| | Upgrade | Sponsor | Archive | Together with | | | | | | Greetings Bitcoiner, | Welcome to Issue #453 of Bitcoin Breakdown! We are thrilled to unveil our brand-new design. | What do you think? Hit reply and tell us what you love (or what needs improvement). | Now for today’s Top Stories: | 🚧 Bitcoin Slips as US Shutdown Looms 🧱 Saylor Says Protocol Tweaks Are Bitcoin’s Biggest Risk 🌪️ Oklahoma Whirls Toward Bitcoin Payroll
| Estimated reading time: 5 min |
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| | | | | | TODAY’S TOP STORIES | | 🚧 Bitcoin Slips as US Shutdown Looms | Bitcoin slid below $87,000 over the weekend as markets priced in macro uncertainty tied to a potential US government shutdown, not anything happening on-chain. Polymarket odds reportedly jumped to 75%, while US spot bitcoin ETFs saw $1.33B in net outflows last week, adding to the risk-off mood. | Why it matters: If this move is macro-driven, the next catalysts are policy and liquidity — especially the Federal Reserve rate decision, which could either calm volatility or amplify it. Read more → | 🧱 Saylor Says Protocol Tweaks Are Bitcoin’s Biggest Risk | Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor says Bitcoin’s biggest threat isn’t price — it’s ‘ambitious opportunists’ pushing protocol changes, reigniting a long-running fight over what Bitcoin should optimize for. Some interpret it as criticism of expanding non-monetary use cases (like inscriptions), while others argue that fixing bugs and hardening security shouldn’t be treated as taboo. The debate also folded in quantum-computing concerns, with experts split and markets mostly shrugging. | Why it matters: Governance battles shape Bitcoin’s long-term reliability narrative — the core reason institutions treat it differently from cRyPtO... Read more → | 🌪️ Oklahoma Whirls Toward Bitcoin Payroll | Oklahoma lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 2064 to let state employees, vendors, businesses, and residents voluntarily negotiate payments in BTC — without declaring it legal tender. The proposal would allow pay in dollars, bitcoin, or a mix, delivered to a self-custody wallet or a chosen custodian, with conversion/pricing set at defined times. It also directs the State Treasurer to select a payment processor by 2027, with implementation targeted for late 2026. | Why it matters: Even ‘opt-in’ payroll frameworks normalize BTC in everyday financial rails — and create templates other states can copy if it works smoothly. Read more → |
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| | | | | | POLL #453 | | Does a US Government shutdown actually hurt Bitcoin’s price? | |
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| | | | | | | | QUICK BITS | | UBS Group, the Swiss banking giant overseeing $4.7T in wealth assets, plans to offer Bitcoin trading to select private banking clients in Switzerland, marking a significant shift from its cautious stance. BlackRock's Rick Rieder, who has advocated for bitcoin in portfolios, sees his Fed chair odds surge to 60% on Polymarket as Trump considers overhauling the central bank. Foundry USA’s Bitcoin mining pool sees its secured hashrate drop about 60% since Friday as US miners curtailed operations during winter storm Fern to ease strain on the power grid. 583 Bitcoin nodes signal support for BIP-110, a controversial temporary soft fork proposal that would cap transaction data at 34 bytes and restrict OP_RETURN to 83 bytes. Geyser, a crowdfunding platform for Bitcoin projects, announces migration of all content to Nostr after getting banned from Instagram (Bitcoin Breakdown was similarly banned last month 😡). AFP Protección, Colombia’s second-largest pension and severance manager, prepares a new fund with controlled exposure to BTC. French authorities have opened a preliminary probe into a data breach at crypto tax platform Waltio after hackers allegedly stole personal details tied to roughly 50,000 users. Nasdaq seeks to eliminate position limits on Bitcoin ETF options, treating Bitcoin funds like traditional commodity-based exchange-traded funds in a move toward full market integration. Phishing attacks target bitcoin users through fake Zoom calls that install malware to steal funds and compromise Telegram accounts. SEC and CFTC, the two main US market regulators, announce plans to coordinate Bitcoin and crypto oversight through joint events and clearer rules, aiming to reduce regulatory confusion for exchanges and users. Ledger, the Paris-based hardware wallet manufacturer, partners with Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Barclays for a potential NYSE listing. Unchained, a Bitcoin financial services firm, hosts James Lavish on Jan 28, 2026, to discuss currency debasement, portfolio stress in inflationary regimes, and BTC as a strategic reserve asset. Coinbase's Q1 2026 survey reveals that 70% of institutional investors view BTC as undervalued at $85K-$95K, despite Bitcoin's decline from its October all-time high.
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| | | | | | QUICK MEDIA | | New Scientist, an outlet that covers developments in science, gets ratio-ed on 𝕏 for featuring debunked and unscientific opinions about Bitcoin such as transactions consuming as much energy as large cities, usage primarily for criminal activity on the dark web and comparisons to pokemon cards (Jan 24 | 1:15 min watch). Samson Mow, in an appearance on BTC Sessions' podcast, argues that Strategy's STRC preferred stock creates an 'infinite bid' for BTC through 11% yields, potentially triggering a supply shock that could drive bitcoin to $1M as institutional demand overwhelms finite supply (Jan 26 | 10:35 min watch). Changpeng Zhao, Founder of Binance, in an appearance on CNBC, predicts that 2026 will be a 'supercycle' for bitcoin that breaks the traditional four-year pattern, driven by pro-crypto US policies and global adoption momentum (Jan 23 | 2:11 min watch). BTC Sessions argues that Strategy's STRC product exploits the fiat system by using new investor capital to pay 11% dividends while accumulating over 1M BTC, potentially creating a private Bitcoin central bank that contradicts Bitcoin's decentralization ethos (Jan 24 | 22:46 min watch). Anik Malcolm, Co-Host of the Bitcoin Art Broadcast, releases a video that explores the mathematical patterns that exists in the consensus rules of Bitcoin (Jan 22 | 5:12 min watch). Julian Fahrer, founder of Bitcoin Laws, in a video for Soak Quest, argues that Bitcoin's path to political power lies not in Bitcoiners taking control but in existing powerful institutions and figures adopting BTC to solve fiscal challenges like unfunded state pension liabilities (Jan 25 | 9:55 min watch).
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| | | Thank you for reading! |
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