Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #362 of Bitcoin Breakdown, where every Tuesday and Thursday, we bring you the latest must-read Bitcoin thought leadership articles and the newest tools and projects you should know about.

But first, today’s Top Stories:

• 🇩🇪 Deutsche Bank Says Central Banks To Hold Bitcoin by 2030

• 🫂 Strive Acquires Semler in $675M Bitcoin Treasury Merger

• 🇪🇺 EU Fast-Tracks Digital Euro to Break US Dominance

TOGETHER WITH BITIZENSHIP

Get EU Citizenship via Bitcoin

Bitizenship helps Bitcoin-forward investors gain EU residency and a path to Portuguese citizenship in 5 years while maintaining exposure to Bitcoin.

Qualify through Portugal’s Golden Visa fund route, then meet the 14-days-per-2-years stay rule.

Citizenship timelines are under review in 2025. Stay ahead of proposed changes and processing backlogs: Get free Bitizenship updates for policy alerts, timelines, and fund openings 👇

Sep 23, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🇩🇪 Deutsche Bank Says Central Banks To Hold Bitcoin by 2030

Deutsche Bank predicts central banks will buy and hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets by 2030. The $1.05T asset manager cites Bitcoin's decreasing volatility, deeper markets, and clearer regulations as key factors. They argue BTC offers diversification beyond dollars and euros, plus hedging against inflation and geopolitical risks, provided custody and regulatory frameworks mature. Over 180 public companies and US pension funds already hold 4.7% of all mined bitcoin, showing growing institutional adoption. Cryptopolitan

🫂 Strive Acquires Semler in $675M Bitcoin Treasury Merger

Strive announces it will acquire Semler Scientific in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $1.34B, as the bitcoin treasury company backed by former Republican US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy moves to expand its bitcoin holdings. The combined company will control over 10,900 BTC, making it the world's 12th largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Unlike debt-heavy models, Strive plans to use preferred equity exclusively for future Bitcoin purchases, eliminating refinancing risks and creating a more stable accumulation strategy. Bitcoin Magazine

🇪🇺 EU Fast-Tracks Digital Euro to Break US Dominance

European Union finance ministers approve a roadmap for its digital euro spycoin, outlining how holding limits would work without setting actual caps yet. The project ostensibly aims to challenge US-controlled payment giants like Visa and Mastercard. The European Central Bank must give 2 years notice before launch and submit proposed limits 6 months prior. Despite promises of offline anonymity matching cash, privacy advocates remain skeptical about centralized digital currency surveillance risks. Officials cite geopolitical instability as justification for accelerating the controversial project. Atlas21

POLL #362

PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

OPINION & ANALYSIS

• Darthcoin, a Bitcoin OG and a Lightning Network tinkerer, provides essential tips for users of Zeus, Blixt, Breez and Lightning Pub mobile nodes, explaining neutrino synchronization, peer banning mechanisms, and proper usage practices to optimize these powerful but often misunderstood Lightning applications (Sep 22 | 4 min read).

• Tristan Hillerich of Branta, a Bitcoin payment verification company, argues that society has shifted from building permanent, high-quality products to embracing 'engineered decay' focused on short-term profits, while positioning Bitcoin as the catalyst for returning to engineered permanence and Branta as the bridge between decay-focused infrastructure and Bitcoin's enduring design principles (Sep 22 | 21 min read).

• Tedthizzy, a Bitcoiner on Stacker News, argues that hyperbitcoinization will eliminate government funding mechanisms through fiat debasement, potentially leading to the collapse of legal systems as states lose their monopoly on force and ability to enforce laws (Sep 21 | 3 min read).

• Christina Comben, writing for CryptoSlate, argues that Vietnam's censorship of 86M bank accounts to enforce biometric authentication demonstrates why Bitcoin offers superior financial sovereignty compared to traditional banking systems vulnerable to government overreach (Sep 21 | 2 min read).

• Kiara Bickers, head of Research Communications at Blockstream, argues that Bitcoin's quantum computing vulnerability affecting 25% of supply can be addressed through Taproot's hidden script paths, which could enable post-quantum signature fallbacks without immediate disruption to current operations (Sep 19 | 6 min read).

• Fedor Shabashev, a computer scientist and consultant, argues in a recently published research paper that bitcoin-settled prediction markets could outperform stablecoin platforms by preserving BTC exposure and aligning incentives, although volatility and hedging costs remain significant adoption hurdles (Sep 19 | 5 min read).

• Scoresby, a Bitcoiner on Stacker News, traces the organic emergence of the term 'satoshi' from ribuck's 2010 proposal through community consensus, exploring how bitcoin's smallest unit got its beloved nickname before formal adoption (Sep 19 | 2 min read).

• Conor Mulcahy, a founding member of Irish Bitcoin policy group BitcoinNetwork dot ie, argues that Sir Tim Berners-Lee's call for regulation to fix online polarization and mental health issues misses the root cause: fiat money's inflationary pressure distorting Silicon Valley incentives toward surveillance capitalism, while Bitcoin and open protocols like Nostr offer superior solutions (Sep 19 | 14 min read). 

• Niftynei of Bitcoin++ argues that filtering OP_RETURN transactions through node operations paradoxically undermines Bitcoin's decentralization goals by creating mining disadvantages for smaller operators, despite the recent protocol changes being designed to preserve node accessibility (Sep 18 | 5 min read).

• ZmnSCPxj, a Bitcoin developer and researcher, proposes a novel MultiChannel construction that combines multiple public forwarding nodes in a k-of-n arrangement with end users to create a high-availability CP database for Bitcoin payments, addressing Lightning Network's availability issues while maintaining self-custody principles through PTLC-based stuckless payments that allow users to go offline during payment attempts (Sep 15 | 20 min read).

REFERRAL PROGRAMME TOGETHER W/ OSHI*

REFER A FRIEND,

STACK 4000 SATS EACH, FOR FREE

1. Share your unique link: https://www.btcbreakdown.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER&utm_source=BTCPLACEHOLDER (need to be subscribed and logged in to see your unique link)

2. New subscriber joins and optimally engages by opening ≥ 50% of issues received and making 2 unique link clicks within 15 days.

3. Boom: 4000 sats to you and them. We’ll automatically email both of you the moment it lands.

*T&Cs: One real human ↔ one inbox. Duplicate or bot sign ups = nuke & lose sats. Fraud flags void payouts. We may adjust rewards if a God candle melts charts. Max 50 referrals per individual. Questions? Hit [email protected]. Ready? Copy, paste, orange pill, stack sats. 🚀

TOOLS & PROJECTS

• New on Geyser: Bitcoin Vanuatu is a project that aims to cultivate Bitcoin adoption across the Pacific island nation, leveraging government-friendly policies and tax-free environment to build a circular economy through Bitrefill partnerships.

• New on Geyser: Pleb Payday, a grassroots Bitcoin initiative by Airbtc, encourages global Bitcoiners to make Lightning transactions every Thursday, transforming weekly spending into adoption catalyst while partnering with merchants for BTC discounts and building sustainable Bitcoin culture.

• xNostr bridges 𝕏 and Nostr by offering real-time sync, bulk imports, and media preservation for a seamless transition from 𝕏 to Nostr.

• Predyx, a Bitcoin-based prediction market, launches an AI assistance feature on their prediction platform, enabling users to discover market insights through AI chatbot integration and automated market analysis tools.

• Hornet Node, a declarative Bitcoin client by former Microsoft Principal Software Scientist Toby Sharp, introduces executable consensus specifications and the Hornet DSL to enable formal verification and strengthen Bitcoin's decentralization through rigorous client diversity.

• Liquid Network, a Bitcoin sidechain platform, announces that its Developer Bootcamp world tour will return to São Paulo Nov 3-4, focusing on Simplicity programming language as preparation for Satsconf hackathon.

• Pythcoiner publishes a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal that introduces a compact encryption scheme for wallet descriptors, policies, and metadata using AES-GCM-256 encryption with keys derived from public keys for secure cloud storage.

• Guardian Address Signal Protocol is a Bitcoin security mechanism that enables emergency wallet lockdowns through standardized on-chain signals to prevent theft under duress.

• Zkpoor is a zero-knowledge proof system that enables companies to cryptographically verify Bitcoin holdings without revealing addresses or UTXOs using STARK proofs.

• Noah is a self-custodial mobile wallet for Ark, a Bitcoin Layer 2 protocol and scaling solution, built with React Native and Expo featuring modern technologies like TypeScript, Zustand state management, and a comprehensive development environment setup.

MEME OF THE DAY

Bitcoin Breakdown has the highest signal-to-noise ratio in its class. If you find our work useful and want to see the publication grow, consider supporting us on Geyser.

Every contribution is a sign that we’re on the right track. We know your time is valuable, and we’re here to help you make the most of it. Thank you for your support.

Thank you for reading!

If you received it from a friend and would like to subscribe, you can do so here:

Until our next transmission,

P.S. Looking to start your own newsletter? Use this link to sign up for beehiiv and get a 30-day free trial plus a 20% discount.