Happy Friday, In A Nutshell this week:

If you enjoy the newsletter, pass it on to a friend.

🚀⏰ Today’s news should be a ~5.05-minute read (770 words).

🧠 Quote Of The Week

"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me."

— Ayn Rand

Boltz has suspended all Bitcoin swap services indefinitely, taking down Lightning and Liquid sidechain transfers for wallets including Aqua and Bull Bitcoin, after months of AI-assisted attacks outpaced its small team's ability to patch.

The non-custodial bridge, which routed swaps between Bitcoin's mainchain, Lightning and Liquid, said the automated probing had sharply accelerated in recent days. No user funds were lost, since Boltz's cryptographic design never gave it custody in the first place.

Boltz described the situation as a "major paradigm shift" for Bitcoin services built on open-source software, warning users not to expect swap services to return anytime soon.

The Bitcoin Business Network is expanding beyond the capital, with launch events in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester this autumn, in partnership with Hill Dickinson.

Open to members, non-members, and anyone curious how Bitcoin can future-proof their business. Spaces are limited and already filling fast.

Know a business owner in one of the three who needs to be in the room? Forward this on

Michael Saylor sat down with Steven Bartlett on Diary of a CEO this week, putting the case for Bitcoin in front of the second-biggest podcast in the world.

Saylor told the story of his own turnaround: a struggling software firm that reinvented itself in 2020 by converting its balance sheet into Bitcoin, now the largest corporate holder on Earth. He explained his thesis that Bitcoin will compound near 30% a year for two decades, then credited ChatGPT with helping design their preferred stock structure.

Millions of people who've never paid any attention to Bitcoin just heard the sound-money pitch, possibly for the first time.

Block's Bitcoin Ecosystem gross profit fell 31% after the company made a "strategic decision" to cut certain Cash App fees on Bitcoin purchases.

Bitcoin-related revenue slipped a smaller 13%, with Cash App accounting for most of it. The dip sat oddly alongside the rest of Block's results: overall Cash App gross profit rose 31% and company-wide gross profit climbed 25%.

Block had a number it could have protected and chose Bitcoin's affordability for customers instead.

Vladimir Putin once said nobody could ban Bitcoin. His new law to regulate it just banned its use to pay for anything in Russia.

The law keeps a domestic ban on paying for goods and services in Bitcoin, but carves out cross-border settlements between Russian and foreign firms, a channel Moscow has leaned on since sanctions cut its banks off SWIFT. Retail buyers face a cap worth roughly $3,700 a year.

A head of state can ban how his own citizens use it, but Bitcoin doesn't need permission either way.

Nic Cary reckons there is still up to £2m of Bitcoin buried in geocaches across Yorkshire. He hid it himself, more than thirteen years ago.

Cary first heard about Bitcoin in 2011 on a fishing boat on the Long Island Sound, then moved from the US to York with a backpack to help build the first block explorer out of a two-bedroom flat near the racecourse. That project became Blockchain.com, now FCA-registered, MiCA-licensed across Europe, and confidentially filed for a US listing.

The episode is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify

1. Coldcard hack could have reached $130 million, says Galaxy Research

2. Strategy to match the U.S. government's $1,000 for newborns plus an additional $250

3. Elon Musk asks Grok: Can quantum computers crack Bitcoin's SHA-256?

4. Jack Mallers explains the Coldcard hack in non-technical terms

5. U.S. Treasury said it will borrow $739 billion in Q3, $68 billion more than forecast

6. Breez announces Glow, an open-source Bitcoin to stablecoins app

7. Bitcoin mining difficulty has dropped 14% from this year's high

8. Thailand confirms 0% capital gains tax on Bitcoin

This week’s crossword is now live - Play here