Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #251 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:

• 🎣 Coinbase Phish Food: Insider Data Heist Highlights CEX & KYC Perils

• 💨 OP_RETURN Drama Claims Top Bitcoin Dev's 𝕏 Account

• 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi Reveals $408M Investment In $BTC.X ( ▼ 0.86% ) ETF

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May 16, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🎣 Coinbase Phish Food: Insider Data Heist Highlights CEX & KYC Perils

Centralized exchange Coinbase faces a costly mess after bribed staff leaked sensitive user data, including government IDs and bank details, potentially costing them up to $400M. Hackers demand $20M, but Coinbase offered a $20M bounty instead. Bitcoiners are, however, blasting idiotic know-your-customer protocols, demanding they be dismantled for failing users while again exposing private information. The whole affair is also a stark reminder that true financial control rests with self-custody, a truth underscored by such centralized system failures, where your data and peace of mind are on the line. CNBC

💨 OP_RETURN Drama Claims Top Bitcoin Dev's 𝕏 Account

Bitcoin Core maintainer Gloria Zhao has quit 𝕏 following intense personal attacks during the heated 'OP_RETURN war'. The fiery debate was over proposals to significantly increase the non-financial data storage limit on the Bitcoin blockchain. Zhao championed a larger limit, viewing current restrictions as outdated. However, fierce opposition from those wanting to preserve Bitcoin for purely financial transactions, coupled with personal attacks, led to her exit from the social media platform. Protos

🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi Reveals $408M Investment In Bitcoin ETF

The United Arab Emirates is doubling down on Bitcoin with its sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, revealing a massive $408.5M investment in BlackRock’s IBIT ETF. This comes as US President Trump’s son, Eric Trump, just delivered one of the most bullish Bitcoin speeches ever in the capital of the UAE at the Bitcoin MENA Conference, sharing a story about a friend who dismissed Bitcoin only to see his own bank adopt it shortly afterwards. Bitcoin Magazine

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PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

QUICK BITS

• French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau plans to meet Bitcoin and crypto leaders to address a surge in violent 'wrench attacks' of late.

• Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin explains recent Paris attacks stem from criminals' belief that Bitcoin is untraceable, highlighting law enforcement's growing success tracking perpetrators.

• DDC Enterprise, a China and US-based consumer and e-commerce brand, adopts a bitcoin reserve strategy, aiming to accumulate 5,000 BTC in 36 months.

• Addentax Group, a Chinese logistics firm, negotiates an $800M purchase of Bitcoin and crypto, possibly to navigate US-China trade tariffs.

• CoinCorner’s UK Customer Report shows that over 51% of UK Bitcoin users have never sold their bitcoin.

• JPMorgan analysts and financial experts at the global investment bank predict that bitcoin will outperform gold in H2 2025, citing corporate buying and US state support.

• Nebraska passes a bill imposing several restrictions on large-scale mining operations located in the state.

• Standard Chartered, a leading global bank, partners with FalconX to enhance Bitcoin and crypto banking services.

• eToro CEO Yoni Assia says Warren Buffett steered his focus more towards stocks over Bitcoin and crypto.

• FTX Recovery Trust begins second distribution of over $5B to creditors on May 30 under its reorganization plan.

• Avenir, a Hong Kong-based investment firm, expands BlackRock IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF holdings by 30% to $688M in total during the first quarter.

• Wisconsin's Investment Board liquidates its entire $355.6M holding in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF in Q1.

• Coinsilium, a UK investment firm, raises £1.25M to adopt a Bitcoin treasury strategy.

QUICK MEDIA

• Financial Times, in an at times cringeworthy short documentary, explores (Micro)Strategy's transformation into a major Bitcoin holder through Michael Saylor's 'infinite money glitch', a high-stakes strategy leveraging debt and equity that hinges on Bitcoin's continued appreciation (May 14 | 27:36 min watch).

• Eric Trump, speaking at the Consensus 2025 conference, reveals that sovereign wealth funds, wealthy families, and big companies are in a race to accumulate Bitcoin (May 15 | 1:06 min watch). 

• Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, rejects hackers' ransom demand of $20M in BTC along with the threat of leaking customer data while offering a $20M bounty for info leading to the attackers’ arrest (May 15 | 2:44 min watch). 

• Jordi Visser of 22V Research explains that the tariff war has accelerated the decline of the fiat monetary system and sped up Bitcoin’s rise, as more people begin to exit the traditional system (May 14 | 1:53 min watch). 

• Jeff Booth and Robert Breedlove argue that to ensure its long-term survival and decentralization, Bitcoin must evolve beyond being a mere store of value and achieve widespread adoption as a medium of exchange, thereby preventing risks of centralization and control (May 13 | 5:01 min watch). 

• Matthew Kratter of Bitcoin University critiques a revised proposal by Bitcoin Core to increase RETURN size limits rather than remove them altogether, arguing they still increase spam, threaten decentralization, and sideline community input, while advocating for alternative implementations like Bitcoin Knots (May 13 | 10:35 min watch).

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