Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #366 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:

• 📜 Szabo Returns to 𝕏 to Stir Bitcoin Core v30 Debate

• ⚡ Nations Poised for ‘Suddenly’ Bitcoin Boom

• 👏 Vanguard Capitulates To Let Bitcoin ETFs in the Door

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Sep 29, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

📜 Szabo Returns to 𝕏 to Stir Bitcoin Core v30 Debate

Legendary cypherpunk Nick Szabo has broken a five-year 𝕏 silence to weigh in on Bitcoin Core’s v30 update, which expands OP_RETURN data limits from 80 bytes to nearly 4 megabytes. The change pits so-called purists (who want Bitcoin solely for money) against so-called maxis arguing for fee-based freedom. Szabo warns increased data allowances could worsen node costs and legal risks, as harmful content stored on-chain might make operators more exposed. The heated debate continues ahead of October’s planned release. Cointelegraph

⚡ Nations Poised for ‘Suddenly’ Bitcoin Boom

Samson Mow, Jan3 founder, says countries are on the verge of a ‘gradually, then suddenly’ leap into Bitcoin adoption, with 2026 set for a major nation-state FOMO wave. The US is inching toward a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve but risks being front-run by faster movers like Pakistan or Latin America. Analysts from Galaxy Digital and Bitwise back the bullish outlook, noting sovereign wealth funds and central banks will soon stack sats as Bitcoin cements its role as a strategic asset. Cryptopolitan

👏 Vanguard Capitulates To Let Bitcoin ETFs in the Door

After shutting out bitcoin ETFs since their inception, $10T asset titan Vanguard is preparing to let brokerage clients buy select third-party digital asset ETFs. The move follows mounting client demand, a friendlier US regulatory climate, and unstoppable bitcoin ETF success - over $140B in inflows and 1.3M BTC held. While CEO Salim Ramji claims Vanguard won’t launch its own products, offering access could stem investor outflows and mark a major win for mainstream Bitcoin adoption. Bitcoin News

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QUICK BITS

• Singapore & the UAE officially top ApeX Protocol’s ranking of the world’s most ‘crypto-obsessed’ nations, fueled by skyrocketing ownership, booming search activity, and rapid adoption growth.

• New BTC wallet withdraws 584.72 BTC worth $63.9M from Binance, signaling potential bullish sentiment as large off-exchange moves typically indicate long-term holding intentions and reduced selling pressure.

• Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz believes Bitcoin's biggest bull catalyst could be the next Federal Reserve chair pick, suggesting that BTC could reach $200,000 if an exceptionally dovish nominee replaces Jerome Powell.

• OKX executive Haider Rafique warns that a Bitcoin strategic reserve could destabilize BTC prices and trigger US dollar crisis, as government holdings create manipulation risks and signal weakening confidence in traditional monetary systems.

• NYDIG urges Bitcoin treasury firms to ditch the mNAV metric, warning it misleads investors by ignoring operating businesses, other assets, and liabilities from unconverted convertible debt.

• EBRD report shows that Ukraine leads global Bitcoin and crypto adoption with $106B inflows and $882M purchases amid conflict, driven by institutional and professional-level bitcoin transactions.

• China's central bank opens a Shanghai-based international center to expand digital yuan use in cross-border payments.

• Marusho Hotta, a 164-year-old Japanese kimono maker backed by Bakkt, gains shareholder approval to rebrand as Bitcoin Japan Corporation and pivot to BTC treasury operations amid declining textile revenues.

• Vietnam's SSI Securities chairman shifts stance on Bitcoin, now viewing it as a decentralized technology rather than a speculative coin, as Vietnam's government launches a five-year pilot program for the industry.

• Market analyst James Van Straten predicts that options and derivatives will drive Bitcoin market cap to $10T by attracting institutional investors and reducing volatility.

• Dormant Bitcoin wallet moves $44M worth of BTC after 12 years of inactivity, joining trend of Satoshi-era addresses becoming active.

• Gloucester city, New Jersey, bans Bitcoin machines over scammer concerns, citing worries that fraudsters use them to target and exploit elderly victims in financial schemes.

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QUICK MEDIA

• Bitcoin Straight Up, a Bitcoin education channel, corrects his initial misunderstanding in a popular video about the Core 30 update's OP_RETURN changes, explaining that existing inscription methods already allow larger data storage, and argues that community division poses a greater threat to Bitcoin than technical policy debates (Sep 24 | 25:45 min watch). 

• Adam Livingston, author of 'The Great Harvest', argues that Bitcoin can end warfare by severing the connection between monetary and political power, as its fixed supply prevents governments from secretly funding wars through currency debasement like they do with fiat money (Sep 28 | 23:47 min watch).

• Jimmy Song, author of 'Programming Bitcoin', explains why spam on Bitcoin, especially non-financial data, faces different and increased economic constraints than traditional spam on protocols like email, arguing that over the long run, transaction fees will act as the ultimate spam filter (Sep 28 | 3:10 min watch). 

• Guy Swann of Bitcoin Audible documents the recent npm hack where Josh Junan, an open-source maintainer known as Qix, was phished, leading hackers to inject malicious code into 18 popular packages that redirected cryptocurrency payments, highlighting fundamental flaws in our outdated username-password security system (Sep 27 | 8:38 min watch).

• Matthew Kratter of Bitcoin University argues that Bitcoin Core developers deliberately weakened Bitcoin's spam resistance by accommodating the inscriptions exploit instead of fixing it, leading to UTXO bloat and network degradation while rejecting proposed solutions (Sep 28 | 12:43 min watch). 

• Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, in an appearance on the Blockstream Talk show, argues that bitcoin can save countries and cities while assuring that his company will not let the network fail (Sep 26 | 1:24 min watch).

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