che Kohler of The Bitcoin Manual examines the current AI threat to Bitcoin security by dissecting how generative AI drives sophisticated social engineering attacks while reinforcing the critical need for self-custody and robust defence strategies (Feb 14 | 8 min read).

• Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, presents a nuanced view of El Salvador's revised Bitcoin Law that renders BTC optional yet legal tender while highlighting IMF-induced amendments, shifting merchant adoption and national economic strategy without definitive regulatory clarity (Feb 14 | 5 min read).

• Massimo Musumeci, a Lightning researcher, provides a detailed guide on setting up a self-hosted mempool instance on Debian12 VPS using docker, Bitcoin Core, and nginx, emphasizing configuration, security, and optional electrs integration to enhance transaction broadcasting and API performance (Feb 13 | 3 min read).

• Danila Valko and Daniel Kudenko, computer science researchers, present a novel reinforcement learning approach to enhance Lightning Network payment success and efficiency under dynamic conditions (Feb 13 | 6 min read).

• Proton Wallet a newly launched Bitcoin-only wallet by Proton, presents an analysis of Bitcoin's ownership issue, urging users to embrace self-custody over predatory centralized exchanges and ETFs by protecting BTC through end-to-end encryption, cloud security, and an accessible, user-controlled platform (Feb 13 | 2 min read).

TOOLS & PROJECTS

• Transfero, a Latin American Bitcoin and crypto company, partners with Lightspark to integrate Lightning and deliver instant, secure, low-cost Bitcoin payments.

• Plebeian.Market brings the first dedicated marketplace for Bitcoin and Nostr users, offering a platform to explore products, create stalls, and transact using sats seamlessly.

• Fountain introduces interactive Nostr live streams and a comprehensive storage manager on iOS and Android, creating a dynamic community experience with enhanced performance and stability improvements.

• Mynymbox introduces its privacy-focused email hosting service with POP3, IMAP, SMTP, and webmail featuring GPG encryption, Tor access, unlimited mailboxes and aliases, and a powerful admin tool.

• Seed Tool educates users on Bitcoin wallet generation, offering offline functionalities to enhance security and understanding of seed-related processes.

• DiceLN.com delivers a provably fair Lightning Network dice game offering instant bets, cryptographic fairness, and zero KYC with seamless transactions.

• Martin Connor and Firefish show how to maximize Bitcoin's collateral potential with bitcoin-backed loans, manage liquidation risks, and secure enduring financial sovereignty in a newly released essential guide.

• Bitcoin Forking Guide by Anthony Towns details steps toward achieving social agreement before code changes in Bitcoin through four key stages, including research, power user exploration, industry evaluation, and investor review prior to finalization and activation.

• Vanguard-btc.com tracks investor losses from Vanguard’s Bitcoin ETF ban, highlighting missed profits as Bitcoin’s value climbs since the restriction took effect.

• Blockstream Explorer API introduces a scalable HTTP REST service for Bitcoin mainnet, testnet, and Liquid Network with simplified onboarding, robust support, and an upcoming Electrum JSON-RPC interface.

• RelayDiscovery.com empowers Nostr client developers by aggregating and simplifying relay set metadata, reviews, and various relay lists to streamline the Outbox model implementation and enhance reliability.

• AditBoard is a USB adapter for Bitmain hashboards, utilizing the RaspberryPi RP2040, designed for integration with Bitcart USB or standalone PC use.

• YouCupid is a nostr-based dating platform for users to connect with each other.

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