Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to Issue #447 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.

But first, today’s Top Stories:

• 🛸 Fed Official Warns Alien Disclosure Will Spark Bitcoin Rush

• 🍔 Steak 'n Shake Stacks 10M in Bitcoin After Payment Success

• 🐳 Vanguard Goes Big on Strategy

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Jan 19, 2025

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

🛸 Fed Official Warns Alien Disclosure Will Spark Bitcoin Rush

Former Bank of England analyst Helen McCaw warns that official confirmation of extraterrestrial life could trigger immediate global financial chaos and bank runs. She urges the central bank to prepare for 'ontological shock' where trust in government assets evaporates instantly. McCaw predicts a massive flight to bitcoin as the ultimate safe haven, while gold could crash due to the potential of asteroid mining. It seems even an alien invasion is bullish for the Bitcoin network. The Times

🍔 Steak 'n Shake Stacks 10M in Bitcoin After Payment Success

Fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake just added 10M worth of bitcoin to its treasury, eight months after accepting Bitcoin payments across all US locations. The move caps a burger-to-Bitcoin transformation that's driven same-store sales up over 10% and slashed processing fees by half. All bitcoin revenue flows into what the company calls its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funding upgrades without raising prices. At roughly 105 BTC, it's a tasty addition to the growing corporate Bitcoin treasury trend. CoinDesk

🐳 Vanguard Goes Big on Strategy

Vanguard just made a massive splash by purchasing 505M USD of Strategy stock, marking its first direct exposure to the premier Bitcoin treasury company. This move, coupled with VanEck expanding its own position, signals a major shift in institutional confidence toward long-term stability rather than short-term speculation. With the available share float tightening and smart money stepping in to support the price, Strategy remains poised for a potential breakout as it builds a solid foundation for future growth. CoinGape

POLL #447

PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

QUICK BITS

• White House may pull support for the crypto market structure bill after calling Coinbase’s unilateral withdrawal of support a ‘rug pull’.

• Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the US President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, officially debunks rumors that the US government sold bitcoin seized from Samourai Wallet developers.

• Patrick Witt also says obscure legal provisions between government agencies are delaying the establishment of the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve despite the March 2025 executive order.

• Newrez, a US Housing Lender, allows borrowers to use bitcoin holdings for mortgage qualification without selling.

• Strategy CEO Michael Saylor signals plans for a Bitcoin purchase exceeding last week’s $1.25B, potentially pushing the business intelligence firm's total holdings beyond 700,000 BTC.

• Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor who views bitcoin as a sustainable store of value like gold, leads Polymarket betting at 56% odds to become Trump's next Fed chair nominee.

• Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko signs Decree No. 19, enabling regulated Bitcoin and crypto banks to offer hybrid fiat and digital token services through the country's High-Tech Park under dual regulatory oversight.

• Hashrate drops below 1 zetahash per second for the first time since September as miners shift power resources to AI computing services amid challenging margin conditions.

• Riot Platforms, a bitcoin mining company, secures a 10-year $311M AI hosting deal with AMD for 25 MW capacity, with potential expansion to $1B total revenue.

• Canaan, a Singapore-based Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer, faces Nasdaq delisting unless its stock price exceeds $1 for 10 consecutive days by July, with shares currently trading at $0.79 despite a major 50,000-rig order.

• Kimchi Premium indicator signals a potential 300% rally as South Korean demand builds momentum, according to XWIN Finance.

• OG who acquired 5,000 BTC in 2012 at $332 each sells half their holdings for $265M, netting a 31,250% gain while 2,500 BTC remain unsold.

QUICK MEDIA 

• Danny Knowles & Mark Moss reflect on Knowles' contentious interview with Michael Saylor, revealing the awkward aftermath and discussing the heated exchange that sparked debate within the Bitcoin community about Bitcoin treasury companies (Jan 17 | 3:55 min watch). 

• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, in an appearance on Fox Business, accuses banks of undermining President Trump's crypto agenda to protect their profit margins, arguing that traditional financial institutions are taking money from average Americans while resisting the administration's push for Bitcoin and crypto adoption (Jan 16 | 0:47 min watch). 

• Bitcoin Island, a YouTube channel focused on Bitcoin sovereignty and minimalism, argues that Bitcoiners can achieve true financial freedom by adopting 10 ruthless minimalist rules that eliminate consumption, noise, and digital distractions while maximizing focus, savings, and low time preference living (Jan 17 | 10:17 min watch). 

• Adam Livingston analyzes how the Senate Banking Committee abruptly postponed the Clarity Act after Coinbase withdrew support, arguing that stablecoin yield caps, SEC overreach, and DeFi restrictions expose a banking lobby power struggle that ultimately proves bullish for Bitcoin as traditional finance panics (Jan 16 | 11:25 min watch). 

• Patrick Witt, the Executive Director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets at the White House, in an appearance on the 'Crypto in America' podcast, says the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is certainly still on the priority list, while providing context on the delays (Jan 17 | 0:59 min watch).

• Jordi Visser of 22V Research, in an appearance on the Pomp podcast, argues that as AI-driven productivity makes goods abundant and pushes prices toward zero, Bitcoin's absolute scarcity becomes increasingly valuable, positioning it as the ultimate store of value and enabling saving in a deflationary world of extreme abundance (Jan 17 | 2:25 min watch).

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