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Greetings Bitcoiner,
Welcome to Issue #689 of Bitcoin Breakdown, where every Tuesday and Thursday, we bring you the latest must-read Bitcoin thought leadership articles and the newest tools and projects you should know about. But first, today’s Top Stories:
Bitcoin Core patched three flaws, including one that lets malicious peers crash non-Linux nodes, Google Cloud is previewing a key-splitting custody service with few concrete details, and Bitwise raised its 2036 bitcoin target to $1.6M. Run your own patched node, hold your own keys and measure your wealth in sats, not fiat.
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⚠️ Bitcoin Core Patches Bug That Crashes Non-Linux Nodes
Bitcoin Core disclosed three vulnerabilities fixed in releases 29.5, 30.4, 31.2 and 32.1, including one that lets a malicious peer crash Windows and macOS nodes by exhausting memory. Bitcoin Core credits an automated large language model scan from Elias Rohrer's Project Loupe at Spiral, while developer L0rinc independently reported two of the flaws.
Why it matters: Nodes let Bitcoiners verify their own coins without trusting anyone, which means a peer that can crash them strikes directly at self-custody. Open-source Bitcoin published all three flaws with credit to the finders, so check your node version and patch now. Read more→
From open-source patches to Google's custody pitch...
🔐 Google Cloud Previews Custody Tool, Names No Testers
Google Cloud is previewing a Multi-party Compute (MPC) service that lets institutions jointly sign transactions without any single party holding the full private key, with general availability planned for early 2027. Google enters a market already served by Fireblocks, Fordefi and BitGo, but it has not named its testers, disclosed pricing or shown performance comparisons.
Why it matters: Google's pitch adds a Big Tech gatekeeper between institutions and their keys, while existing open source software already lets Bitcoiners split signing without permission. Until Google shows real details, this announcement reads more like hype than a custody upgrade. Read more→
From a custody pitch to a $1.6M forecast...
📈 Bitwise Lifts 2036 Bitcoin Target to $1.6M From $1.3M
Bitwise raised its 10-year bitcoin price target from $1.3M to $1.6M in its 2027 Bitcoin Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions report, projecting a 34.3% compound annual growth rate. Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said Bitwise is more bullish on bitcoin than last year, while the base case assumes bitcoin captures 25% of the global store-of-value market.
Why it matters: Bitwise's base case rests on rising government debt pushing investors toward assets that cannot be printed. Yet few forecasters ask whether fiat money survives a decade of printing and debasement, which means counting in sats beats counting in dollars. Read more→
Juan Galt of Bitcoin Magazine details how Bitcoin and crypto hacks in 2026 reached roughly $2.35B in net losses, dominated by centralized exchange and DeFi breaches, including North Korea-linked Bitget and Drift attacks, while Bitcoin hardware wallet failures and AI-assisted exploits account for smaller shares (Oct 28 | 3 min read).
Obi Nwosu of Fedi argues that Bitcoin custody advice reflects industry incentives, contending that exchanges, hardware wallets and ETFs concentrate rather than eliminate risk, and urging multisig self-custody across independent devices so no single compromise costs everything (Oct 27 | 9 min read).
Mark Moss, a Bitcoin-focused investor and guest judge at Cypher Tank in Lugano, shares his 'Deal Box', listing six quick filters for sizing up investment pitches (Oct 28 | 2 min read).
Bull Bitcoin, a Canadian exchange and self-custodial platform, argues that the fiat monetary lie of 'costless' debt drives economies toward collapse, making financial repression inevitable and positioning self-custodied bitcoin as the only censorship-resistant life raft for savers (Oct 27 | 16 min read).
Dennis Koch, writing for the Bitcoin Museum & Art Gallery, interviews artist Lucho Poletti about Ten Decrees, his series of ten bitcoin-themed drawings reimagining Bosch and Bruegel to critique fiat money, debuting on the main stage at Bitcoin Amsterdam (Oct 27 | 15 min read).
Spiral, Block's bitcoin development arm, argues that bitcoin payments are held back by demand, volatility and policy rather than technology, and calls for moonshot ideas before stablecoins and AI agents start dominating various payment rails (Oct 27 | 15 min read).
Alex Thorn, Galaxy Digital's Head of Firmwide Research, says now is the time to add and hold bitcoin, arguing that bitcoin's bottom is in as technicals become firm, fast money continues to exit, $2T deficits strengthen the debasement case, and 'blockchain, not bitcoin' sentiment marks a cycle low (Oct 26 | 20 min read).
George Ford Smith, in an article for the Mises Institute, explains how fiat money replaced gold, while arguing that the Federal Reserve operates as a counterfeiter whose inflationary money printing erodes savings, enriches early recipients, and funds the war machine (Oct 26 | 6 min read).
Andrewclicks, a developer and open-source builder, in a post on Delving Bitcoin, introduces four interconnected tools designed to streamline self-custodial Lightning payments, automate inbound liquidity, and eliminate costly server overhead for everyday merchants without relying on centralized providers (Oct 22 | 3 min read).
Andreas Kohl, co-founder of Bitcoin-anchored sidechain Sequentia, tells Lightning News that true tokenized equity needs only issuer consent, not Wall Street’s permission, as 22 firms including Microsoft and Goldman Sachs opt out after a WSJ ad brands stock tokens ‘shadows’ without legal standing (Oct 27 | 9 min read).
AuthenticityBTC, a Lightning Network analyst, examines how LOOP, Lightning Labs' swap service node, churned channels and shed 8.5 BTC of net capacity on a single Sunday, while peers raised inbound fees 37% and the Lightning Network's median fee held near 160 ppm (Oct 27 | 6 min read).
Dale Batko, in an article for the Mises Institute, examines the historical decline of US coinage to argue that persistent inflation and the abandonment of precious-metal standards have destroyed the purchasing power of small coins, rendering denominations like the penny and nickel functionally obsolete (Oct 22 | 5 min read).
Jaydip Modhwadia, a security researcher known as KillaBoi, publishes a pure Python proof-of-concept exploit detailing how chained PHP 8.4 memory exhaustion leaks Zend heap and code pointers via stale session cookies to execute arbitrary commands and extract the Steal My Bitcoin CTF prize (Oct 26 | 12 min read).
Lightning News, a Bitcoin media outlet, reports that engineer Sminston With's bubble-free power law shows that removing manias raises Bitcoin's trailing four-year growth rate, arguing that investors should accumulate near the steady 'orange line' trend rather than chase speculative tops (Oct 26 | 6 min read).
Joshua Mawhorter, assistant editor of Mises(dot)org, offers an Austrian view of the Panic of 1837, arguing that credit expansion by both the Second Bank of the US and privileged state banks, not Jackson's policies, drove the inflationary boom and bust (Oct 23 | 12 min read).
RootstockLabs, the Bitcoin infrastructure developer behind Rootstock and its PowPeg bridge, argues that the corporate bitcoin treasury playbook has evolved, with mNAV premiums gone, investors now rewarding bitcoin-per-share accretion, dollar reserves and structured bitcoin-backed credit (Oct 22 | 5 min read).
Dennis Koch, a Bitcoin Magazine contributor covering digital art and collectibles, examines how artist Pepenardo turned six copies of Bitcoin Magazine's 2036 Issue into one-of-one hand-drawn artworks (Oct 22 | 6 min read).
Trader Edge, in an article for Blockonomi, reports Lightning Network statistics for 2026, noting that its capacity near 4,900 BTC and 17,400 nodes sit below earlier peaks while monthly payment volume hit $1.17B, up about 300% year over year (Oct 20 | 13 min read).
Tem Pão, a food business in Brazil, is raising a Geyser Circular Grant to expand Tem Pão Artesanais, a small artisan bakery owned by Fernanda and Sérgio in the Serra da Mantiqueira (Santo Antônio).
BitNotes, a non-custodial wallet from the 28Waves team, lets users print and verify physical ecash bearer notes backed by multiple independent Cashu mints.
Bull Bitcoin, a Canadian Bitcoin exchange and self-custodial platform, launches The Cost of Lies, a free biweekly newsletter examining how government debt, inflation, taxes, and capital restrictions shape savings and the economy.
SatsDNS offers bitcoin-paid DNS hosting, secondary DNS and dynamic DNS with no accounts or KYC, starting at 200 sats paid via Lightning or Cashu ecash.
Zapclub is a shared music club built on Nostr and Lightning where users take turns as DJs with synchronized YouTube playback and receive sats as tips.
Bitcoin Core developer Lorenzo Bossi (l0rinc) proposes a draft pull request removing AssumeUTXO, the feature letting nodes start from a trusted UTXO snapshot, to cut complexity from multiple chainstates in validation code.
River founder Alexander Leishman announces a rebuilt web app for the Bitcoin financial services company, featuring faster flows, a shared web and mobile API, and backend upgrades for reliability, speed, and security.
Matteo Pellegrini, founder and CEO of Bitcoin-only social network Club Orange, launches the Nakamoto Library, a free online catalog of Bitcoin books, searchable by date or title, with purchase links.
Plebum Dominium, an independent self-custody guide, teaches Bitcoin holders to build a 2-of-3 multisig wallet using dice-generated keys, offline Tails software, and titanium plates, with hardware wallets optional.
Bitcoin Design Community, an open group stewarding the Bitcoin Design Guide and backed by Spiral, is interviewing AI-using Bitcoin and Lightning wallet builders to make the guide usable by AI agents.
Off-wallet is an open source Bitcoin taproot wallet that runs on a Game Boy Color, generating keys from 128 coin flips and signing transactions offline and air-gapped.
Unbeholden Wallet is a watch-only Bitcoin wallet that runs in a browser tab, connects to a user's own node, never holds private keys, and signs through air-gapped devices.
Satoshistatues(dot)com, an interactive map, tracks 12 Satoshi Nakamoto statues worldwide, with installations in Vienna, Tokyo, New York and El Salvador.
Bitcoin-smol is a small peer-to-peer marketplace where users post offers to trade bitcoin for local currency, settling directly through Venmo, bank transfers or cash, with no accounts, escrow or intermediary.
Bumbei, a bitcoin cashback app, opens a US private beta seeking 20 Lightning users, paying online shopping commissions in sats through a custodial balance withdrawable anytime with zero fees.
Relai, a Swiss bitcoin-only app that buys bitcoin directly into self-custodial wallets, releases an update adding custom savings plan dates, easier editing, beginner tooltips and clearer error messages.
RoninDojo, a Bitcoin node hardware and software developer, releases v3.1.0 adding Tor-routed transaction broadcasting, next-block fee estimates, extended public key tools, Bisq exchange support, and a rebuilt interface.
Nadanada(dot)me, a privacy-focused vendor of VPNs, eSIMs, and rental numbers requiring no KYC identity checks, launches Nada-Euro, an eSIM covering Europe with data, 50 call minutes, and 50 texts.
DIY Wallet by Yishi of OneKey is a free guide to building a Bitcoin hardware wallet with user-compiled firmware using Raspberry Pi parts.
