Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #431 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.

Now for today’s Top Stories:

• ⚖️ Trump Eyes Pardon for Samourai Wallet Co-Founders

• 🛡️ Bitcoin Proves Its Safe Haven Status as Altcoins Crumble

• 🇬🇧 UK Sets 2027 Deadline for Crypto Regulation Under Financial Watchdog

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Dec 16, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

⚖️ Trump Eyes Pardon for Samourai Wallet Co-Founders

President Donald Trump said he'll review the case of Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill, co-founders of Samourai Wallet, who were convicted of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Rodriguez faces five years in prison, with a December 18 reporting date, while Hill received four years. The Bitcoin privacy tool case has sparked debate about developer liability and financial privacy rights. A pardon would align with Trump's campaign promises to end the 'anti-crypto crusade' and protect self-custody rights. Bitcoin Magazine

🛡️ Bitcoin Proves Its Safe Haven Status as Altcoins Crumble

While Bitcoin dropped 26% over the past three months, it still crushed the competition as capital flows favored the orange coin. Ethereum fell 36%, AI tokens tanked 48%, and memecoins collapsed 56%, according to Glassnode. The data shows Bitcoin maintaining its dominant position as institutional interest and investor preference for stability keep it ahead of struggling altcoins. Bitcoin remains the safer haven in crypto's volatile landscape, proving once again why it's king. Cointelegraph

🇬🇧 UK Sets 2027 Deadline for Crypto Regulation Under Financial Watchdog

The UK Treasury is rolling out a comprehensive regulatory framework to bring digital assets under Financial Conduct Authority oversight by October 2027. Chancellor Rachel Reeves aims to establish 'clear rules of the road' while keeping 'dodgy actors' out and protecting consumers. Crypto exchanges and services will face the same standards as traditional financial products, covering trading, custody, and issuance. The UK also plans transatlantic cooperation with the US through a joint taskforce to balance regulation with innovation. Atlas21

POLL #431

PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

OPINION & ANALYSIS

• L0la L33tz of The Rage argues that Roman Storm's prosecution threatens to criminalize privacy software development and reverse decades of First Amendment protections for code as speech, as the defense contends the government's case relies on 'could have's and should have's' rather than proving willful criminal conduct (Dec 15 | 4 min read).

• Frank Corva of Bitcoin Magazine argues that Bitcoin should remain freedom money for the financially disenfranchised rather than digital capital for wealthy institutions, criticizing Michael Saylor's plan to accumulate bitcoin and create a new fiat-like system on top of it (Dec 15 | 3 min read).

• Tom Honzik, Director of Custody Education at Unchained, explores collaborative multisig quorum options for bitcoin custody, analyzing center, left-of-center, and right-of-center arrangements to help users balance protection against theft and loss while determining whether sovereign access or agent failsafes best suit their security needs (Dec 11 | 10 min read).

• Pete Rizzo of BitcoinTreasuries dot net reports that 65% of corporate bitcoin treasuries now hold unrealized losses after BTC's November decline below $90,000, revealing how aggressively companies chased 2024's rally while major players like Strategy continue dominating purchases despite widespread balance sheet pressure (Dec 11 | 4 min read).

• DarthCoin, a Lightning Network enthusiast, shares essential tips for using Zeus v0.12's new features including NWC server capabilities that transform mobile devices into Lightning banks, covering node sync optimization, neutrino peer configuration, database maintenance, and creating budget-limited sub-accounts for family members or business use (Dec 12 | 6 min read).

• Juan Galt of Bitcoin Magazine argues that Trump should pardon Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, who face prison for 'unlicensed money transmission' despite creating non-custodial software, warning the case threatens financial privacy and Bitcoin and crypto innovation in the US (Dec 12 | 4 min read).

• Liam 'Akiba' Wright, CryptoSlate's Editor-in-Chief, examines how Belarus, India, Thailand, and other EMEA and APAC nations are implementing 'stealth capital controls' through ISP blocks, app removals, and KYC gates that fragment Bitcoin and crypto liquidity and force traders into licensed venues or gray markets (Dec 11 | 6 min read).

• Bitkey's security team argues that seed phrase scams targeting self-custody users can be eliminated entirely by using their hardware wallet system, which removes the single point of failure that traditional seed phrases create and makes social engineering attacks impossible (Dec 11 | 4 min read).

• Bitcoin Awareness, a Bitcoin Newsletter on Substack, argues that Bitcoin treasury companies should create 'Black Hole Nodes' - self-contained economies pricing goods and services directly in sats using a fixed 21M BTC denominator - to eliminate fiat dependence and trigger hyperbitcoinization through voluntary adoption and expanding economic boundaries (Dec 10 | 4 min read).

TOOLS & PROJECTS

• New on Geyser: New Zealand Bitcoin community starts a crowdfunding campaign to install the first Satoshi Nakamoto statue in the Southern Hemisphere at Queenstown's Bitcoin Basin, with funds covering purchase, shipping, placement and decade-long maintenance costs.

• New on Geyser: Genesis Project, a Florentine artisan collaboration, merges Renaissance lost-wax casting with Bitcoin culture through handcrafted NFC-enabled coins linking to Bitcoin's first block, available in bronze, silver, and 18k gold-plated editions.

• Bitment, a Bitcoin accounting software platform designed for CPAs and bookkeepers, automates transaction tracking, cost basis reporting, and tax-ready statements with wallet sync capabilities and pricing from free to enterprise tiers.

• Spiral campaigns for Human Bitcoin Addresses (HBAs) via BIP 353, a DNS-based standard that transforms complex wallet addresses into human-readable names like ₿[email protected], enabling interoperable peer-to-peer payments across Lightning and on-chain protocols while preserving privacy and decentralization.

• Unchained launches its Android app featuring cold storage purchases, vault management, biometric security, and real-time portfolio tracking for long-term holders.

• Bitcoin Film Festival returns to Warsaw's Kinoteka from June 4-7, 2026, inviting filmmakers and bitcoin enthusiasts to explore the intersection of sound money and cultural transformation through cinema.

• BDIC, a bitcoin-native insurance marketplace powered by Resolvr, offers regulated coverage denominated in BTC for individuals, organizations, and platforms, protecting against theft, loss, and custody failures through Lightning-enabled real-time premium payments.

• Fedimint Observer launches a major update with React-based front end and interactive graphs, enhancing data visualization for the federated mint monitoring platform.

• Neutrino-guide provides a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial for setting up a Neutrino light client node with LND 0.17.0-Beta on Digital Ocean, including optional integrations for Watchtower, NOSFT, LNDg, and Balance of Satoshi with Telegram bot functionality.

• Frostr, a collaborative custody solution using FROST threshold signatures, launches Igloo Server on Umbrel's app store, enabling users to run private nostr signing infrastructure with simple installation.

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