ICYMI

It’s Friday. Congrats, seriously.

Before we jump in, don’t forget to book your ticket to OPNEXT, the Bitcoin scaling conference, this April at the Strategy HQ (formerly Microstrategy) near Washington DC.

Coinbase, Bitwise, Brink and tons of other Bitcoin engineers will be joining us for 2 focused days on Bitcoin scaling, tech and development talk.

Use code "BITDEVS” for 10% off a ticket by visiting here.

NiceHash is the go-to platform for Kaspa and Dogecoin miners looking to maximize their mining profits by up to 40%! Get paid in Bitcoin with payrate surges that beat pool payrates! No need to swap, no conversion fees - just more profit in your BTC wallet. Plus, boost your efficiency even further with NiceHash Firmware for Antminer Kaspa machines, unlocking better performance and higher earnings per watt.

U.S. Treasury Targets Cartels With “Temporary” Measures

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) lowered the currency transaction report threshold from $10,000 to $200 for Americans in 30 ZIP codes in California and Texas, citing efforts to combat cartel-related money laundering. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized the move as part of a broader government strategy to counter criminal activities - link

OUR TAKE: While this news challenges the federal government’s tone reversal on crypto and financial regulation—something many Bitcoiners have celebrated—it appears to be a targeted crackdown on known money laundering activities. Skepticism is warranted. To quote Ronald Reagan, “Nothing lasts longer than a temporary government program.”

However, FinCEN’s prior proposal under the Biden administration to report transactions over $600 was broad and indiscriminate, whereas the $200 threshold under the Trump administration is limited to select counties and backed by specific rationale. This move is likely best understood as a downstream effect of Trump’s classification of cartels as terrorist organizations, which itself may have broader implications for civil liberties.

Starknet Announces Expansion to Bitcoin

Ethereum L2 Starknet–from cryptography titan StarkWare–announced that it will also settle on Bitcoin, becoming the first L2 with “dual-chain settlement.” The announcement includes several partnerships, such as Ordinals wallet Xverse, Starknet’s Braavos Lightning integration, and funding for “BTCFi” projects. StarkWare will also be building its own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve - link

OUR TAKE: StarkWare is the foremost company developing around the “STARK” thesis in crypto, making its formal move to Bitcoin significant. The company has historically advocated for OP_CAT to enable a zk-verifier on Bitcoin, but will be allocating resources to the Bitcoin ecosystem regardless of OP_CAT. StarkWare’s pivot is noteworthy, given its strong technical influence and the strides it has made in Bitcoin R&D over the past two years.

Stop Sifting Through Logs — Meet LuxOS Events API

Get instant error summaries & automate reporting across your fleet.

Troubleshooting just got effortless.

Video platform Rumble announces $17.1M BTC buy

Video-sharing platform Rumble has invested $17.1 million to acquire 188 Bitcoin at an average price of $91,000 per coin, as part of its plan to allocate up to $20 million into Bitcoin. The investment follows Tether’s $775 million investment Rumble - link 

Bitwise launches ETF tracking Bitcoin Corporations

The fund will track companies holding over 1,000 BTC in treasury, including Strategy, CleanSpark, Marathon, and Fold - link

Abu Dhabi’s MGX announces $2B investment into Binance

AI and advanced technology investor MGX dropped $2 billion into the largest crypto exchange, Binance. The exchange currently employs 20% of its 5,000 workforce in the UAE - link

Bitcoin price vindicates BitMEX Co-Founder Arthur Hayes’

Arthur Hayes’ Bitcoin price prediction is gaining traction from weary crypto traders on social media. Hayes’ calls for a further correction below $80K, with an eventual rise to $250K price point - link

Bitcoin NFTs ‘Taproot Wizards’ announce mint date

After two years and $37.5 million raised, the Taproot Wizards has an its collection mint date set - link