🇬🇧 UK Retail: Look, Don’t Touch

Happy Friday, In A Nutshell this week:

• 🇬🇧 UK Retail: Look, Don’t Touch

• 📊 Bitcoin’s IPO Moment

• 🚨 A Warning Shot for Developers

• 💼 Bitcoin Becomes Business Collateral

• 🔓 Fidelity Lets Bitcoin Off the Leash

• 🤝 Why Bitcoin And Gold Work Together In A Portfolio

• …and much more

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 🚀⏰ Today’s news should be a ~4.59-minute read (748 words).

🧠 Quote Of The Week

“The law’s role is less and less to support creativity, and more and more to protect certain industries against competition.”

— Lawrence Lessig

🇬🇧 UK Retail: Look, Don’t Touch

Dominic Frisby has been blocked from buying Bitcoin ETNs in the UK.

To buy Bitcoin ETNs, UK investors must pass the FCA’s crypto questionnaire, and despite being in Bitcoin since 2010 and writing one of the first mainstream books in 2013–14, Frisby failed it.

This highlights how UK rules are blocking even well-informed investors from accessing regulated Bitcoin products. Retail access is ‘open’ on paper, but real-world hurdles still keep many out.

📊 Bitcoin’s IPO Moment

Wall Street veteran Jordi Visser argues Bitcoin is in an “IPO moment,” which helps explain why the price has not surged like stocks or gold in recent months.

Recent trading reflects a handover from early whales to a broader, institutional base, with ETFs allowing long-term holders to move into regulated wrappers and take long-held profits without crashing the market.

This is much like a post-IPO consolidation, where early investors sell some shares as institutions step in.

🚨 A Warning Shot for Developers

Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez has been sentenced to five years in federal prison, the maximum sentence for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

Prosecutors said Samourai’s mixing service laundered $237 million tied to drug trafficking, darknet markets, cyber intrusions, fraud and murder-for-hire.

Rodriguez’s lawyers asked for a sentence of one year and one day, but the court imposed the maximum term, setting a tough precedent for developers of Bitcoin privacy tools.

💼 Bitcoin Becomes Business Collateral

Strike has launched Bitcoin-backed loans to UK businesses, with funding in GBP.

Loans start from £10,000, have no stated maximum, offer rates from 10.11% APR, allow up to five concurrent loans, and include quick onboarding with no credit checks.

Borrowers post Bitcoin as collateral and draw cash without selling, giving BTC-holding firms a new financing tool and more ways to put their Bitcoin to work.

🔓 Fidelity Lets Bitcoin Off the Leash

Fidelity has enabled Bitcoin transfers on its US platform, allowing users to move BTC to and from external wallets rather than keeping it on the platform.

Transfers are being rolled out across accounts, adding self-custody options within a familiar brokerage experience and putting pressure on rivals to match.

This brings Bitcoin and self-custody a step closer to the mainstream, reducing platform risk for everyday investors.

🤝 Why Bitcoin And Gold Work Together In A Portfolio

Charlie Morris, founder of ByteTree and creator of “BOLD”, the Bitcoin-and-gold strategy, discusses how the two assets can work together in a balanced portfolio.

They cover how markets have shifted since 2008, why central banks are returning to gold, and why he believes institutions will eventually own Bitcoin, even if culture and regulation slow adoption.

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

🔊 More Speakers Announced for Bitcoin | A Competitive Advantage

We’ve dropped three more heavy-hitting speakers to the lineup for Bitcoin | A Competitive Advantage on Friday, 21st November, Derby:

Joe Nakamoto — Bitcoin journalist & filmmaker

Ismael Dainehine — Founder & CEO of EverGive

Pete Rizzo — President at BitcoinTreasuries & veteran Bitcoin journalist

From business leaders to independent thinkers, if you're taking action or ready to start, this conference is for you.

🎟️ Final day tickets still available, grab yours whilst you can!

🔥 What else have you missed?

1. Bitcoin isn’t about getting rich, it’s about freedom

2. Tax Efficient Bitcoin exposure in the UK, step by step guide

3. Strategy launch their first Euro-Denominated Perpetual Preferred Stock

4. Grant Cardone would rather own Bitcoin over real estate

5. France advances a proposal to tax unrealised Bitcoin gains, deeming them “Unproductive Wealth”

6. Metaplanet borrows $100 million against its bitcoin holdings to buy the dip

7. JP Morgan sees bitcoin price reaching about $170,000 within the next 6 to 12 months

8. GM3 introduces the world’s first tokenized shares, secured and held directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.

🍾 Friday Fun!

This week’s crossword is now live - Play here

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