Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #183 of the Bitcoin Breakdown daily newsletter, where we’re rounding up the most talked-about developments in the Bitcoin-only space from the past weekend with our Quick Bits and Quick Media sections.

But first, today’s Top Stories:

• 🤦 US Marshals Crypto Caper Turns Into a Bitcoin Brouhaha

• 🤡 ETH Rollback Rumble After the ‘Biggest Digital Heist Ever’

• 🇭🇰 Hong Kong Asia Boosts Bitcoin Holdings

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Blockstream has released its new Jade Hardware Wallet, Jade Plus, featuring an improved screen that’s 66% larger and 20% brighter.

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Air-gapped firmware and signing are now possible with Jade Plus via USB-C drives or SD cards.

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This launch includes FREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING.

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*You can also advertise with us here.

Feb 24, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🤦 US Marshals Crypto Caper Turns Into a Bitcoin Brouhaha

The US Marshals Service can apparently not accurately estimate its bitcoin holdings, complicating the potential national bitcoin reserve initiative by the White House. A source claims the USMS manages seized Bitcoin with Excel spreadsheets, shares deposit addresses via unencrypted email, and is unable to confirm its total holdings. Their disorganized Bitcoin and crypto handling is exposing why they’re unfit to manage bitcoin, let alone a proposed national reserve. CoinDesk

🤡 ETH Rollback Rumble After the ‘Biggest Digital Heist Ever’

Bitcoiners like Samson Mow demand a hard fork for Ethereum to undo a staggering theft of 1.4B USD in ETH from Bybit by North Korean hackers. They jokingly argue that since Ethereum similarly reversed transactions during its first hard fork, doing so now will return the funds and curb nuclear financing. It is humorously proposed that the compromised chain be renamed ETHNK. Mow advises traders to pause activity as real Ethereum emerges. The Daily Hodl

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Asia Boosts Bitcoin Holdings

HK Asia Holdings, a Hong Kong-based investment firm, has doubled its share prices by increasing its Bitcoin holdings to nearly 9 BTC. The board approved further Bitcoin buying due to growing commercial interest, funding the purchase with internal resources. This strategic move echoes a recent trend among public firms aiming to boost earnings and ride the Bitcoin wave. CoinTelegraph

POLL

QUICK BITS

• Lazarus Group, North Korea's active cyber unit, uses Chainflip to converts some of its stolen ETH from ByBit into BTC as decentralized protocols limit frontend services.

• Bybit launches $140M bounty to recover $1.4B hack losses, with $43M already retrieved through industry collaboration.

• Kash Patel, Trump's new FBI director, holds significant investments in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and Bitcoin mining companies,

• Institutional Bitcoin adoption gains momentum as 1,573 institutions disclose BTC exposure in Q4 2024 13F filings.

• Georgia's new Bitcoin reserve bill, introduced by Democrats, counters the Republican proposal by removing the investment limit.

• Strategy acquires BTC worth $1.99B and boosts holdings to 499,096 BTC valued at $33.1B.

• Michael Saylor advocates for the US to secure 20% of the Bitcoin network to strengthen the dollar, enrich the country, and settle the national debt using digital assets.

• VanEck releases an innovative tool that simulates the BITCOIN Act's plan to acquire up to 1M BTC over five years, potentially offsetting up to 21T of US debt by 2049.

• ZachXBT, a prominent on-chain investigator, uncovers Lazarus Group’s link between Bybit, BingX, and Phemex hacks, highlighting shared addresses and commingled funds now exposed on-chain.

• US spot Bitcoin ETFs hit $750B in cumulative trading volume, led by BlackRock's IBIT, dominating the market with a 75% share in volume.

• Onramp and Arch’s bitcoin-backed lending service enables BTC holders to secure liquidity without selling assets or triggering taxable events in 2025.

• Bitpanda CEO credits Trump's pro-Bitcoin and crypto policies for driving a 2024 bull run of institutional 'sticky money,' booming Bitcoin ETFs, and expanding US bank offerings for Bitcoin and crypto.

• BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF secures 50% market share despite $112M sell-off, as Bitcoin’s price stays resilient against outflows and market concerns.

QUICK MEDIA

• Matthew Kratter of Bitcoin university explains why Ethereum's vulnerabilities allegedly fund global terrorism through North Korea's Lazarus Group hack and explores the possibility of an Ethereum network hard fork to reverse a $1.5 B crypto theft (Feb 22 | 5:37 min watch). 

• Kash Patel, the new FBI director, in an older interview, says the Federal Reserve is a private entity manipulating currency for its own advantage and must be addressed (Feb 21 | 0:24 min watch). 

• Michael Schmid, founder of Nakamoto Heating Solutions, showcases a wave of DIY Bitcoin heaters at the Heatpunk Summit in Denver, promising a groundbreaking future for home heating. (Feb 23 | 1:16 min watch). 

• Tom Lee, CIO at Fundstrat Capital, reveals how major US financial institutions embrace Bitcoin's extreme $2T volatility in their pursuit of dynamic market opportunities (Feb 23 | 1:02 min watch). 

• Naomi Brockwell, a privacy advocate, explains how Signal's new username feature enhances privacy by allowing connections without sharing phone numbers, simplifying the process while maintaining user anonymity (Feb 21 | 9:16 min watch). 

• John Carvalho, CEO of Synonym, answers 21 questions regarding the present and future of Bitcoin, which includes mining decentralization, scalability and privacy on the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast (Feb 19 | 8:02 min watch). 

• Isaiah Austin, a Bitcoiner who handles marketing at Bitcoin Magazine, publishes a parody ad that humorously makes fun of the rug pulls and scams that pervade the crypto industry, presenting Bitcoin as the solution. (Feb 22 | 1:01 min watch). 

• Lucas & Grant of Bitcoin Study Sessions, appearing on Robert Breedlove's podcast, discuss how Bitcoin adoption reduces kinetic warfare's profitability by shifting value storage to decentralized, immutable assets, making traditional seizure-based conflict less viable (Feb 23 | 14:12 min watch). 

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