Together with
Greetings Bitcoiner,
Welcome to Issue #455 of Bitcoin Breakdown, where it’s OPSEC Wednesday special, followed by the latest Quick Bits snippets.
But first, today’s Top Stories:
🕵️ US Marshals’ Bitcoin Custody Springs a Leak
🪙 BlackRock Sells Upside for ‘Income’
🧲 Bitcoin Hiring Shifts Beyond Developers
TOGETHER WITH WALLAXE
WallAxe is a conversion kit for your Bitaxe that turns it into a discreet wall-plugged device — no cables, no clutter, no extra space.
It’s built for simple assembly so you can plug in and start hashing without the usual desktop spaghetti.
The launch is running as an All-or-Nothing Geyser campaign: the project only moves forward if it reaches the full funding goal.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
🧱 Dollar Breaks 15-Year Floor, Bitcoin Eyes Repeat Rally
The US Dollar Index cracked below 96 for the first time since early 2022, snapping a support line held since 2011 and touching a four-year low near 95.5 after yen intervention chatter, IMF stress warnings, and Trump dismissing the slide. Traders watch for a monthly close below the trendline to confirm further weakness.
Why it matters: The last two times DXY dropped below 96 — in 2017 and 2020 — Bitcoin rallied from $2,000 to $20,000 within six months and from $10,000 to $64,000 within nine months as dollar weakness pushed capital into hard, non-sovereign assets. Read more→
🛒 Four in Ten US Merchants Now Ring Up Bitcoin or Crypto
A PayPal survey of 619 payment decision-makers finds 39% of US merchants now accept Bitcoin or crypto at checkout, with 88% fielding customer questions about digital-asset payments and early adopters reporting Bitcoin and crypto represents 26% of total sales. Adoption runs strongest in travel, hospitality, gaming, and digital goods, driven by Millennials and Gen Z.
Why it matters: Real merchant adoption validates Bitcoin as peer-to-peer electronic cash beyond speculation, though the survey lumps Bitcoin with altcoins and PayPal's custodial rails mean users surrender self-custody at the register. Read more→
🏦 Carlson Floats Bitcoin Reserve, Schiff Calls It Bailout
Tucker Carlson asked gold advocate Peter Schiff whether Bitcoin or Tether could replace the weakening dollar as a global reserve, and Schiff fired back that crypto's regulatory push is a play for government legitimacy and a proposed US strategic Bitcoin reserve amounts to a taxpayer-funded bailout for early holders. Schiff argued BTC has no ‘intrinsic value’ and will crash with stocks; Carlson countered that hoarding gold is equally unproductive.
Why it matters: Schiff is an entertaining reminder of how early we still are but the strategic reserve debate exposes a fault line — maxis want sovereign adoption to cement Bitcoin's monetary role, but many argue state accumulation risks moral hazard and undermines the permissionless, self-sovereign ethos that makes Bitcoin an escape hatch from fiat. Read more→
Jan 28, 2026
POLL #455
When/If The US Buys Bitcoin For A Reserve, What Happens Next?
PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS
OPSEC FEATURE ARTICLE
Recently, the FBI successfully served a warrant to Microsoft to retrieve BitLocker encryption keys, granting them full access to three laptops seized in a fraud investigation.
This proves that your encryption is worthless if you don't hold the keys.
This week’s OPSEC Feature Article shows you how to reclaim your digital sovereignty before it’s too late.
Get instant access to this special feature by becoming a premium supporter here.
QUICK BITS
Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, launches USA₮, a federally regulated, dollar-backed token under the GENIUS Act, with Anchorage Digital Bank issuing and Cantor Fitzgerald safeguarding reserves.
Jacob & Co teams up with Bitcoin miner GoMining to launch Epic X GoMining, a 44 millimeter skeleton-dial watch priced at $40,000, which comes with 1,000 terahashes of real Bitcoin mining power from GoMining.
River, a bitcoin financial services company, argues that gold's surge past $5,000/oz is being driven by central bank buying and reduced dollar reserves, while noting that Bitcoin remains largely untapped by institutions despite only 1M BTC left to mine.
NBTV Media's Naomi Brockwell discovers that ChatGPT censored her privacy newsletter by removing service recommendations and cryptocurrency references, arguing that the incident reflects society's dangerous normalization that privacy tools are inherently suspicious or criminal.
South Dakota Representative Logan Manhart reintroduced a Bitcoin reserve bill, HB 1155, letting the State Investment Council invest up to 10% of public funds in bitcoin, a year after similar language was deferred.
Coinbase & Glassnode say that BTC is entering a steadier phase as liquidity holds, leverage declines, and institutions favor options hedges over futures.
American Bitcoin, the Trump family-backed public miner majority-owned by Hut 8, lifts its treasury to about 5,843 BTC, ranking 18th among corporate Bitcoin holders.
Steak ’n Shake adds another $5M in BTC exposure and funnels bitcoin-based sales into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to deepen its Bitcoin treasury strategy.
Bank of Korea, South Korea's central bank, warns that won-denominated stablecoins may weaken foreign exchange controls as lawmakers debate issuer eligibility, oversight rules and US dollar-linked capital outflow risks.
Metaplanet, a Japanese bitcoin treasury firm, reports $680M in unrealized losses on its BTC holdings but raises 2025 earnings projections to $41M operating income, driven by its bitcoin income generation business using derivatives strategies.
Bitcoin's Coinbase Premium Index hits 12-month lows at -0.17, signaling persistent US selling pressure as BTC drops to $86K with technical patterns suggesting a potential further decline.
Polymarket's Bitcoin and crypto price prediction markets surge past $67M in volume as traders bet on bitcoin falling below $85K in January, raising concerns that the market is shifting from long-term investing to short-term volatility wagering.
Strategy acquires 2,932 BTC for $264M funded by stock sales, bringing total holdings to 712,647 BTC.
Rhode Island lawmakers reintroduce blockchain study commission bill alongside tax exemption proposal, positioning the state to balance Bitcoin and crypto innovation with consumer protection while competing for digital asset businesses.
Bitcoin's Fear & Greed Index hits 'Extreme Fear' territory despite BTC trading at $88,000.
Polymarket bettors place 75% odds on partial US government shutdown by Jan 31, but with six of twelve spending bills signed and $178B DHS reserves, bitcoin's liquidity impact may prove far smaller than last October's $700B drain.
Timothy Peterson, Network economist, identifies February as Bitcoin's strongest seasonal period with 7% median weekly returns, surpassing 'Uptober' as mid-month corporate earnings typically drive risk-on sentiment toward BTC.
MEME OF THE DAY
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