Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #206 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:

• 🇵🇰 Pakistan Considers Bitcoin Mining Using Surplus Electricity

• 🌪️ Tornado Cash Off US Sanctions List

• 🧐 IMF Acknowledges $BTC.X ( ▲ 2.82% ), But 'Digital Gold' is a Stretch

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Mar 24, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🇵🇰 Pakistan Considers Bitcoin Mining Using Surplus Electricity

A proposal to leverage surplus electricity for bitcoin mining was floated at the inaugural meeting of the Pakistan Crypto Council this weekend. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, along with top officials from State Bank and Securities and Exchange Commission, attended the meeting. Bilal Bin Saqib, CEO of PCC, shared the vision of converting Pakistan’s surplus electricity into an economic advantage: ‘We can convert a liability into an asset.’ The country has excess electricity due to low demand or infrastructure problems. Arab News

🌪️ Tornado Cash Off US Sanctions List

The US Treasury has removed sanctions against the crypto mixer Tornado Cash, following a court ruling that it overstepped its authority. Despite this, founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov still face legal issues. The Treasury, led by Secretary Scott Bessent, emphasized continued concern regarding state-sponsored hacking activities, particularly those originating from North Korea, and remains determined to ‘use its powers to counter malicious cyber actors who exploit digital assets and their ecosystem for illicit profits’. Atlas21

🧐 IMF Acknowledges Bitcoin, But 'Digital Gold' is a Stretch

Rumors flew over the weekend that the International Monetary Fund labeled Bitcoin 'digital gold' in its updated Balance of Payments Manual, causing all round excitement among bitcoiners. However, it was a misinterpretation. The IMF acknowledged Bitcoin as a non-produced, nonfinancial asset designed as a medium of exchange or store of value. This treats BTC like property, not gold. The manual focuses on tracking cross-border Bitcoin and crypto flows, recognizing Bitcoin's unique role without endorsing it as a monetary reserve asset. Gradually, then suddenly. Bitcoinist

POLL

QUICK BITS

• Bo Hines, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, touts leveraging undervalued gold certificates to facilitate Bitcoin acquisitions.

• Voltage and Taxbit partner to deliver the first 'compliant' Lightning payments solution, with the aim of enabling institutional Bitcoin adoption with enterprise-grade tax reporting and regulatory compliance.

• Bitcoin's MVRV momentum indicator nears golden cross with a 180-day SMA, potentially signaling a bull run continuation despite 29% drop from all-time high.

• Solo Bitcoin miner scores $266K block reward using a DIY FutureBit Apollo miner.

• Luke Dashjr of OCEAN Mining reports 4 solo Bitcoin miners using OCEAN software successfully mined blocks last week, with theirour rewards being shared by the pool.

• French National Assembly rejects a proposal that would have required messaging platforms like Signal and WhatsApp to allow hidden access to private conversations.

• Dormant Bitcoin whale from 2016 transfers 3,000 BTC worth over $250M after nearly a decade of silence.

• Michael Saylor predicts Bitcoin will reach $13M in 20 years, citing its fixed supply and status as a unique digital commodity.

• Strategy buys 6,911 BTC for $584.1M, achieving 7.7% YTD Bitcoin Yield, and now holds 506,137 BTC.

• Value Creation, a Tokyo-listed Real Estate firm, invests 100M Yen in bitcoin, boosting stock by 67% amid rising Japanese corporate Bitcoin adoption.

• HK Asia Holdings, a Hong Kong-based investment holding company, buys 10 more BTC, increasing its total holdings to 18.88 BTC.

• Metaplanet buys 150 BTC for $12.6M, taking the company’s total holdings to 3350 BTC.

OTHER NEWSLETTERS TO CHECK OUT*

Looking for fresh insights? Check out this curated list by Refind of amazing newsletters! Explore a variety of topics, discover new perspectives, and subscribe to the ones that spark your interest. Happy reading!

*You can find more here.

QUICK MEDIA

• Anthony Pompliano, Bitcoiner and VC, in an appearance on Fox Business, says that people are drastically underestimating how ‘maniacal’ the US is going to be in buying BTC soon (Mar 21 | 1:26 min watch). 

• Joe Bryan, creator of the recent viral 'What's the Problem?' video, in an appearance on Robert Breedlove's podcast, explains how flawed monetary systems, like a rigged Monopoly game where one player can change rules, lead to unfair economic outcomes, advocating for Bitcoin's fixed rules (Mar 20 | 11:30 min watch). 

• Mateo Didomenico, founder and director at Bitcoin Prophets, publishes a video, urging watchers to wake up to Bitcoin's evolutionary rather than revolutionary nature: ‘Break the matrix. Ignite your divine spark. Bitcoin fuels an evolution to a New Earth—freedom awaits’ (Mar 22 | 8:50 min watch). 

• Coin Bureau explores to what extent influential tech billionaires from the 'PayPal Mafia,' including Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and David Sacks, are reshaping US politics by supporting Donald Trump and advocating for reduced regulation (Mar 21 | 20:48 min watch). 

• Joe Nakamoto, Bitcoiner and content creator, tests Madeira's claim of having over 130 Bitcoin-friendly merchants, confirming widespread acceptance by successfully paying with BTC at various businesses during a 5km run (Mar 21 | 6:51 min watch).

• Naomi Brockwell, a privacy advocate, demonstrates how to securely install GrapheneOS on supported Pixel devices, enhancing privacy with verified boot and secondary profiles for protection against smartphone surveillance (Mar 21 | 25:08 min watch). 

• Pierre Rochard of Riot Platforms explores in a talk at Adopting Bitcoin El Salvador how the Texas energy grid is adopting Bitcoin mining due to its energy abundance, deregulated market, and flexible load capabilities (uploaded on Mar 22 | 18:01 min watch). 

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