@ Felipe

🧠Quote(s) of the week:

'Bitcoin is a high-IQ, low-time-preference asset in a world addicted to DoorDash, dopamine, and debt. Holding Bitcoin requires patience, conviction, and the ability to not panic when CNBC tells you it’s dead for the 47th time. That rules out, oh, I don’t know - 95% of the population? This isn’t some egalitarian revolution. This is a cognitive filter disguised as a monetary network. The rich, the strategic, the elite - those who understand volatility as an opportunity - will stack the hardest asset on Earth while the masses beg for interest rate cuts and $600 stimmies to buy groceries they can't afford.

It's not a level playing field. It's a time-preference war, and Bitcoin is the scoreboard. And every cycle, we watch it happen again. The media ridicules it, the politicians fear it, and the smart money buys more. While fiat punishes savers and rewards financial nihilism, Bitcoin inverts the whole structure. It’s a vault for those who can delay gratification, think generationally, and understand that true wealth is preserved rather than printed. The game isn’t rigged. It’s just calibrated for adults.' - Adam Livingston

'Bitcoin is an extremely simple thesis. If you think governments will stop debasing and debanking: number go down. If you think they won’t stop debasing and debanking: number go up'- Alex Gladstein

Something to ponder on.

🧡Bitcoin news🧡

On the 28th of April:

➡️Hunter Horsley: 'Bitcoin at $94k, yet — Google searches for "Bitcoin" near long-term lows. This hasn't been retail-driven. Institutions, advisors, corporations, and nations have come into the space. The types of investors buying Bitcoin are expanding.'

➡️Daniel Batten: 'Cambridge has just released their updated report on Bitcoin mining. For the first time, their report shows that most (52.4%) of the Bitcoin network is now powered by zero-emission energy sources (up from 37% in their last report).

Here's a summary of their findings:

https://x.com/DSBatten/status/1916903476610650202

You can read the full report here

➡️Arizona’s Bitcoin Reserve bill (SB 1025) just passed the House and now heads to the desk of Governor Katie Hobbs. However, Governor Hobbs has vowed to veto any legislation until a budget impasse over funding for disability services is resolved.

On the 29th of April:

➡️Bitcoin Archive: 'South Korea's ruling party to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs, scrap restrictive banking crypto rules, and introduce crypto-friendly framework THIS YEAR, if it wins the June election.'

➡️President Trump's Executive Director says there is a "space race" amongst countries to accumulate Bitcoin: "We view Bitcoin as digital gold."

➡️U.S. to "turbo-charge" Bitcoin mining growth by allowing Bitcoin miners to build power plants and data centres near natural gas fields - Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary

➡️Japanese clothing company ANAP Holdings Inc. bought 35 Bitcoins worth $3.3 million. ANAP now holds 51.7 BTC, joining Japan’s growing corporate Bitcoin treasury movement.

➡️Semler Scientific adds 165 BTC for $15.7M, bringing total holdings to 3,467 BTC. The company reports a 23.8% BTC yield year-to-date.

➡️The Bitcoin hashrate has already surged over 17% since the start of the year.

➡️'This shattered a major myth for me: gold production isn’t slowing down—it’s accelerating. According to NYDIG, annual gold mining has been steadily increasing over time, about 1.6% per year, thanks to better extraction technology. In fact, 2024 saw a 1% year-over-year increase, setting an all-time high in gold output (World Gold Council). So why do so many still believe the outdated narrative that gold is becoming harder to find? The truth is: gold is effectively unlimited in supply—we just get better at digging it up. If that surprises you, you're probably not nearly bullish enough on Bitcoin.' - Robert Hefner https://i.ibb.co/JWCHndQk/Gpu-W9-R1-Xw-AAiy-Cv.jpg

On the 30th of April:

➡️The Bank of Italy identifies Bitcoin as an emerging risk factor with concerns for the financial system.

"The strong growth of Bitcoin and other crypto-assets with high price volatility means risks not only for investors but also potentially for financial stability, given the growing interconnections between the digital asset ecosystem, the traditional financial sector, and the real economy,”

Tell me you are scared of Bitcoin without telling me you are scared of Bitcoin.

➡️4 major wirehouses managing $10 TRILLION to start offering Bitcoin ETFs to clients this year, says BitWise CIO Matt Hougan. Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and UBS are coming to the party.

➡️Roswell, New Mexico, becomes the 1st United States city to launch a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

➡️BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF IBIT has hit 600,000 BTC!

➡️Semler Scientific bought 165 Bitcoins worth $15.7m. They now hold 3,467 BTC on their balance sheet.

➡️Bitcoin News: 'El Salvador is still buying Bitcoin despite an IMF loan deal that required it to stop. Economy Minister Maria Luisa Hayem confirmed ongoing accumulation, calling Bitcoin “an important project” and a key asset for both the government and private sector.'

➡️New whales are buying Bitcoin faster than ever before!

➡️'ZachXBT says the $330M Bitcoin theft involved an elderly U.S. victim targeted by social engineering. The stolen 3,520 BTC were laundered through six exchanges and swapped into Monero, triggering a 50% price spike due to thin liquidity.' -Bitcoin News

On the 1st of May:

➡️North Carolina Bitcoin Reserve Bill has passed the House! This bill enables state retirement funds to invest up to $ 13 B.

➡️Tether’s latest attestation states the company holds $7.6 billion in Bitcoin.

➡️Europe's largest Bitcoin treasury company, The Blockchain Group, aspires to hold 1% of the total Bitcoin supply by 2033.

➡️FiatHawk: 'Central banks create fake money to buy real gold, and we’re supposed to pretend this isn’t theft. The game is rigged. Their paper is trash. Gold knows it. Bitcoin ends it. Stop believing the lie.

https://i.ibb.co/mrBZtY5P/Gpl4kl-ak-AA-xv-D.png

When the debt bubble collapses, only sound money with zero counterparty risk matters. Currently, sound money is less than 5% of debt money, and Bitcoin is so tiny it is barely visible on the chart. Stay humble and keep stacking.' https://i.ibb.co/QF0Vf9k8/Gpu-CCIWa-YAAng1-U.png

On the 2nd of May:

➡️ Regarding the whole OP_Return debate.

Grok: ++Key Points: ++ * The OP_RETURN debate in Bitcoin centers on whether its blockchain should store data beyond financial transactions, with ongoing controversy. * It began in 2010 with concerns about blockchain bloat, intensified in 2014 with the "OP_Return Wars," and continues today. * Research suggests the debate reflects a balance between Bitcoin's monetary purpose and potential for broader applications like Dapps. * Compromises, like setting a 40-byte limit in 2014, aimed to address concerns but didn't fully resolve tensions, influencing platforms like Ethereum.

++Background++ OP_RETURN is a Bitcoin script opcode allowing small data storage in transactions, useful for timestamping or Dapps, but raising concerns about blockchain bloat.

++Historical Context++

The debate started in 2010 with the BitDNS proposal, where Satoshi Nakamoto worried about scalability, leading to Namecoin. It peaked in 2014 with Counterparty's use, leading to a 40-byte limit compromise, later adjusted to 83 bytes by 2016.

++Recent Developments++ By 2018-2019, high OP_RETURN usage (20% of transactions) sparked fee debates, but usage has since declined, though data remains, with recent 2023 controversies over size limits.

If you are interested in Bitcoin, then you should check out the following video.

Great video from @GrassFedBitcoin explaining the current OP_RETURN situation. The choice isn’t between bloating the UTXO set or increasing OP_RETURN, it’s whether we normalize spam or we reject it. Is Bitcoin for data storage or financial transactions? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15biQH1H140 Every Bitcoiner needs to see this! Vires in Numeris.

A great counterargument by Seth for Privacy:

https://x.com/sethforprivacy/status/1919003009880616976

Personally, I tend to agree with Seth.

To sum it up:

If you are running a node, you should switch from Core to Knots immediately. It's very straightforward, and you don't need to redo the initial block download.

If you arent running a node you are a leech and need to get your shit together.

➡️Tether CEO defends skipping MiCA, calling EU stablecoin rules “very dangerous.” Ardoino: “The European Central Bank is more interested in pushing the digital euro to control people and how they spend their money.”

On the 3rd of May:

➡️Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed the state’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve legislation after it was passed by the House and Senate. She states: “Arizonans’ retirement funds are not the place for the state to try untested investments like virtual currency.”

Apparently, the Arizona State Retirement System already holds 53,097 shares of MSTR. You can’t make this shit up.

➡️Vitalik Buterin: 'One of the best things about Bitcoin is how simple it is. This simplicity has lots of benefits. Let's bring those benefits to Ethereum.' Almost like Bitcoin is eh......(checks notes)......better tech. Just use Bitcoin, dumbfuck! 'It's only taken a decade, but Ethereum's creator is having an inkling that he never should have created Ethereum, which destroyed billions of precious capital and instead focused on Bitcoin.' - Vijay Boyapati

There is no second best!

On the 4th of May:

➡️Eli Nagar:

Heads up, Bitcoin holders: The EU will ban anonymous crypto accounts by July 2027. Every transaction above €1,000 will need your ID. Privacy is becoming extinct. Every new restriction is a marketing campaign for Bitcoin. “Hi, we’re the EU. We’ll surveil you, control your money, and criminalise privacy.” By doing that, they have decided to help promote the black market...great work, EU! Oh, and remember, the EU can't ban what it has no control over: hold your own private keys.

➡️Cumulative inflows into the Bitcoin ETFs have hit a fresh ATH of $ 40.62 B.

On the 5th of May:

➡️Brown University invested $4.9M in Bitcoin via BlackRock's IBIT, as disclosed in a recent SEC filing. The university owns 105K IBIT shares ($5.8M), 2.3% of Brown's reported $216M equity holdings.

➡️Strategy acquires 1,895 BTC for $180.3 million at an average price of $95,167 per bitcoin. As of May 4, 2025, they hold 555,450 BTC acquired for $38.08 billion at an average price of $68,550 per bitcoin.

💸Traditional Finance / Macro:

On the 3rd of May:

👉🏽Berkshire Hathaway cash pile hits record $347.7bn in 1Q as Warren Buffett sells stocks for 10th quarter in a row. Buffett is still raising cash. https://i.ibb.co/1GK6Dvzx/Gq-Bp6q-BW4-AAKKlm.jpg

🏦Banks:

👉🏽 No news

🌎Macro/Geopolitics:

On the 27th of April:

👉🏽World central banks are diversifying their reserves: Foreign holdings of Treasuries as % of US government debt have fallen to ~23%, the lowest in 22 years. The percentage is down ~11 percentage points over the last 9 years. At the same time, gold holdings as a % of global international reserves have hit ~18%, the highest in 26 years. The share has risen by ~8 percentage points since 2015. China has been one of the biggest buyers of gold over the last few years. Since the beginning of 2023, China’s gold reserves as a % of total foreign reserves have doubled to 7.1%.

Everyone wants gold. https://i.ibb.co/NgX11DZh/Gp4-GKc-HWMAAa-FYu.jpg

On the 28th of April:

👉🏽TKL: 'Tariffs are hitting American meat exports.

China's cancellations of US pork shipments are skyrocketing: China cancelled shipments of ~12,000 metric tons of US pork last week, the most since the 2020 pandemic, when global supply chains were halted. As a result, overall US pork export sales dropped to their lowest level since October, according to Bloomberg. This comes as American pork imports to China now face a massive 172% tariff. This includes the duties first imposed during the 2018 trade war.'

On the 29th of April:

👉🏽The U.S. Treasury will now need to borrow $514 billion this quarter, an increase of 320% from its previous estimate.

On the 30th of April:

👉🏽'Bad news for electricity consumers: despite 84 hours of negative pricing (2024: 62 hours), the average electricity price in the Netherlands in April was €75/MWh — nearly 30% higher than a year ago.' - Martien Visser

https://i.ibb.co/VsrFdKy/Gps0l-Au-Xs-AA20-OA.png

👉🏽Tax cuts for the rich lead to higher income inequality. However, they do not have any significant effect on economic growth or unemployment. Empirical evidence for advanced economies over 1965-2015:

https://academic.oup.com/ser/article/20/2/539/6500315?login=false

Trickle down never worked.

👉🏽"Since February 2020, home prices have increased 45%," according to Zillow So has the broad money supply. Not your house is getting more expensive; The money is getting devalued.

Money supply= +40%

Median home= +40%

Experts: "What could have ever caused this????"

And some freaking guru on Instagram or Tiktok is trying to convince you to get his/her 'buying/renting a house' course. https://i.ibb.co/bMXfW3vp/Gp0-CXg-Ka-YAAIhq-J.jpg

👉🏽SUMMARY OF US Q1 GDP REPORT: 1. The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of -0.3% in the first quarter, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.2%. That’s down from the growth of 2.4% in Q4. 2. Real consumer spending rose by 1.8% Y/Y, after increasing 4.0% in Q4. 3. The GDP Price Index rose 3.7%, above estimates of 3.1%. 4. Core PCE Prices rose 3.5%, after increasing 2.6% in Q4.

• Key Takeaway: Fears of stagflation are growing as the economy grinds to a halt and inflation ticks higher. - Jesse Cohen

👉🏽World debt has now officially crossed $300 TRILLION, and still continues to climb aggressively. This will not end well…

https://i.ibb.co/Kxm2bJs6/Gpyi-Ouwa-YAEDg-Pq.jpg

👉🏽'March PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, FALLS to 2.3%, above expectations of 2.2%. Core PCE inflation FALLS to 2.6%, in line with expectations of 2.6%. February Core PCE inflation was revised up to 3.0%. All eyes are on the Fed next week.' - TKL

🎁If you have made it this far, I would like to give you a little gift, well, in this case, two gifts:

Smitty's Bitcoin Retirement Guide:

"Helping you develop a better Bitcoin stacking target for life planning." - Sminston With This is a fantastic tool. Very, very useful. I will keep mentioning it. Bitcoin is a savings vehicle. Period!

https://x.com/sminston_with/status/1917605539279954391

The best kind of retirement starts in diapers and ends in diapers, so start now. https://i.ibb.co/4RwFxR0W/Gpys-GQga-YAIxm-MX.jpg

nofinancialadvice

Credit: I have used multiple sources!

My savings account: Bitcoin The tool I recommend for setting up a Bitcoin savings plan: PocketBitcoin especially suited for beginners or people who want to invest in Bitcoin with an automated investment plan once a week or monthly.

Use the code SE3997

Get your Bitcoin out of exchanges. Save them on a hardware wallet, run your own node...be your own bank. Not your keys, not your coins. It's that simple. ⠀ ⠀

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⭐ Many thanks⭐

Felipe - Bitcoin Friday!

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