Happy Friday, In A Nutshell this week:

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🚀⏰ Today’s news should be a ~4.32-minute read (679 words).

🧠 Quote Of The Week

“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.”

— Herbert Hoover

Hackers drained almost 4,000 Bitcoin from Blockstream's Liquid Network, worth roughly $320 million.

Calling themselves "white hats," these hackers expose flaws typically for a bounty instead of just cashing out.

Following the withdrawal from the Liquid sidechain, a separate network pegged to Bitcoin, the hackers communicated with Blockstream directly in Bitcoin blocks. Once Blockstream confirmed the bug was patched, the attackers sent back 3,400 Bitcoin but kept 598.5, about $47 million, as a self-awarded finder's fee.

Withdrawals remain paused, but Blockstream's Adam Back says every Liquid Bitcoin will be honoured one for one.

Jack Dorsey’s Block has applied for a US national trust bank charter to hold Bitcoin and stablecoins for customers.

The proposed bank would focus on safeguarding customer assets, rather than operating like a traditional bank that accepts checking or savings deposits and makes loans.

Metaplanet shareholders are divided over a pay plan for bosses that grew bigger every time the Bitcoin treasury company sold new shares to raise cash.

Set up in 2022, before the Bitcoin pivot, the plan gave management the right to buy roughly one new share for every four sold to the public. So the more shares the company issued to buy Bitcoin, the more free shares its bosses earned too.

That pot swelled to around 319 million shares before it was capped in August, with the new shares locked up until 2031.

CEO Simon Gerovich concedes the plan was poorly explained to shareholders, but critics say insiders gained while ordinary holders were diluted.

Bitcoin-only exchange CoinCorner has launched Vault, a multisig custody service with built-in Lloyd’s of London insurance coverage.

In collaboration with AnchorWatch, Vault uses multisig, requiring more than one key to move funds. Control is split between the two firms, customers set their own identity checks, and holdings can be verified on-chain. It costs 1.5% a year.

Iran's central bank is quietly waving through Bitcoin as a way to keep money moving despite years of sanctions.

With oil exports down more than 80% under a naval blockade and inflation among the world's highest, businesses are settling cross-border trade through Iranian crypto exchanges. One insider told the FT the central bank "doesn't ask any questions."

The US has already frozen a regime using Tether. It can't freeze Bitcoin the same way.

The Bitcoin Business Network is launching in the north, but time is running out.

It doesn't matter if you are a member, run a business, or how much you know about Bitcoin. Turn up, bring a friend, and get a taste of what being a BBN member is all about.

Spaces are limited and filling up fast.

1. X Spaces with Charlie Morris on Bitcoin, Gold and the UK’s looming debt crisis

2. Trezor disclosed another breach after scammers hijacked its marketing emails

3. Strategy bought back $176 million of its own preferred shares STRC

4. Bitkit summarises the Liquid hack in a 6-minute film

5. Steak ‘n Shake sees double-digit growth since Bitcoin adoption

6. Brian Armstrong says the Bitcoin bottom is in

7. Nasdaq invests $100M in Kraken parent company Payward

8. IMF says El Salvador has not used public funds to accumulate bitcoin

9. The Quantum Issue: WTF Is Quantum Computing?

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