• Bitcoin Breakdown
  • Posts
  • 🇺🇸 RFK Jr Unveils Bitcoin Plan, 🎰 UK Gov Rejects Bitcoin As Gambling, 🏦 Fed Launches Fednow

🇺🇸 RFK Jr Unveils Bitcoin Plan, 🎰 UK Gov Rejects Bitcoin As Gambling, 🏦 Fed Launches Fednow

banner

Greetings Earthling,

Welcome to this week’s Quick Bits feature issue where we curate the most interesting and pertinent Bitcoin snippets from the last week.

Thanks to reader feedback, the online version of the newsletter is now available in dark mode.

Please consider leaving more feedback of how I can improve the newsletter via the poll near the end of the email.

Happy readings! 👽️

📰 HEADLINES

Robert F Kennedy Jr, US presidential candidate, unveils plan to back the dollar with “hard currencies” like Bitcoin. He also proposes an end to capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits. “Bitcoin is among the hardest currencies, and the Kennedy administration is going to encourage its proliferation and propagation,” says Kennedy. He believes the tax exemption will boost investment, ensure citizen privacy, and retain top talent in the US. He also wants to create barriers against Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to prevent currency weaponization.

UK Government rejects lawmaker plan to regulate Bitcoin as gambling, arguing that existing plans to apply traditional financial rules better address associated risks. They disagree with the House of Commons’ Treasury Committee's concerns that the current approach is too lenient and creates a false sense of safety for investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. They also cite global standard-setting bodies' recommendations, endorsed by finance ministers from the G20 economies, as the basis for their approach and warns that deviating from these standards could push ‘crypto’ business offshore.

The US Federal Reserve has officially launched its new instant payments system, called the Fednow Service, with 35 participating banks and credit unions (including JPMorgan and Wells Fargo), along with 16 service providers. The system is designed to provide uninterrupted 24/7 processing with strong security features. It is not a form of currency and does not aim to eliminate other payment methods, including cash. It is basically embarrassingly outdated tech and the Fed is adamant that it is not related to a CBDC.

KONSENSUS NETWORK BOOKS SPOTLIGHT

​The Konsensus Network’s Bitcoin Bookshop has two new titles on offer!

You get 10% off of each when using the coupon code: bitcoinbreakdown at checkout.

"Bitcoin: A Work in Progress" by Sjors Provoost provides an insider's perspective into the latest Bitcoin developments like the Taproot soft fork, protecting open source code from bugs and malware, new ways to safeguard nodes, dealing with the growing blockchain, and more. Linking each chapter to episodes of the Bitcoin, Explained podcast and over 200 supplementary materials, the book is written by Bitcoin Core contributor and Bitcoin, Explained co-host Sjors Provoost, offering readers a front row seat to the most exciting recent technical innovations in Bitcoin.

In "Layered Money", Nik Bhatia provides a groundbreaking analysis of the evolution of monetary systems by examining the "layered" nature of money. Tracing the progression from early banking in Renaissance Florence to the rise of central banking and the invention of Bitcoin, Bhatia shows how Bitcoin merged monetary economics with cryptography to create a seismic shift in money. With central banks preparing to launch crypto-competitors, Bhatia's unique perspective illuminates the mechanics of the financial system, the challenges facing the dollar, and how CBDCs and Bitcoin will shape the monetary future.

⚡️ QUICK BITS

  • Ioni Appelberg releases must-watch new short video titled “Bitcoin’s Next Bull run” (6:53 min watch).

  • CoinControversy outs BSV shillers as being behind "Bitinfocharts", a website with transaction pie charts, and can thus not be trusted.

  • Umbrel Cofounder and CTO addresses rumours by Citadel that they are hourly pinging back your IP and version number cloaked as a “harmless update checker”.

  • Jameson Lopp warns about physical attacks as Canadian police issues a public notice about a trend of high net worth Bitcoin investors being robbed in their own homes.

  • Spirit of Satoshi has opened applications to help train the world’s first Bitcoin-centric language model (sats-based bounties to follow soon).

  • Wolfpack 3 applications now open: Accelerator program for founders and teams building on Bitcoin, Lightning, Nostr, Ordinals or anything you can dream up related to Bitcoin.

  • PlebLab introduces new NostrDevs course.

  • National Australia Bank joins crypto exchange boycott, cites ‘scams’.

  • Ron DeSantis vows to ban CBDCs if elected.

  • Swan Bitcoin releases short video, “Bitcoin Maximalism Explained” (7:54 min watch).

  • Texas Blockchain Council director, Steven Kinard, announces run for State House

  • District Court dismisses Coin Center's case against unconstitutional financial surveillance.

  • SEC Chair Gensler says agency is planning greater oversight of crypto markets to protect investors.

  • Nasdaq halts launch of cryptocurrency custody service.

  • Kuwait bans Bitcoin payments, investment and mining in an effort to meet requirements set by the FATF.

  • South Korean central bank makes advancements towards CBDC implementation.

  • Société Générale secures the first crypto license in France to provide custody, exchange, and trading services.

  • Afro Bitcoin Fellowship program launches to support African Developers.

  • Hodl Hodl Lend gets redesigned with new offer pages and improved navigation.

  • Hodl Hodl also announces that Nostr is going to be one of the key topics of this year's Baltic Honeybadger on September 2-3 in Riga, Latvia.

  • Argentina launches first Bitcoin futures contract.

  • Russia’s State Duma approves major national CBDC project.

  • Indian Central Bank official warns of 'existential threat' from stablecoins.

  • Worldcoin and OpenAI CEO says ‘something like world ID will eventually exist…whether you like it or not’.

  • SEC seeks public input on Bitcoin ETFs.

  • Zapgoals allows users to create a note with a set amount you’re looking to raise.

  • El Salvador's bonds have skyrocketed alongside Bitcoin in 2023.

  • Sam Bankman-Fried get spoofed in new animated comedy starring T.J. Miller.

  • Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest: Bitcoin could hit $1.5 million in ‘just’ 7 years.

  • Frostsnap: Easy and personalized multisig with Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold.

  • Tesla did not buy or sell any Bitcoin for fourth straight quarter in Q2.

  • Coinbase to fully sunset Bitcoin-backed loan program for retail customers.

  • Jimmy Song reflects on the early days of Bitcoin and how he developed his confidence over time (10:50 min watch).

  • Bitcoin Ekasi is featured in short documentary titled, ‘Lekker Feeling: A Bitcoin Ekasi Story’ (13:31 in watch).

  • Bank for International Settlements study: 15 Retail CBDCs likely by 2030.

  • G20's Financial Stability Board: Global rules leave crypto firms with no place to hide.

  • Geyser launched its fifth grant to support worldwide educational initiatives and community programs focused on Bitcoin.

  • UK Financial Conduct Authority says that crypto memes can be considered financial promotions.

  • Truth Social head of engineering leaves for Nostr.

  • Swarmstr: Nostr knowledge hub for curious minds.

  • Chinese police arrest 21 in $55M tether money laundering case.

OTHER NEWSLETTERS TO CHECK OUT

  • The Neuron tracks new AI tools and research so you don't have to → [link]*

  • Who Sponsors Stuff’s Email Intelligence provides email newsletter publishers with actionable intelligence to help them sell advertising and grow revenue → [link]*

  • The Rundown AI: Join 250000+ daily readers and get the rundown on the latest developments in AI before everyone else → [link]*

  • International Intrigue: A free global affairs briefing created by former diplomats to help you better understand how geopolitics, business and technology intersect → [link]

  • Finance Homie: Join top investors and bankers reading Wall Street’s most interesting newsletter → [link]*

  • 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don't have to: culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between → [link]

  • The Rollup: Get curated podcasts, investment insights, and articles from seasoned asset managers → [link]

  • Morning Brew: The daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley → [link]

  • The Marketing Letter: Get the 5 minute newsletter keeping 20k+ marketers in the loop → [link]*

  • Digital Asset Investor: Richard Patey breaks down the top news & opportunities in online business and domains to help you become a better digital asset investor → [link]*

👉️ You can find more here and here.

*One click subscribe link

😍 LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING?

I am rewarding you with 5,000 free satoshis for every new subscriber you successfully refer to the newsletter. Max 100 referrals per individual.

You currently have 0* referrals. That’s only 1 away from receiving 5,000 satoshis paid directly to you

Or copy and paste this link to refer people: https://www.btcbreakdown.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

💥 MEME BREAK

meme
meme

How did you like this week's newsletter?

Your feedback will be very much appreciated.

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Thank you for reading!

If you enjoyed this week’s issue then please forward it to a fellow bitcoiner and/or consider leaving a tip below or here.

If you received it from a friend and would like to subscribe, please click here.

Until our next transmission,

Naiw

 

Support independent Bitcoin content and consider leaving a Lightning tip:

Reply

or to participate.