Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome all new subscribers to issue #53 of the Bitcoin Breakdown, where we’re buying the dip because, just like last week, nothing about Bitcoin’s fundamentals has changed.

If you haven’t already, please leave us a positive 5-star review here (where you’ll then be rewarded 2000 sats for free).

Happy readings! 👽️ 

TOGETHER WITH ADOPTING BTC*

Adoption, Self-Sovereignty, and Parallel Institutions

There are still some tickets left to join this event in the breathtaking city of Cape Town, South Africa, starting tomorrow until 28 January 2024, that will reshape your perspective on the overlap between Bitcoin and existing Parallel Institutions.

Key Highlights of the Cape Town Bitcoin Conference 2024 include:

• Talks by renowned Bitcoin advocates, builders and industry experts, both local and international (see speaker line up here),

• Fascinating discussions by pioneers building Parallel Institutions, stepping in with solutions where the state has failed,

• Engaging panels, discussing Bitcoin adoption and self-sovereignty,

• Hands-on workshops & unique satellite events, and

• A showcase of real-world projects and solutions revolutionizing the Bitcoin ecosystem and the wider society.

Don't miss this incredible opportunity to be part of the Bitcoin revolution.

*You can also advertise with us here.

🏆 FEATURE STORIES

• Samourai Wallet, along with 26 other Bitcoin companies submit a legal response to FinCEN’s proposed clown world rules on Bitcoin mixing that would seriously harm privacy by effectively prohibiting basic bitcoin best practices such as not reusing addresses and collaborative bitcoin transactions (Jan 22 | 20 min read).

• Lyn Alden analyzes the health of the Bitcoin network through a handful of key metrics she personally looks at when assessing the network to provide an in-depth understanding of its future performance (Jan 21 | 37 min read).

• Alex Gladstein explores how Bitcoin is monetizing stranded energy, financing electrical infrastructure, and expanding financial freedom and empowering millions in Africa (Jan 24 | 51 min read). 

• River Financial update and improve their article on UTXO Management explaining the proper way to take self-custody from exchanges in order to keep your transaction fees to a minimum (Jan 24 | 10 min).

• The Bitcoin Manual explains how the divisibility of Bitcoin into smaller units known as satoshis doesn't compromise its overall scarcity or inflate its supply but rather enhances Bitcoin's flexibility and accessibility for users (Jan 19 | 7 min read).

• Hodl Hodl outlines the inherent weaknesses in KYC procedures, arguing that they raise privacy concerns and can be manipulated, hinting towards potential reformation in the system (Jan 18 | 3 min read).

• ICYMI: Nicholas Anthony writing for the Cato Institute challenges mainstream economic views by arguing that money isn't a public good because it's excludable and rivalrous (Dec 8 | 6 min read).

OTHER NEWSLETTERS TO CHECK OUT*

• The Merge focuses on military tech, trends, and happenings delivered 2x/week to 20,000+ insiders.

• Tim Ferriss's "5-Bullet Friday" newsletter is for lifelong learners and productivity enthusiasts, that are keen on personal and professional development.

• AI Tool Report teaches you how to save time and earn more with AI by curating trending tools, productivity-boosting prompts, and more.

• TLDR is a free 5 min daily newsletter read by 1,000,000+ bitcoiners, software engineers, founders, and tech workers.

• Get The Rundown on the latest developments in AI before everyone else.

👉️ You can find more here.

*One click subscribe links

⚡️ QUICK BITS

• Samourai Atomic Swaps are now in public beta making it easy to trustlessly swap BTC<->XMR, completely over Tor. 

• TechCrunch runs article highlighting concerns that new generative AI applications could render KYC protocols ‘effectively useless’.

• Aqua Wallet is now officially open source software.

• Kaspersky warns of Mac exploit targeting BTC wallets.

• MailerLite says an employee was phished, causing the hacker to target crypto email lists, draining $700K.

• Chainalysis reports crypto crime is down 29% in 2023 with stablecoins trumping Bitcoin as the first choice among cybercriminals.

• Canadian judge rules freezing trucker protesters' crypto donations as unconstitutional.

• Wall Street Journal reports that Chinese meet in public places like cafes, snack kiosks, and laundromats to buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin.

• Bitcoin miner Hut 8's stock drops significantly following a critical report by activist short-seller J Capital Research.

• Cornell University approves first Bitcoin-focused degree.

• Trezor announces a security breach in their support ticketing system that potentially exposed personal information of over 66K customers.

• Edward Snowden urges support for imprisoned founder of the sanctioned mixing service Tornado Cash.

• BitGo receives investment from 164-year-old cash handling firm Brink's.

• Nine Spot Bitcoin ETFs accumulates 100K BTC in a week, outpacing MicroStrategy's 300-days it took to reach the same mark.

• Bitwise Bitcoin ETF becomes the first US bitcoin ETF to publish the bitcoin addresses of its holdings.

• Matthew Pines of BTC Policy starts a thread of digital asset industry responses to the FinCEN notice of proposed ridiculous rules on Bitcoin mixing.

• Anon airdrops 21K ordinals to BTC users as part of mysterious game.

• 'Genesis Cat' ordinal sells for $254K in Sotheby’s auction.

• FTX sold about $1B of Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF, explaining much of their outflows, on top of investors moving to lower-fee alternatives.

• Street CY₿ER Gallery starts a Geyserfund for you to support the Bitcoin revolution with their new edition of stickers.

• Bitcoin mining now utilizes 54.5% sustainable energy, marking the highest percentage among global industries.

• Bitlyrics transcribes a presentation on Mempool Space.

• State Senator Azlan Salim of Virginia introduces a bill to safeguard citizens' fundamental rights related to Bitcoin.

• Strike publishes a 2023 year in review and overview of its 2024 roadmap.

• Unchained publishes an updated blog post delving into recent court cases affecting bitcoin IRAs.

• CoinGecko report indicates that half of 24K tokens listed on its platform since 2014 have since become defunct.

• Trump launches Bitcoin ordinals collection of 200 mugshots.

• The Bitcoiner Test is a 21-minute, 64 question rapid fire quiz about everything Bitcoin related to quickly sort people who understand Bitcoin from those who don’t.

• Awesome Fedimint is a curated list of awesome things related to Fedimint.

📽️ QUICK BITS MEDIA

• Maxis Club releases few seconds teaser for the first episode of their bitcoin meme project being transformed into an animated sitcom (0:04 min watch).

• Orange Pill App releases short clip introducing their new Merchants feature that allows users to identify local businesses that are accepting Bitcoin (0:53 min watch).

• Hodl Hodl releases short clip showcasing their newly designed chat function (0:55 min watch) (Start buying your BTC peer-to-peer with them here).

• FOX Business airs a segment explaining that the strength of Bitcoin is better assessed through hashrate rather than dollar price (3:46 min watch).

• BitcoinShooter releases short snippet from a larger film highlighting the pivotal role of Bitcoin mining in providing electricity to families in rural Kenya (4:21 min watch).

💥 MEME BREAK

Thank you for reading!

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Until our next transmission,

Naiw

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