📈 Total bitcoin held by each ETF (excluding GBTC)
GM #plebchain, stay humble, stack bits/sats, and think for yourself.
In the past few days, On X all the major accounts critical of Israel have either been permanently banned or deboosted by up to 90%, both left and right. It seems like a wave.
We will witness more of these waves as the US election approaches.
This year, we have to position Nostr as a viable alternative.
https://video.nostr.build/ccc7266181213b0c8a9dcfca503f40a5240f07ec9082b6f04cadfcba5327acb7.mp4
indeed
nostr:note179kky45lfxhz90cxltp0jtqm75nsd2af02wh9jmz46drmskywghshts74g
"Part of the problem of Lightning’s shortcoming regarding scalability of Bitcoin ownership is that in order to open a channel, or control a UTXO, you actually have to transact on the base layer. After that Lightning can facilitate a very large number of transactions off-chain but a user must still transact on-chain to onboard themselves to Lightning, It massively increases the number of transactions Bitcoin can process but it does nothing at all to increase the number of people who can own bitcoin."
~ Shinobi
With scaling a hot issue again, and CTV coming back from the dead with concrete proposals, and covenants on the table, its time to dive back in and make sense of the options, and the concept of scaling not just bitcoin payments, as lightning has done, but Bitcoin ownership. From UTXOs to virtual UTXOs, could this primitive be the next major step in bringing Bitcoin sovereignty to the whole world?
HOW CTV CAN HELP SCALE BITCOIN
Lightning has offered a path to massively improve the scalability of transactions conducted using Bitcoin, but has offered no meaningful path to scaling the ownership of coins on the network. CTV opens the door to addressing that missing piece of the scaling puzzle.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/how-ctv-can-help-scale-bitcoin
What is ‘UTXO consolidation’ and how can it help me reduce transaction fees?
If you receive a lot of transactions, you can save fees by consolidating your UTXOs.
Fidelity National Financial says hackers stole data on 1.3 million customers
https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/09/fidelity-national-financial-data-breach/
These are your custodians
4-year campaign backdoored iPhones using possibly the most advanced exploit ever
"Triangulation" infected dozens of iPhones belonging to employees of Moscow-based Kaspersky.
For those that don't know, Chaumian eCash
Brokerages stop customers from buying spot bitcoin ETFs
Bitcoin ETFs Notch $1.9B in Trading Volume—But Merrill Lynch, Vanguard Won’t List
The newly approved Bitcoin ETFs reached $1.9 billion worth of volume by midday, with BlackRock and Fidelity leading the pack.
https://decrypt.co/212523/bitcoin-etfs-notch-1-9b-in-trading-volume-merrill-lynch-vanguard-wont-list
Bitcoin is described as a system that “would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”
These events provide a moving example of the game theory behind bitcoin. As the saying goes, capital flows to where it is treated best.
Brokerages stop customers from buying spot bitcoin ETFs
Bitcoin ETFs Notch $1.9B in Trading Volume—But Merrill Lynch, Vanguard Won’t List
The newly approved Bitcoin ETFs reached $1.9 billion worth of volume by midday, with BlackRock and Fidelity leading the pack.
https://decrypt.co/212523/bitcoin-etfs-notch-1-9b-in-trading-volume-merrill-lynch-vanguard-wont-list
Bitcoin is described as a system that “would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”
These events provide a moving example of the game theory behind bitcoin. As the saying goes, capital flows to where it is treated best.
“Channel liquidity and offline receives, in my opinion, are the two most obvious reasons why self-custodial lightning is not popular.
When most users hear about any of these, they just think “screw that” and move to a custodial wallet because it is so much easier. If these were our only two problems, I think self-custodial lightning would be fine.
It may never be the predominant way people use lightning, but we could get the UX good enough that we have a significant portion of people using lightning in a sovereign way. However, there are more problems under the surface.”~ BenTheCarmen
Rethinking Lightning
Remember a work in progress
The Sound Money Soirée presented by ₿itcoin Bay
Come take a break in the vacation spot for bitcoiners Feb 3rd and 4th!
It's going to be an unforgettable weekend with
@BeefFlorida
https://x.com/bitcoinbaytpa/status/1745478148836278584?s=20
I will be one of the presenters and part of a panel
The Bitcoin ETF is the spiritual reversal of Executive Order 6102
Back in 1935, they seized the gold. But now, digital gold is back.
The Rise of Custodial and Non-custodial Wallet Apps
https://open.substack.com/pub/privkey/p/the-rise-of-custodial-and-non-custodial
British troops banned from WhatsApp amid Russian airstrike hacking fears in Ukraine
All British Army personnel, including senior officers, will now face disciplinary action if they're caught using WhatsApp over fears that Russia is using phone data to choose airstrike targets.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/news/british-troops-banned-whatsapp-amid-26518611
If possible never use your mobile phone number as your WhatsApp number specially if you are military and can become a target.
You would think the UK military would have known this risk. Just shows how incompetent military, governments, and institutions around the world are.
Google turns off some cookies for 30 million Chrome winners
Google Just Disabled Cookies for 30 Million Chrome Users. Here’s How to Tell If You’re One of Them.
It’s the beginning of the end in Google’s plan to kill cookies forever.
https://gizmodo.com/google-just-disabled-cookies-for-30-million-chrome-user-1851137998
If the new Chrome feature is unavailable for you, and you're interested in blocking cookies, Mozilla Firefox can be a good, simple option. Two helpful extensions include uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger.
Debtors float potential bitcoin price of $16,871 for FTX bankruptcy claims
FTX debtors propose $16,871 Bitcoin price for creditor claims
Many online objected to the proposed pricing, based on the U.S. dollar value of cryptocurrencies when FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ftx-debtors-bitcoin-claims-bankruptcy
The progression of this case goes to show that when exchanges encounter trouble, it's often at the worst possible time.
The best way to avoid losing assets on an exchange is to get in and get out as soon as possible.