🧠 Block’s Bold AI Pivot

Happy Friday, In A Nutshell this week:

• 🧠 Block’s Bold AI Pivot

• 🚨 Lawsuit Filed Over Market Manipulation

• ⚡ Pay to Win, Not Waste

• 🇮🇩 Indonesia’s Grassroots Revival

• 🤝 Just Tap to Pay

• 🍔 Burgers, Beers and Bitcoin

• …and much more

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 🚀⏰ Today’s news should be a ~5.25-minute read (812 words).

🧠 Quote Of The Week

“You can’t stop technology. You can only choose whether you adapt to it.”

— Jeff Booth

🧠 Block’s Bold AI Pivot

Jack Dorsey’s Block is cutting over 4,000 jobs, shrinking from 10,000 employees to under 6,000, as it shifts to an “AI-first” way of building.

Dorsey says the business is strong, but they’re already seeing the impact of AI tools. He argues they enable a new way of working that is rapidly changing what it means to build and run a company.

Markets liked the message, with the stock jumping 25% on the news. It’s a loud signal for everyone else. If one major CEO can do this in one move, others may follow, and the ripple effects could reach far beyond tech.

🚨 Lawsuit Filed Over Market Manipulation

A federal lawsuit has been filed against trading firm Jane Street, alleging it pushed Bitcoin’s price lower through regular 10am selling, during periods of thin liquidity.

The allegations are unproven, but the timing has grabbed attention, with claims that the repeated “10am dumps” appear to have stopped since the filing.

Since the news, Bitcoin has risen by about 10%, and Google searches for “How to Buy Bitcoin” have reportedly hit a five-year high as the price moved higher.

If manipulation was real, some of the recent “price weakness” may have been artificial, and any unwind could be fast.

⚡ Pay to Win, Not Waste

RenewaBlox argues Bitcoin mining can be integrated into the UK power network to support the grid and reduce wasted energy.

The core issue is grid bottlenecks. Power is often generated in one place but can’t be moved to where it’s needed, so the system ends up paying some generators to turn down and others to turn up to keep things balanced.

Mining can sit at these pinch points and switch on or off instantly, turning stranded power into revenue and reducing constraint costs that ultimately show up in everyone’s bills.

If mining lowers wasted energy and balances costs, the benefit could be felt nationally, not just by miners.

🇮🇩 Indonesia’s Grassroots Revival

Bitcoin Indonesia has staged a real comeback, hosting around 40 meetups a month across 40 cities and building an estimated community of 55,000 people.

After the government banned crypto payments in 2018, the group rebuilt using a “closed-loop” approach. Free training programmes have also helped hundreds of new users learn the basics.

It’s a reminder that adoption doesn’t need headlines or price pumps. It grows through education, real-world use and local communities.

🤝 Just Tap to Pay

Numo has launched a new Android point-of-sale app that lets merchants accept Bitcoin with a simple tap-to-pay experience, similar to Apple Pay, using the NFC chip already inside most phones.

It’s built on Cashu ecash and also supports Lightning invoices, so it can work with both Cashu wallets and standard Lightning wallets. No extra hardware is needed, and it’s free and open-source.

If it catches on, this is the kind of UX that makes Bitcoin payments feel normal, fast, and familiar at the till, which is exactly what mainstream users expect.

🍔 Burgers, Beers and Bitcoin

Stephen Bagatti has made a name in London with Bitcoin-accepting restaurants Boom Bap Burger, and now he’s stepping up again with the launch of MRBL Steakhouse in Leadenhall Market.

We sat down with Stephen to discuss how the business has stayed resilient despite rising costs, how easy it was to start accepting Bitcoin, and why they’ve chosen to hold BTC for the long term.

Book here for 50% off, MRBL’s soft launch (4th–7th March 2026).

🫠 Is the Fiat Monetary System Starting to Crack Up?

Sam Roberts, Bitcoin treasury adviser at Cartwright, joins Jordan to unpack what’s really happening behind the scenes of workplace pensions and why more institutions are starting to take resilience seriously.

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

🔥 What else have you missed?

1. 21Shares brings Strategy’s 11.25%-yielding STRC to Europe via an ETP

2. Morgan Stanley has plans for Bitcoin trading, lending, and custody

3. Citi will be launching infrastructure that integrates Bitcoin into traditional finance

4. Strategy becomes the most heavily shorted U.S. stock

5. Coinbase launches 24/5 Stock and ETF Trading in the U.S.

6. Bitdeer liquidates 943 BTC, dropping its treasury to zero

7. Indiana approves Bitcoin investments in public retirement plans

8. TD Cowen predicts Bitcoin to hit $225,000 in 2027

🍾 Friday Fun!

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