Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #359 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:

• 🤷‍♂️ Saylor Answers Core vs Knots Question w/ Word Salad

• 🇻🇳 Why we Bitcoin – Vietnam Freezes 86M Bank Accounts Over Biometric Compliance

• 🇱🇦 Laos Turns Dam Debt into Digital Gold Rush

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Sep 19, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🤷‍♂️ Saylor Answers Core vs Knots Question w/ Word Salad

Strategy’s Michael Saylor weighed in on the core versus knots debate at the Bitcoin Treasury Unconference, warning against protocol changes that could have unintended consequences, arguing that even well-intentioned upgrades pose risks. Many bitcoiners were however disappointed and labelled his response a meaningless 'word salad', expecting leadership from the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder on this divisive protocol dispute. Protos

🇻🇳 Why we Bitcoin – Vietnam Freezes 86M Bank Accounts Over Biometric Compliance

Vietnam has closed over 86M bank accounts now (up from ‘only’ 3M as reported earlier this week) because of owners' refusal of Orwellian-like biometric scanning, which requires invasive fingerprints or facial recognition for access. The government claims it's anti-fraud modernization, but it's really about capital controls and surveillance. Account holders have one month to comply or lose their funds permanently. This punitive measure joins similar actions in Lebanon, Turkey, and Cyprus, proving trusted 3rd parties remain security holes while reiterating that only Bitcoin offers true financial sovereignty. Cointelegraph

🇱🇦 Laos Turns Dam Debt into Digital Gold Rush

Laos, drowning in hydropower debt and surplus electricity, is sagely pivoting to Bitcoin mining to monetize its excess energy. The landlocked nation built dozens of dams across the Mekong, becoming Southeast Asia's battery but accumulating massive Chinese-financed debt. With electricity comprising 26% of exports yet seasonal shortages forcing power imports, officials see Bitcoin mining as salvation for their energy abundance problem. South China Morning Post

POLL #359

PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

QUICK BITS

• Strategy stock jumps 6% after CEO and ‘BTC maxi’ Michael Saylor reveals surprising new flexibility at the Bitcoin Treasury Unconference, saying he’s open to considering selling Bitcoin itself in worst-case scenarios.

• K33, a research firm, reveals that 25% of public bitcoin treasury companies now trade below their BTC holdings value.

• UK Financial Conduct Authority announces plans to exempt UK Bitcoin and crypto providers from traditional finance rules while maintaining regulatory standards.

• Spur Steak Ranches, a restaurant chain in South Africa now accepts Bitcoin payments through an integration with Moneybadger and Zapper, enabling customers to pay using their preferred Lightning wallet.

• Shell, the $150B multinational oil and gas company, now also accepts Bitcoin payments across South Africa.

• US House Rules Committee explores integrating Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act into Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, creating a retroactive ban on central bank digital currencies.

• Praetorian Group International CEO Ramil Palafox admits to defrauding over 90,000 investors, promising fake 3% daily Bitcoin returns while running a classic Ponzi scheme.

• Warsaw Stock Exchange debuts Poland's first Bitcoin ETF, giving Polish investors regulated access to paper bitcoin through standard brokerage accounts.

• Maestro, a Bitcoin-native financial infrastructure provider, launches an institutional platform enabling corporations and asset managers to unlock yield on $150B in idle BTC holdings through compliant treasury solutions.

• US SEC approves expedited listing process for Bitcoin and gold exchange-traded products.

• Former TOR operator jailed for 3 years pre-trial after refusing to help the FBI decrypt traffic from his exit nodes.

• Ledger's security team reveals rival Tangem wallet vulnerability allowing PIN brute force attacks through power interruption, reducing cracking time from years to hours despite Tangem dismissing findings.

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QUICK MEDIA

• Michael Saylor offers his thoughts on the proposed policy changes to Bitcoin core regarding the OP_RETURN limit, arguing that even 'third order' changes like this are risky, even though they are proposed by competent, well-funded, well-intentioned developers, appreciating the community's reaction and criticism as a healthy response (Sep 18 | 1:51 min watch). 

• Adam Livingston, author of 'The Great Harvest', argues that individuals have a critical 5-year window (2025-2030) to accumulate Bitcoin before AI displaces jobs and creates economic chaos, positioning Bitcoin as essential protection against technological unemployment and monetary debasement (Sep 16 | 21:34 min watch). 

• Jesse Myers of Smarter Web Company, speaking at Bitcoin For Corporations, presents Bitcoin treasury companies as a revolutionary solution to replace the flawed $300T traditional bond market, offering superior yield-generating alternatives through innovative financial instruments and corporate adoption strategies (Sep 17 | 16:29 min watch). 

• Jimmy Song, author of 'Programming Bitcoin', in an interview with Parker Lewis, expresses his skepticism about the way that Bitcoin core developers have been engaging with the community regarding the recent policy changes related to the OP_RETURN limit (Sep 17 | 1:56 min watch).

• Brian Harrington, a Bitcoin educator, presents the 'perfect portfolio' strategy of owning 0.21 Bitcoin and one house, arguing that these assets provide optimal protection against inflation and wealth accumulation in an environment of Federal Reserve rate cuts and money printing (Sep 18 | 6:40 min watch). 

• Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, argues that fiat currency has destroyed America's middle class by creating two distinct economies of asset owners versus everyone else, positioning Bitcoin as the only money that can't be gatekept, offering economic liberation (Sep 16 | 1:34 min watch).

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