Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #441 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.

Now for today’s Top Stories:

• 🇻🇪 Venezuela’s Tether Freeze Shows Stablecoins Have a Kill Switch

• 🏧 Scrutiny of Bitcoin ATMs On The Rise

• 🔋 Samson Mow Says Musk Could Plug Back Into Bitcoin in 2026

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Jan 12, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🇻🇪 Venezuela’s Tether Freeze Shows Stablecoins Have a Kill Switch

Tether is freezing wallets tied to Venezuela’s oil trade, aiding US investigators while courting US market legitimacy. Starting in 2020, the state oil company demanded payment in the dollar-pegged stablecoin to skirt US sanctions, and USDT also became a day-to-day savings and payment rail for citizens. Governments are now noticing that stablecoins may be useful 'dollar plumbing' without traditional rails, but they are not sovereign money if issuers can blacklist funds. That real-world 'off switch' strengthens Bitcoin’s case as permissionless final settlement. The Wall Street Journal

🏧 Scrutiny of Bitcoin ATMs On The Rise

Bitcoin ATMs are facing mounting pressure in the US, driven by a surge in scam losses and a growing policy backlash. Spokane, Washington, became the largest US city to ban all Bitcoin ATMs, after police documented repeated cases of victims being coerced into depositing large sums that were quickly sent overseas and were nearly impossible to recover. With the FBI reporting $240M lost to such scams in the first half of 2025, other cities and states are weighing tighter rules or bans, while Bitcoin advocates argue better enforcement beats removal. CNBC

🔋 Samson Mow Says Musk Could Plug Back Into Bitcoin in 2026

Jan3 founder Samson Mow predicts Elon Musk will 'go hard' into BTC in 2026, despite Tesla pausing Bitcoin payments in 2021 over environmental concerns and selling most of its bitcoin in 2022. Mow also calls for BTC to reach $1.33M, driven by accelerating nation-state adoption, and says Michael Saylor’s Strategy stock could hit $5,000. Other leaders, like Bitwise’s Matt Hougan, expect steadier gains and lower volatility. Cointelegraph

POLL #441

PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

QUICK BITS

• US Department of Justice's criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell triggers debate over central bank independence, strengthening Bitcoin's narrative as a hedge against political interference in monetary policy.

• Bitcoin Core officially adds @sedited, also known as TheCharlatan, as its newest maintainer after a nomination led by Gloria Zhao and broad support from other developers.

• Mining difficulty drops to 146.4T in 2026's first adjustment after hitting record highs in 2025, as miners face harsh margin pressure from halving effects.

• Satoshi-era Bitcoin miner moves 2,000 BTC worth $181M to Coinbase after 15 years of dormancy, marking the largest early-era transfer since late 2024 as vintage supply hits the market.

• H100 Group, a Sweden-listed company, agrees to acquire Adam Back-backed Bitcoin treasury Future Holdings for approximately $753,000 as part of its strategic expansion into the Swiss institutional market.

• UK Parliament senior Labour MPs press Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ban Bitcoin and crypto political donations in a new elections bill, citing transparency gaps, foreign interference, and micro-donation risks.

• UK Financial Conduct Authority opens Bitcoin and crypto licensing applications in September 2026, requiring all UK Bitcoin and crypto asset service providers to secure authorization before the October 2027 regime launch or face restrictions.

• Rep Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, urged the IRS to eliminate crypto staking tax rules while his wife purchased $50K-$100K in bitcoin the same day, raising conflict of interest concerns.

• Morgan Stanley expands its Bitcoin push with E-Trade BTC trading in H1 2026 and a proprietary wallet planned for H2 2026.

• BlackRock Investment Institute warns that AI data centers could consume 24% of US electricity by 2030, creating grid competition that threatens Bitcoin miners' access to cheap, flexible power.

• Bitcoin community marks 17 years since cryptographer Hal Finney's historic 'Running Bitcoin' post.

• Whale addresses holding 100+ BTC reach record highs amid sustained accumulation, signaling long-term confidence as BTC's price consolidates.

QUICK MEDIA

• Voidzilla, aka Coffeezilla, analyzes Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's statement alleging the Department of Justice is threatening criminal indictment as political pressure to lower interest rates rather than legitimate oversight of building renovation costs (Jan 12 | 10:58 min watch). 

• Matthew Kratter of Bitcoin University criticizes the nomination of new Bitcoin Core maintainer 'The Charlatan' by Gloria Zhao, arguing the appointment continues Core's pro-spam stance and alleged 'nepotism', while advocating for users to switch to Bitcoin Knots implementation instead (Jan 10 | 7:44 min watch). 

• Knut Svanholm, host of 'The Bitcoin Infinity Show', in an interview with Nico of Simply Bitcoin, argues that all fiat currencies inevitably follow a hockey stick curve toward hyperinflation and death, while 'hyperbitcoinization' offers the ultimate remedy to this monetary collapse (Jan 12 | 2:35 min watch). 

• Blockspace Media explores how quantum computing threatens Bitcoin's cryptography, explaining that 2M-4M BTC (10-20% of supply) including Satoshi's 1M coins remain vulnerable to Shor's algorithm, while developers debate urgent migration to post-quantum encryption standards amid uncertain timelines (Jan 10 | 18:58 min watch). 

• BTC Sessions warns that California Governor Gavin Newsom's new law allowing the state to seize inactive Bitcoin on exchanges after three years signals dangerous government overreach and highlights the critical importance of self-custody for protecting digital assets from potential future confiscation (Jan 12 | 19:13 min watch). 

• Adam Livingston argues that Strategy's STRC preferred shares create a 'capital markets weapon' by funneling fixed-income capital into Bitcoin at scale, potentially driving prices toward $1M as even small rotations from the $145T global bond market could trigger massive supply shocks (Jan 9 | 19:59 min watch).

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