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Welcome to issue #117 of the Bitcoin Breakdown, where just reading this email means you already have an immense advantage in accumulating life-changing wealth before the rest of the world also figures it out.

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OPSEC FEATURE ARTICLE

Defending Your Bitcoin: 10 Strategies to Mitigate the 5 Dollar Wrench Attack

The leader of a group involved in violent home invasions targeting Bitcoin owners across the US was recently sentenced to 47 years in prison, while his accomplices receive sentences ranging from 5 to 20 years.

This week we present the ultimate guide to protecting your bitcoin from such physical threats.

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🏆 FEATURE STORIES

• Ross Stevens, Founder and Executive Chairman of NYDIG, publishes a paper arguing through extensive legal precedent in the US that Bitcoin is speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment of the country’s constitution, so any regulations attempting to curtail Bitcoin therefore have clear constitutional implications (Sept 25 | 44 min read).

• Protos discusses the proposition that Bitcoin is protected as speech under the First Amendment, challenging the assumptions behind the argument and highlighting unresolved legal issues surrounding Bitcoin activities (Sept 26 | 3 min read).

• Lightspark publishes a step-by-step guide that explains how the Lightning Network enhances Bitcoin's scalability by enabling fast, low-cost transactions through payment channels, smart contracts, and innovative routing techniques, making Bitcoin more viable for everyday use (Sept 26 | 4 min read).

• Lyn Alden and Sam Callahan publish a research piece on the correlation between measures of liquidity and the price of Bitcoin, discovering that Bitcoin moves in direction of global liquidity 83% of the time in any given 12-month period, which is higher than any other major asset class, making it a strong barometer of liquidity conditions (Sept 24 | 18 min read).

• Vince Quill of Cointelegraph analyzes misconceptions about China's Bitcoin hashrate dominance, noting that while Chinese mining pools control 55% of the hashrate, they include miners globally, complicating the geographic distribution of mining power (Sept 26 | 2 min read).

• Bradley Rettler, director of the Bitcoin Research Institute, argues that Bitcoin's volatility is not a flaw but a strategic advantage, keeping public interest alive while facilitating a unique supply mechanism that resists traditional market forces (Sept 25 | 5 min read).

• Shinobi analyzes Mircea Popescu's prophetic views on Bitcoin's future, outlining three potential paths: capitulation to the legacy system, a consumer revolt, or fragmentation through multiple forks, each with distinct consequences for freedom and sovereignty (Sept 25 | 7 min read).

• Tyler Stevens, founder of Exergy, outlines the Heatpunk philosophy, advocating that Bitcoin mining is a legitimate and beneficial use of energy, emphasizing its role in generating heat, reducing waste, and supporting a decentralized monetary network (Sept 28 | 4 min read).

• Foundation Devices advocates for making 12-word Bitcoin seed phrases the standard, arguing that they provide sufficient security without the unnecessary complexity of 24-word phrases, which don't offer significant real-world benefits (Sept 24 | 9 min read).

• Bitcoin Policy UK advises journalists to avoid writing about Bitcoin unless they possess a thorough understanding of its fundamentals, correct terminology, and the broader context of its impact, urging accurate reporting and avoiding outdated or misleading arguments (Sept 28 | 5 min read).

• Area Bitcoin emphasizes the significance of using a passphrase in securing your Bitcoins, explaining how it serves as an additional security layer, enhances wallet protection, and differentiates from the seed phrase (Sept 24 | 10 min read).

• Ed Prospero of Blink Wallet highlights five inspiring global stories of how the Lightning Network is transforming Bitcoin transactions, from fostering circular economies in Italy to enabling remittances and service payments in Venezuela, Nigeria, and beyond (Sept 25 | 7 min read).

• James Van Straten of Coindesk explains how companies like MicroStrategy, Cathedra Bitcoin, and Metaplanet are adopting a new strategy to maximize ‘bitcoin holdings per share’, reflecting the growing trend of incorporating bitcoin into corporate treasuries (Sept 19 | 3 min read).

• DarthCoin writes an Alby Hub guide, introducing it as a user-friendly interface for managing Lightning Network nodes, detailing various setup options, funding sources, and providing step-by-step guidance for beginners seeking a self-custodial solution (Sept 26 | 7 min read).

• Foundation publishes a thread highlighting that Bitcoin is pseudonymous rather than anonymous, warning that reusing addresses compromises privacy by linking multiple transactions to a single identity, thus exposing users to potential risks (Sept 26 | 2 min read).

• John and Nisha Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute warn that the government's push for a digital currency threatens individual privacy and freedom, facilitating surveillance and control while masking a broader agenda for financial dominance (Sept 24 | 8 min read).

• Sam Abbassi, founder and CEO of Hoseki, emphasizes the necessity of implementing Proof of Reserves for custodial Bitcoin services, arguing that this transparency is crucial for building trust and preventing systemic risks in financial products like ETFs (Sept 26 | 5 min read).

• Andrew Kamsky explores Bitcoin's censorship resistance, highlighting its decentralized architecture that prevents transaction control by single authorities while discussing challenges posed by centralized exchanges and government regulations (Sept 25 | 7 min read).

• Supratic, a Stacker News user, posts a guide that explains how to use Alby Hub and Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) to link your Lightning node with Stacker News, enabling seamless sending and receiving of sats with enhanced privacy and control (Sept 24 | 3 min read).

• Rhino Bitcoin explores the potential for the US to adopt Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, weighing the advantages of its decentralized nature and fixed supply against challenges like price volatility and regulatory concerns (Sept 19 | 4 min read).

• Tom Honzik, Technical Director at Unchained, explains bitcoin derivation paths, detailing their significance in self-custody wallets, the hierarchical key structure they represent, and how they facilitate the secure management of multiple wallets and addresses (Sept 24 | 15 min read).

• The Wild Hustle, a Stacker News user, emphasizes that rather than merely accumulating Bitcoin, individuals should focus on securing their assets, enhancing usability, fostering community, and preparing for a future where Bitcoin serves as a global reserve currency (Sept 22 | 3 min read).

• 0371279ce5, another Stacker News user, advocates for reducing government interference and banking dependency by using alternative currencies like Bitcoin, fostering community, avoiding debt, and taking personal responsibility for health and privacy (Sept 27 | 5 min read).

• Verbiricha, a Nostr developer, explores the significance of context in Nostr identifiers, emphasizing how enhanced metadata—like nprofile, nevent, and naddr—improves user experience and interoperability in decentralized networks (Sept 26 | 3 min read).

• Ben Arc gets interviewed by Frank Corva of Bitcoin Magazine about LNBits, an open source platform he created that enables users to build innovative extensions for Bitcoin and Lightning, with a focus on scalability and collaboration (Sept 24 | 7 min read).

• Justin Slaughter and Sheila Warren discuss on Coindesk how the Democratic National Convention signaled a shift in the party’s stance toward crypto, with growing interest and a softened tone despite previous skepticism from the Biden administration (Sept 24 | 4 min read).

• ICYMI: Riot explains how Bitcoin miners, as flexible loads, provide demand-side energy solutions for ERCOT, stabilizing the grid during peak demand and enhancing the reliability of power generation in Texas (Aug 21 | 4 min read).

POLL

OTHER NEWSLETTERS TO CHECK OUT*

*You can find more here.

🛠️ TOOLS & PROJECTS

• Ocean Mining announces the launch of DATUM, a new mining protocol to make Bitcoin more resilient to centralization threats.

• Robinhood enables Bitcoin transfers for customers in Europe, which was one of their most requested features in the region.

• Zap.best lets you buy e-sims with just zaps using just your Nostr profile and no additional data.

• Atomstr is an RSS/Atom gateway to Nostr which purpose is to fetch RSS or Atom feeds and generate Nostr profiles for each feed, posting new entries on the Nostr network.

• Privacy Index is a guide of guides for all things digital privacy.

• Mike Sires, a military veteran from Dublin, Ohio, has developed AuthLN, a protocol that introduces cost prohibitive proof-of-work authentication via Lightning to combat cybercrime.

• Citrea launches its BitVM bridge called Clementine on Bitcoin Testnet, with the goal of bringing Ethereum-style smart contracts and reduced fees to Bitcoin.

• UtxoPocket is a Bitcoin watch only wallet that connects to Electrum.

• Blockstream Greenlight hits milestone as the number of live Greenlight nodes on the Lightning Network crosses 150,000.

• Satsback, a service that allows you to earn Bitcoin rewards for purchases, expands to 1,800+ new online partner stores, many of which are global and accessible to everyone.

• Bitcoin Majlis announces Bitcoin Educational Grant to Muslim scholars and students.

• Slice’s New Tab announces a new release with a revamped experience, lets users double their rewards, adds more features and gives more control to users over their browsing.

• Bconf.org gets an upgrade with an updated design that migrates from table representation to cards to allow for accommodation of more information and a better representation of it.

• Fold is now enabling Bitcoin deposits, allowing users to bypass fiat entirely and use Bitcoin directly to pay their bills while continuing to earn Bitcoin rewards.

• Fold announces partnership with BitGo in an effort to add redundancy for all accounts, improve custody, add new bitcoin services, give additional states access, and offer more competitive trading structures.

💥 MEME BREAK

AFFILIATES & REFERRALS

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• Blockstream Jade is the best hardware wallet for you to take self-custody with—enjoy a 10% discount off of with code: BITCOINBREAKDOWN.

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Naiw

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