Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #428 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:

• 🚫 9 Major US Banks Caught Red-Handed in Bitcoin Debanking Scheme

• 🐪 Saylor's Bitcoin-Backed Corporate Central Bank Vision

• 🤡 Republicans Break Promise on CBDC Ban

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Dec 12, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🚫 9 Major US Banks Caught Red-Handed in Bitcoin Debanking Scheme

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reveals that America's 9 largest banks systematically restricted services to Bitcoin and crypto firms between 2020 and 2023, treating the industry as 'politically controversial.' Banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo imposed stricter verification requirements on crypto exchanges, custodians, and issuers under the guise of financial crime concerns. Critics note the report ignored how regulators like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation explicitly pressured banks to avoid crypto companies. Atlas21

🐪 Saylor's Bitcoin-Backed Corporate Central Bank Vision

Michael Saylor unveils plans at Bitcoin MENA to build a three-layer financial system using Bitcoin as a reserve asset, topped with corporate credit instruments and synthetic dollar products offering 8% yields. His company now holds 660,000 BTC and buys $500M to $1B weekly. The structure resembles a private central bank but can't operate under US stablecoin laws, making Middle East jurisdictions likely hosts. Critics warn this centralizes Bitcoin's decentralized foundation into a single corporate balance sheet, marking a shift from Bitcoin's decentralized cypherpunk roots toward corporate-controlled infrastructure. Forbes

🤡 Republicans Break Promise on CBDC Ban

Republican conservatives are livid after House leadership broke its promise to include a central bank digital currency ban in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. Representative Keith Self had filed an amendment to restore the anti-CBDC language, but it failed to advance. The $900B defense bill passed 312-112 and heads to the Senate. GOP hardliners had secured a July deal guaranteeing the ban after holding up crypto bills for nine hours, but Speaker Mike Johnson ultimately left it out. Cointelegraph

POLL #428

PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

QUICK BITS

• Strategy warns MSCI that excluding Bitcoin holding companies from stock indices would threaten US national security interests.

• Save the Children unveils a Bitcoin fund to hold donations for up to 4 years, aiming to bypass slow traditional banking during emergencies.

• CFTC withdraws its 2020 guidance on 'actual delivery' of virtual currencies, which required buyers to gain full custody within 28 days.

• SpaceX transfers 1,021 BTC worth $94.5M via Coinbase Prime as part of ongoing treasury consolidation.

• Revolut partners with Binance-owned Trust Wallet to enable instant Bitcoin purchases in the EU with zero fees, sending assets directly to users' self-custodial wallets.

• Paxful, a shuttered peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, pleads guilty to enabling trades linked to money laundering, illegal prostitution sites, and sanctioned countries.

• Klarna, a Swedish fintech giant, partners with Stripe-owned Privy to develop crypto wallet features for its 114M users.

• Statue of Satoshi Nakamoto arrives at the New York Stock Exchange after Jack Mallers' Twenty One Capital listing, marking Bitcoin's evolution from Wall Street taboo to mainstream acceptance.

• CoinCorner announces the launch of bitcoin-backed loans on the platform, with the team promising additional product releases in coming months.

• Tajikistan approves harsh penalties including fines up to $8,000 and 8-year prison sentences for illegal bitcoin mining amid energy crisis that caused $3.5M in state losses.

• Adam Back, Blockstream CEO and early cypherpunk who corresponded with Satoshi Nakamoto asserts all companies will eventually become Bitcoin treasury companies.

• Do Kwon, Terraform Labs co-founder behind the $40B Terra collapse, receives a 15-year prison sentence for wire fraud and conspiracy after a guilty plea in New York federal court.

QUICK MEDIA

• Eric Larchevêque of The Bitcoin Society reports that France's amendment 1649AC is advancing, which mandates that citizens disclose the exact market value of self-custodied Bitcoin holdings without triggering taxable events, sparking privacy concerns about creating a dangerous database linking identities to precise balances (Dec 12 | 2:51 min watch).

• Bruce Fenton of Satoshi Roundtable, in a panel discussion at the Bitcoin MENA conference, passionately argues that Bitcoin ETFs and institutional products are centralized 'fake paper' instruments that strip away Bitcoin's core values of self-custody, censorship resistance, and privacy, representing a step backwards rather than progress for the industry (Dec 11 | 2 min watch).

• NVK of Coinkite, in an appearance on BTC Sessions' podcast, argues that ETFs and treasury companies now serve as the primary funnel for new adopters who increasingly transition to self-custody, creating mainstream normalization that surpasses gold ownership as BTC becomes a standard portfolio holding among retail investors globally (Dec 8 | 9:00 min watch). 

• Chris Sullivan, Co-Founder and Co-Portfolio Manager of Hyperion Decimus, in an interview with Robert Beedlove of the 'What Is Money' Show, explores how monetary inflation since the Great Depression has corrupted social cohesion and moral integrity, arguing that understanding historical financial manipulation empowers individuals to resist systemic wealth confiscation through health and wealth practices (Dec 6 | 8:03 min watch). 

• Michael Saylor, speaking at the Bitcoin MENA conference, says there is growing institutional interest in Bitcoin offerings from traditional financial institutions, revealing that he was approached by BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Charles Schwab, JP Morgan and Citi in relation to issuing credit against Bitcoin and Bitcoin derivatives (Dec 9 | 0:45 min watch). 

• Saifedean Ammous, author of 'The Bitcoin Standard', guest stars on the Tuttle Twins show to break down the harmful consequences of fiat money and why it distorts the economy, highlighting its destructive impact on Lebanon, while advocating for the usage of hard money as a peaceful form of exit (Dec 11 | 1:40 min watch).

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