Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #289 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:

• 🇪🇺 ECB Economists Want to Redirect Your Savings for You

• 🇿🇦 South Africa Eyes Bitcoin Mining to Solve Electricity Debt Crisis

• 🌍 Bitcoin Becomes the New Gold Standard for Global Finance

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Jun 30, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🇪🇺 ECB Economists Want to Redirect Your Savings for You

European Central Bank economists propose a new EU savings standard that would channel retail savings into capital markets through tax incentives and standardized products. Critics labeled the proposal as ‘Marxist’, comparing it to the Gold Reserve Act of 1934. The plan aims to energize European capital markets by directing funds toward strategic sectors like technology and healthcare. ‘Because nothing says freedom like central planners deciding where your savings should go’. European Central Bank

🇿🇦 South Africa Eyes Bitcoin Mining to Solve Electricity Debt Crisis

South Africa's struggling state electricity utility, Eskom, is exploring Bitcoin mining as a potential revenue stream to tackle its massive ZaR403B debt burden. CEO Dan Marokane sees an opportunity as renewable energy competition forces a reduction in baseload capacity. By using bitcoin miners as a dispatchable buyer of last resort, Eskom would monetize electricity that it already generates but often cannot sell. With municipal debt reaching ZAR90B and electricity demand declining 4% annually, Eskom must reinvent itself or face a potential ZAR3.1T debt crisis by 2050. Mybroadband

🌍 Bitcoin Becomes the New Gold Standard for Global Finance

Major institutions like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are signaling a shift toward Bitcoin as a reference benchmark rather than just digital gold. Forbes reports that while stablecoins dominate payments with 140M daily transactions, experts predict a future where assets are priced in BTC terms but settled via stablecoins. This dual stack approach would create neutral monetary rails, with Bitcoin setting global standards while stablecoins handle local settlement across jurisdictions. Forbes

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QUICK BITS

• Orange Pill App's Seed Round on Thunder Funder has raised 72% of their goal and the deadline for you to also invest is today!

• US Internal Revenue Service dramatically increases Bitcoin and crypto tax warning letters by 758% over two months, targeting holders who may face collection procedures within 30 days if they don't respond properly.

• Bhutan's hydropower-fueled Bitcoin mining strategy has quietly built reserves worth $1.3B, representing 40% of its GDP and making the kingdom the world's third-largest nation-state Bitcoin holder after the US and China.

• Bitcoin Depot Chief Legal Officer Chris Ryan says police destroying Bitcoin ATMs with power tools are overstepping authority and creating victims, as law enforcement seizes funds that rightfully belong to the company.

• Financial Action Task Force, a global financial crime watchdog, warns only 40 of 138 jurisdictions meet Bitcoin and crypto compliance standards as illicit addresses received up to $51B in 2024.

• Bitcoin holders emerge as a decisive political force, with 76% supporting Bitcoin-friendly candidates and 43% of the general electorate considering politicians' Bitcoin stance influential in voting decisions ahead of 2026 midterms.

• Bakkt files $1B shelf registration with SEC to support new bitcoin treasury strategy amid financial struggles.

• Google introduces Android 16 feature to detect Stingray cell site simulators used by law enforcement for surveillance, but requires new hardware support unavailable on current smartphones, including the latest Pixel devices.

• TRM Labs, an analytics platform, suggests Israeli cyber units may have leveraged data from the $90M Nobitex hack to arrest Iranian espionage suspects compensated with Bitcoin or crypto.

• Ric Edelman, prominent US financial advisor, dramatically increases Bitcoin portfolio recommendation from 1% to 10-40% allocation citing institutional adoption, ETF success, and Bitcoin's gains versus traditional assets.

• Changpeng Zhao, Michael Saylor, and William Pulte suggest owning 0.1 Bitcoin could replace homeownership as the new American Dream as US housing policies now recognize Bitcoin-backed mortgages.

• CEX.IO reports Bitcoin and crypto cards are outpacing traditional banks for European micro-spending.

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QUICK MEDIA

• CitizenX CEO Alex Recouso and Katie 'The Russian' discuss how citizenship functions as a strategic tool for freedom, explaining why Bitcoiners naturally understand second citizenship value and how timing these investments during Bitcoin bull markets maximizes financial leverage while reducing government dependency (Jun 24 | 5:54 min watch).

• Mark Moss speaking at the BTC Prague conference, argues we're entering the 6th technological revolution where AI and Bitcoin converge to create a new economic paradigm, making traditional business metrics obsolete while companies that embrace both technologies will achieve exponential valuations through AI driven efficiency and Bitcoin treasury strategies (Jun 28 | 20:58 min watch).

• Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer of the Human Rights Foundation, delivers a keynote speech at the Bitcoin Policy Summit, declaring Bitcoin the most important human rights technology of the 21st century (Jun 29 | 19:25 min watch). 

• Isabella Santos, Founder of BTC Isla, explains how the European Central Bank's planned digital euro represents a concerning shift toward centralized financial control, offering unprecedented surveillance capabilities and spending restrictions, while Bitcoin emerges as a decentralized alternative that preserves financial freedom and privacy (Jun 27 | 6:44 min watch). 

• President Trump acknowledges Bitcoin's growing adoption as a payment method, stating it relieves pressure on the US dollar and benefits the country's economy (Jun 27 | 0:09 min watch).

• William J. Pulte, US Director of Federal Housing, says Bitcoin can make homes more affordable, calling it a 'very stable asset' (Jun 28 | 0:17 min watch).

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