Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #422 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.

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Now for today’s Top Stories:

• 🌍 IMF Warns Stablecoins Could Dethrone Central Banks

• 🎯 CFTC Greenlights Spot Bitcoin Trading on Regulated US Exchanges

• 🏦 Bitcoin Settles Visa-Scale Volumes, But Not for Your Coffee

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Dec 5, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🌍 IMF Admits Bitcoin Is Rational, Fears Loss of Control

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) releases a 56-page report warning that stablecoins could erode central bank control through currency substitution, thereby acknowledging that citizens in unstable economies turning to bitcoin or stablecoins is a 'rational response' to failing local fiat currencies. While framed as a warning, the IMF's stance reveals its true worry: maintaining control over financial systems. When citizens ditch unstable local fiat currencies for dollar-pegged stablecoins, central banks lose their grip on monetary policy and interest rates. They recommend governments block stablecoins from becoming legal tender. Atlas21

🎯 CFTC Greenlights Spot Bitcoin Trading on Regulated US Exchanges

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission just approved spot Bitcoin trading on federally registered exchanges for the first time, marking a historic shift for US Bitcoin and crypto markets. Chicago-based Bitnomial will lead the charge, offering both leveraged and non-leveraged spot trading under full CFTC oversight. Acting Chairman Caroline Pham says the move strengthens America's position in Bitcoin and crypto while pulling activity from sketchy offshore venues into transparent, compliant regulatory oversight. NewsBTC

🏦 Bitcoin Settles Visa-Scale Volumes, But Not for Your Coffee

Bitcoin settled $6.9T over 90 days, matching Visa and Mastercard's combined volume, according to Glassnode. However, stripping out same-entity transfers reveals Bitcoin's economic settlement is closer to $870B quarterly, mainly for trading, remittances, and store-of-value rather than retail spending. Only 20,599 merchants worldwide accept Bitcoin versus Visa's 175M locations. Meanwhile, stablecoins move $225B daily, though 70% comes from trading bots, not organic payments, highlighting Bitcoin's role as a wholesale settlement network. Cointelegraph

POLL #422

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QUICK BITS

• Russia's second-largest bank, VTB, pushes to become the first major Russian lender offering direct bitcoin trading to wealthy clients, despite trading remaining unregulated.

• Gary Gensler, former SEC Chair, doubles down on treating Bitcoin as a commodity-like asset while slamming thousands of other tokens as 'highly speculative' with no fundamentals.

• Argentina's state-controlled energy company, YPF, explores bitcoin payments at fuel stations.

• Italy launches a comprehensive review of Bitcoin and crypto investment protections, citing growing risks from deepening ties to traditional finance.

• Andrew Toth, a long-time Bitcoin Core contributor focused on performance and privacy enhancements, receives long-term support from OpenSats to continue work on initial block download optimization, private transaction broadcast, and validation improvements.

• Daniel Batten, a Bitcoin environmental FUD debunker, cancels his interview with The Street, citing misleading and factual inaccuracies in their reporting about Bitcoin mining.

• Christopher Harborne, a British investor with a 13% stake in Tether, donates a record £9M ($12M) to the Reform UK party as the government weighs banning Bitcoin and crypto political contributions.

• Bitcoin's Bollinger BandWidth indicator hits record lows after flashing a bullish 'green' signal in November, historically preceding parabolic price surges of 40% or more within months.

• Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission plans to launch a national stablecoin pegged to the Taiwanese or US dollar by late 2026, pending approval of the Virtual Assets Service Act.

• Matt Hougan, Bitwise chief investment officer, argues that Strategy's $1.4B cash reserves, no debt until 2027, and Bitcoin holdings above cost basis mean forced sales remain unlikely despite stock decline.

• Cynthia Lummis, US Senator, posts a cartoon poster which says 'Franklin buys Bitcoin and finds financial freedom', thereby possibly hinting that the US might buy Bitcoin soon...

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QUICK MEDIA

• Bugle News compiles a year-in-review video collage featuring the strategic reserve announcement, Bitcoin podcasters, paper bitcoin summer, Ross' pardon, Samourai and Tornado cash developer charges and other major events (Dec 1 | 4:07 min watch). 

• Michael Burry, the investor known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis turned pay-walled Substacker, in an appearance on author Michael Lewis' Against the Rules podcast, embarrasses himself by saying bitcoin is 'worthless' and calls its $100K valuation 'the most ridiculous thing' (Dec 3 | 0:47 min watch). 

• Stafford Masie, Executive Chairman of Africa Bitcoin Corporation, in an interview with Bitcoin Magazine NL, explains how Bitcoin addresses life-or-death challenges rather than mere inconveniences in Africa, highlighting why innovation and adoption on the continent takes a fundamentally different form than elsewhere (Dec 1 | 1:10 min watch). 

• Jeff Booth, author of 'The Price of Tomorrow', in an interview with John and Brady of Swan Signal Live, examines how AI-driven deflation forces fiat money printing while positioning Bitcoin's scarcity and programmability as the ideal neutral value system for an automated future where AI systems prefer digital assets over inflationary currencies (Dec 1 | 19:29 min watch). 

• Adam Livingston, author of 'The Great Harvest,' analyzes Vanguard's reversal on Bitcoin as the investment giant enables spot Bitcoin ETF access, potentially unlocking $3T in retirement capital and reshaping supply-demand dynamics for conservative investors (Dec 3 | 14:50 min watch). 

• Rustin of Simply Bitcoin argues that simultaneous global debt crises signal an imminent systemic financial reset where Bitcoin emerges as the dominant monetary system as major banks and sovereign funds quietly accumulate BTC over traditional assets like gold (Dec 5 | 23:26 min watch).

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