Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #181 of Bitcoin Breakdown, where we’re bringing you your end-of-week Bitcoin Digest featuring all the need-to-know Quick Bits snippets and Quick Media.

But first, today’s Top Stories:

• 💰 Trump Announces Fort Knox Inspection

• 🔍 SEC Launches New Crypto Crime Unit

• 🤖 Microsoft's Quantum Leap

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Feb 21, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

💰 Trump Announces Fort Knox Inspection

President Trump has announced plans to inspect Fort Knox gold reserves following claims from Elon Musk and certain Republicans. Trump told governors he would verify whether any gold was missing despite Treasury audits affirming all assets are secure. There is currently 147.3M ounces of gold at Fort Knox, according to the US Mint, which is roughly half of the Treasury Department’s gold. This measure of uncertainty contrasts with the decentralized promise of actual sound money, i.e., Bitcoin. The Hill

🔍 SEC Launches New Crypto Crime Unit

Under the new Trump administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission is flipping the script by launching a Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit to tackle Bitcoin and crypto crimes. Led by experienced Laura D’Allaird, the unit aims to boot fraudsters misusing 'blockchain, artificial intelligence, and digital assets' while promising better market safety and efficiency. Although this marks a strategic shift, bitcoiners ought to be vary of potential state overreach. Atlas21

🤖 Microsoft's Quantum Leap

Microsoft has unlocked a new state of matter using quantum chip breakthroughs, but with only 8 qubits, it’s nowhere near reversing Bitcoin’s math. The leap uses a topological superconductor and manipulates subatomic Majorana fermions. As quantum computers come close to threatening the cryptography powering Bitcoin through vulnerabilities in secure hash algorithms and digital signatures, developers are already considering innovative soft forks and defenses to safeguard Bitcoin’s fortified network. Protos

POLL

QUICK BITS

• Altvest Capital becomes the first African company to adopt the Saylor strategy by buying bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset.

• Bitcoin’s volatility is now comparable to major tech stocks like Tesla and Nvidia, signaling its maturation in the market.

• Ross Ulbricht urges support for Roger ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Ver amid contested tax evasion charges, escalating US capital gains scrutiny and calls for clemency in the evolving bitcoin legal battle.

• President Trump champions bitcoin's record highs as a testament to America's ambition as a Bitcoin and crypto capital amid evolving regulatory frameworks and strategic executive orders.

• Institutional investors dominate liquidity pools and shape the future of publicly traded bitcoin miners with 40%+ holdings, highlighting market biases and key players like Blackrock and Vanguard.

• Russian threat groups exploit Signal's linked devices feature using malicious QR codes to hijack accounts, enabling persistent cyber espionage and real-time surveillance.

• Muneeb Ali, co-founder of Stacks, highlights the end of the Bitcoin L2 honeymoon as fewer than one-third of projects thrive amid Bitcoin gaining dominance and blue chip status.

• Kraken faces a surge in regulatory data requests, showcasing a 39% increase in US FBI and SEC inquiries amid growing global enforcement and heightened transparency in 2024.

• Binance.US resumes USD banking on regulatory clarity: after 18-month restrictions and SEC lawsuit, Binance.US reinstates deposits, withdrawals, and trading via bank transfer services for US customers.

• Montana Business and Labor Committee advances House Bill to create a $50M Bitcoin strategic reserve fund as the state joins Utah, Arizona, and Oklahoma in digital asset adoption.

• Nigeria files an $81.5B lawsuit against Binance for unpaid taxes and economic damages amid allegations of currency destabilization and tax evasion in 2022-2023.

• The European Central Bank adopts a 'DLT payment system,' aiming for a wholesale CBDC and integration with their existing Target settlement system.

• Japan's Metaplanet expands its bitcoin holdings to 2,100 BTC with a strategic buying spree, targeting 10,000 BTC by end-2025 and stronger market performance.

• Global Ledger, a Swiss blockchain analytics company, exposes coordinated hackers moving $85M from Phemex through multiple protocols and mixers, including Tornado Cash and Across, as part of complex obfuscation and fund transfer techniques.

QUICK MEDIA

• Orange Bridge, a real estate firm focused on Bitcoin, pioneers an innovative process to convert home equity into Bitcoin by unlocking latent wealth through simple digital loan procedures and secure Bitcoin purchases (Feb 21 | 2:52 min watch).

• Orange Pill App, a Bitcoin social app, launches its Lightning wallet in a short demonstration video that highlights near-instant BTC transactions, easy onboarding, and mobile integration (Feb 19 | 1:07 min watch).

• Saylor delivers a Bitcoin masterclass at CPAC, engaging influential US politicians and business leaders as he explains Bitcoin's role in reshaping mainstream finance (Feb 20 | 25:12 min watch).

• Tuttle Twins TV, an educational cartoon show for kids, highlights why Bitcoin outperforms gold, teaching kids financial and political literacy through engaging adventures (Feb 20 | 0:49 min watch).

• Robert Warren, author of 'The Bitcoin Miner's Almanac,' uncovers a mounting social engineering threat entangling Bitcoin community members Bitcoin Scott Offord and Larry Lepard (Feb 18 | 42:19 min watch).

• Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, tells CNBC that we are still in the early stages of the bull market and talks about the recent slowdown and his outlook for the future (Feb 19 | 1:39 min watch).

• Javier Milei denies responsibility for the LIBRA meme coin scandal, stating that those who bought the coin did so voluntarily (Feb 18 | 1:17 min watch).

• Coffeezilla, an American YouTuber, exposes Argentina's meme coin disaster, revealing President Javier Milei's alleged role in a $100M insider trading scandal in an explosive investigation. (Feb 20 | 21:12 min watch).

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