Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #438 of Bitcoin Breakdown, where it’s OPSEC Wednesday special, followed by the latest Quick Bits snippets.

Now for today’s Top Stories:

• 🛡️ MSCI Decides Not To Boot Bitcoin Treasury Firms

• 🚧 Wallet of Satoshi Exits EU Custodial Market

• 👔 Morgan Stanley Suits Up for Bitcoin ETF

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Jan 7, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🛡️ MSCI Decides Not To Boot Bitcoin Treasury Firms

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has officially decided not to exclude digital asset treasury companies from its global indexes, ending months of uncertainty for firms like Strategy. This is a massive win for corporate Bitcoin adoption, as the index provider rejected classifying these operating companies as passive funds. The decision stifles a potential $2.8B capital flight and triggered an immediate 7% rally in Strategy shares. It ensures that companies holding bitcoin on their balance sheets remain eligible for major equity benchmarks. Bitcoin Magazine

👔 Morgan Stanley Suits Up for Bitcoin ETF

Like clockwork, Morgan Stanley officially filed a Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund. The proposed Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust intends to hold bitcoin directly, avoiding derivatives to track price action net of fees. While authorized participants handle large blocks, retail investors could soon trade shares on the secondary market. This filing marks another significant step for institutional adoption as another Wall Street giant prepares to offer direct exposure to the hardest asset. CoinDesk

🚧 Wallet of Satoshi Exits EU Custodial Market

Wallet of Satoshi has shut down custodial services across the European Union, prompting users to embrace self-custody. This move stems from the restrictive Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) and the invasive Directive on Administrative Cooperation in taxation, which mandates reporting user data to tax authorities. These clownish costly compliance hurdles stifle innovation and privacy, favoring large incumbents over agile Bitcoin startups. Consequently, European Bitcoiners are now being nudged toward the sovereignty of non-custodial wallets to escape the bureaucratic dragnet. The Rage

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OPSEC FEATURE ARTICLE

Stop Getting Phished in 2026: A 3-Minute Defense Routine (With Free Tools + a Bitcoin Example)

Phishing is evolving faster than most people’s habits.

The bad emails and DMs you’ll see in 2026 won’t scream ‘scam’ - they’ll look like normal work, normal shopping, normal life.

This week’s OPSEC guide gives you a simple routine and a handful of tools that let you verify what’s real before you hand over access.

Get instant access to this special feature by becoming a premium supporter here.

QUICK BITS

• MetaMask is being impersonated in phishing scams using fake 2FA security checks to steal wallet recovery phrases, warns SlowMist.

• Uganda's government threatens to block Jack Dorsey's Bitchat ahead of presidential elections as hundreds of thousands of Ugandans download the app amid internet blackout fears.

• Walmart, the world's largest retailer, integrates Bitcoin payments through its OnePay Cash platform, enabling 150M customers to use BTC for everyday purchases.

• Ledger, a leading hardware wallet manufacturer, confirms that third-party payment processor Global-e suffered unauthorized access exposing customer names and contact information, though funds remain secure.

• Satsuki Katayama, Japan's Minister of Finance, advocates integrating Bitcoin and crypto into stock exchanges to broaden public access, citing US ETF success and designating 2026 as the 'digital year.'

• Canaan, a Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer, launches a 3 MW pilot project in Manitoba, Canada, using liquid-cooled servers to recycle 90% of mining heat for year-round greenhouse cultivation of tomatoes.

• Venezuela's early Bitcoin and crypto adoption and gold-to-BTC conversion speculation fuel theories of a hidden $60B Bitcoin reserve, but analysts find no on-chain proof of the alleged 600K BTC holdings.

• TD Cowen, a US investment bank, warns that Senate Democrats may delay the crypto market structure bill until 2027 due to midterm election concerns and Trump conflict of interest issues.

• Riot Platforms, a publicly traded Bitcoin miner based in Colorado, sells 2,201 BTC worth nearly $200M to fund its strategic pivot toward AI data center development.

• PwC US Senior Partner Paul Griggs says the GENIUS Act's stablecoin regulations and SEC's friendlier stance are driving the 'Big Four' accounting firm to expand Bitcoin and crypto services.

• Maine's Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection reaches a $1.9M consent agreement with Bitcoin Depot to reimburse residents defrauded through BTC kiosk scams under new state consumer protection laws.

• Bitcoin Core warns users to avoid wallet migrations in versions 30.0 and 30.1 due to a critical bug that may delete wallet files and cause fund loss.

• Santiment, an analytics firm, reports that large Bitcoin holders have accumulated 56,227 BTC since Dec. 17 while small retail wallets sold, a historically bullish divergence pattern signaling a potential rally.

• Senator Cynthia Lummis criticizes reported $6.37M government BTC sale that may violate Trump's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order.

• Institutional Bitcoin purchases exceed mined supply for 8 consecutive days, a metric historically linked to 109% average BTC price gains since 2020, according to data from Capriole Investments.

• Hut 8, a North American Bitcoin mining and data center company, reaches a 4-year stock high after its subsidiary acquires over 5,400 BTC and secures a $7B data center deal with Fluidstack.

• Bitcoin trades above its 200-day moving average for the first time since October, signaling a potential escape from its bearish 'death cross' formation as bulls eye a 'golden cross' breakout.

• Strategy acquires 1,286 BTC for $116M in its first purchase for the year, boosting its total treasury to 673,783 BTC and its USD reserve to $2.25B.

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