Greetings Bitcoiner,

Welcome to issue #107 of the Bitcoin Breakdown, where we are excited to soon launch our exclusive Bitcoin-only community. If you haven’t yet, you can still join the waitlist here to become a founding member.

Happy readings! 👽️

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OPSEC FEATURE ARTICLE

🚨 Protect Your Privacy While Traveling! 🚨

This week we dive deep into all the essential tips to safeguard your information while traveling.

Airports and borders pose serious risks to your personal data. Don't let your devices be a weak link—secure them before you fly. 🔒

Whether you're traveling to high-risk areas or just want peace of mind, this guide has you covered. ✈️

Get access to this review by becoming a premium supporter here.

🏆 FEATURE STORIES

• Jameson Lopp scrutinises Coinbase over its high withdrawal fees, including a striking $60 charge despite low on-chain fees, highlighting issues in fee estimation and business practices in their Bitcoin transactions (Aug 23 | 4 min read).

• Christos Makridis in a new research paper reveals that countries adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) experience decreased well-being, particularly among youth and low-income individuals, challenging the assumption that CBDCs enhance financial inclusion and stability (Aug 23 | 25 min read).

• Matt Black, CEO of Atomic Finance, explores how a Bitcoin fee spike led to Lightning force closures and discusses upcoming improvements, particularly package relay, to enhance user experience and prevent these disruptions (Aug 24 | 5 min read).

• Che Kohler of The Bitcoin Manual writes why Fountain FM’s recent integration of Nostr is such a milestone as it combines various open-source technologies and demonstrates innovative leadership in the realms of digital payment and content sharing (Aug 23 | 6 min read).

• Tom G. Meling, Magne Mogstad & Arnstein Vestre publish a working paper on crypto tax noncompliance which remains widespread even among users of exchanges reporting to tax authorities, calling for targeted and cost-effective enforcement strategies due to the generally low tax liabilities of most crypto users (Aug | 92 min read).

• Justin Bins, insufferable and serially wrong BCasher, writes how Ethereum's reliance on Layer 2 (L2) solutions is leading to its downfall by fragmenting the ecosystem, pushing users towards centralized L2s, and undermining the original promise of decentralization (Aug 26 | 2 min read).

• Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, writes that Bitcoin ETFs are rapidly gaining institutional adoption, outpacing retail investments, with a record $17.5B in net flows, affirming their status as the fastest-growing ETFs in history (Aug 21 | 2 min read).

• Michael Lewis, author and financial journalist, analyzes the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, exploring the complexities of his character and the disastrous consequences of his reckless risk-taking (Aug 20 | 27 min read).

• John Arnold of Ten31 discusses how strategic investments in Bitcoin infrastructure have the potential to outperform bitcoin itself, highlighting the compelling demand for innovative technologies as bitcoin adoption accelerates (Aug 20 | 20 min read).

• Thomas Joseph Webster in a new research paper challenges the myth of Federal Reserve independence by revealing its political ties and role in supporting government fiscal policies, undermining its mandate for economic stability and price control (Aug 13 | 29 min read).

• Mike Carson, founder of Spaces Protocol, advocates for decentralized naming on the Bitcoin blockchain to enhance security and protect against incidents like the recent Squarespace DNS attack, potentially onboarding the next billion users to Bitcoin (Aug 23 | 3 min read).

• Blink publishes a comprehensive guide on using their wallet to effortlessly spend Bitcoin using refills with Bitrefill (Aug 23 | 3 min read).

• Kudzai Kutukwa, co-founder and CEO of Mobbisurance, writes how the documentary ‘Dirty Coin’ debunks prevalent myths surrounding Bitcoin mining by showcasing its potential environmental and socio-economic benefits (Aug 20 | 4 min read).

• Damian Tornatore of Bitwage celebrates the company’s 10th anniversary by reflecting on its transformative journey in Bitcoin payroll, having processed over $350M in payments worldwide and offering financial freedom (Aug 23 | 15 min read).

• Bitlyrics publishes the transcript of Edward Snowden's Bitcoin 2024 keynote in which he addresses the growing concentration of resources and the risks of transaction monitoring, urging collective cooperation to challenge unfair systems and promote privacy in the evolving Bitcoin landscape (Jul 26 | 21 min read).

POLL

OTHER NEWSLETTERS TO CHECK OUT*

*You can find more here.

🛠️ TOOLS & PROJECTS

• Ark Labs, the Bitcoin scaling solution rivaling Lightning, raises $2.5M pre-seed funding round led by Tim Draper and his firm, Draper Associates.

• Ark Labs opens up early access to Ark Node, their flagship wallet daemon designed for fast, low-cost Bitcoin transactions over Lightning.

• Coinbase customers can now send up to $10k instantly via Lightning.

• GrapheneOS now supports the newly launched Pixel 9 series of smartphones.

• Foundation’s mobile wallet and companion app for their Passport signing device, Envoy, now enhances the Buy Bitcoin feature and adds SeedQR import functionality.

• Bitbanana v0.8.5 released with support for Bolt12 in combination with Core LN.

• Solo Satoshi introduces a 3D-printed stand for BitAxe.

• SolarBit, a solar-powered Bitcoin miner that offers sustainable, off-grid mining with 1TH/s power, set to launch in Q4 2024.

• BitVaulty is a new Bitcoin wallet that uses time-delays over multisig.

• Blitz wallet now enables one to zap people on Nostr instantly and not wait to open a channel, leveraging ecash and liquid for smaller transactions.

• Bluewallet v7.0.2 is now available on iOS and Android with a new feature that shows your total Balance on the main view.

• Wherostr is a Nostr-based social media client that lets you discover and attach geographic coordinates to notes.

• BitAxe bot is a tool that allows you to view stats and overclock or underclock your mining machine remotely via a Telegram bot.

• Theya introduces support for QR code-based interaction with Foundation devices.

• Theya now allows US users to purchase bitcoin directly through their app and send it instantly to self-custody via hardware wallets or multisig vaults.

• Npub.pro launches experimental support for importing content from Ghost to Nostr.

💥MEME BREAK

AFFILIATES & REFERRALS

• Bringin offers a secure platform for buying, selling, and converting Bitcoin to Euros, with direct transfers to bank accounts or virtual debit cards, featuring unique off-ramping options and preventing account freezes with dedicated IBANs for each user.

• Start9 empowers you to run your own Bitcoin node while also joining the sovereign computing paradigm, where concerns over privacy, censorship, hacks, and fees practically disappear—get a 5% discount by using the code: BITCOINBREAKDOWN.

Thank you for reading!

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Until our next transmission,

Naiw

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