Rabbit Hole Recap

RABBIT HOLE RECAP #419: FREEDOM IN THE DIGITAL AGE

No Agenda Show Announces Passing of Beloved Host John C. Dvorak at Age 74 https://x.com/na_announce/status/2079952538040672302 Tether’s Three-Way Crypto Deal Falls Apart as Jack Mallers Steps Down from Twenty One Capital https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/tether-s-three-way-crypto-deal-falls-apart-mallers-steps-down BitMEX Announces Shutdown of Exchange Operations Effective September 23, 2026 https://x.com/bitmex/status/2080201602456301580 Coinkite Opens Reservations for arca Personal Data Haven Hardware https://blog.coinkite.com/arca-reservations-are-open/ Strive Announces Bitcoin Stewardship Commitment Supporting Brink & Open-Source Development https://x.com/colemacro/status/2079907362979410395 Mike Schmidt Volunteers to Coordinate Bitcoin Security Consortium Backed by Strategy, BlackRock, Fidelity & Others https://x.com/bitschmidty/status/2080263159152091455 Galaxy Pledges Up to $5M in Grants for Bitcoin Post-Quantum Cryptography Development https://x.com/intangiblecoins/status/2079541359996719512 Startup Founders Urge Trump Not to Block Chinese Open-Weight AI Models https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/22/startup-founders-urge-trump-not-to-shut-off-chinese-open-weight-ai-01008992 India | Central Bank Pushes Digital Asset Prohibition India’s central bank is again pursuing a digital asset policy “leaning toward prohibition,” according to new government documents examined by Reuters. The Reserve Bank of India wants banks and regulated financial institutions barred from holding, trading, or offering exposure to digital assets and stablecoins. Officials also warn that offshore exchanges and peer-to-peer platforms are difficult to track. The documents estimate that India has nearly 39 million digital asset investors holding roughly $2.1 billion in digital assets. FinancialFreedomReport.org Lightning Labs Launches Wavelength: Self-Custodial Bitcoin Payments Toolkit for Apps and AI Agents https://lightning.engineering/posts/2026-07-21-wavelength-launch/ Noah Wallet Update Integrates Bark 0.4.0 with Live Backups, Native UI & Easier Ark Features https://x.com/nitesh_btc/status/2080026943035187537 Bark Pay Launches: Self-Hosted Bitcoin Payments Solution Ready in Under 5 Minutes https://x.com/2ndpsy/status/2079932489921941716 BTCPay Server v2.4.1: BIP-329 Label Import, Editable Invoice Comments, and RTL Language Support https://github.com/btcpayserver/btcpayserver/releases/tag/v2.4.1 Tails 7.10: New GNOME Shutdown Procedure and Celluloid Video Player https://tails.net/news/version_7.10/ Wisp v1.2.0: Multi-Account Switcher, Transaction History Sheets, and Improved Zaps https://github.com/barrydeen/wisp/releases/tag/v1.2.0 Hermes Agent v2026.7.20 “Quicksilver”: Major Speedups, Smart Approvals, and Password Manager Integration https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases/tag/v2026.7.20 JoinMarket-NG 0.34.2: Fidelity Bond Fixes and Tumbler Improvements https://github.com/joinmarket-ng/joinmarket-ng/releases/tag/0.34.2 Wasabi Wallet v2.8.1: Taproot Receive by Default, New Loading Screen, and AppImage Support https://github.com/WalletWasabi/WalletWasabi/releases/tag/v2.8.1 Dana v0.8.1: Faster Startup, Sat/BTC Display Toggle, and Stability Fixes https://github.com/cygnet3/dana/releases/tag/v0.8.1 Block Buzz: Open-Source Hive Mind Communication Platform https://github.com/block/buzz US Prosecutes Cop City Protester for Using GrapheneOS to Wipe Phone https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/23/cop-city-protester-phone Court Rules CBP Can Manually Search Phones at Border With No Suspicion Required https://www.techtimes.com/articles/321338/20260723/cbp-can-rifle-through-your-phone-hand-border-no-suspicion-required.htm Trump Targets Brazil’s Pix Payments System While Dollar Stablecoins Dominate Local Crypto Volume https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/07/18/trump-targets-brazil-s-payments-system-while-dollar-stablecoins-quietly-dominate-country-s-payments France Orders ISPs to Block Access to Polymarket https://www.reuters.com/technology/french-internet-service-providers-told-block-access-polymarket-2026-07-17/ 3:33 - Opening riff 5:53 - Dashboard 14:03 RIP John C. Dvorak 16:43 - Tether deal fails 23:38 - BitMEX shutdown 30:13 - ARCA 32:33 - Stewardship & Security Consortium 44:53 - Galaxy inb4 quantum 46:48 - Trump and Chinese AI 1:12:48 - HRF Story of the Week 1:14:33 - Boosts 1:19:03 - Software updates 1:39:43 - Graphene user prosecution 1:42:18 - Border patrol owns your phone 1:43:33 - Brazil payments 1:45:18 - France blocks Polymarket Shoutout to our sponsors: Strike https://strike.me/ Stakwork https://stakwork.ai/ Salt of the Earth https://drinksote.com/rhr Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Nostr https://primal.net/marty Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://tftc.io/podcasts/ Follow Odell: Nostr https://primal.net/odell Newsletter https://discreetlog.com/ Podcast https://citadeldispatch.com/

RABBIT HOLE RECAP #418: BRAVE NEW WORLD

https://rhr.tv/stream Court Sets Hearing for Bitcoin Policy Institute Intervention in Noah Doe Abandoned Coins Case https://x.com/intangiblecoins/status/2077864781894050294 Bitcoin Policy Institute Q2 2026 Quarterly Report: AI Influence Ops, CLARITY Protections, and Satoshi Scholars https://www.btcpolicy.org/articles/q2-2026-quarterly-report Bitcoin Battlefield: Live 3D Visualization Turning BTC Order Flow into a War https://bitcoin-battlefield.pages.dev/ AnchorWatch Launches Multi-Institution Custody with CoinCorner, BitGo, and Lloyd’s Insurance https://x.com/rob1ham/status/2077005052510662958 ZEUS Lightning Economics Report: The Bridge Between Bitcoin’s Two Identities https://zeusln.com/lightning-economics Left Debanks Right, Right Debanks Left https://x.com/ODELLXYZ/status/2077916269991383426 Burma | More Than 100 Bank Accounts Frozen The military junta in Burma froze the bank accounts of more than 100 companies, including firms involved in car imports, fuel, agriculture, gemstones, and import-export companies. Business owners and individuals were also summoned for questioning to Nay Pyi Taw, the capital, where the military junta is headquartered. FinancialFreedomReport.org Cove Wallet v1.3.0: Passkey Cloud Backup, Progressive Scanner, and Onboarding Improvements https://github.com/bitcoinppl/cove/releases/tag/v1.3.0 JoinMarket-NG 0.34.0: Fee Quantization Defaults, Automatic CoinJoin History Import, and Security Hardening https://github.com/joinmarket-ng/joinmarket-ng/releases/tag/0.34.0 OpenClaw v2026.7.1: Major Control UI Overhaul, Onboarding, and Expanded Model Support https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/tag/v2026.7.1 Nunchuk Android 2.7.1: Self-Custodial USDT on Liquid and Trezor Bluetooth Support https://github.com/nunchuk-io/nunchuk-android/releases/tag/android.2.7.1 Ashigaru 1.1.1 https://github.com/linkinparkrulz/ashigaru-desktop/releases/tag/v1.1.1 Truth Social to Sell Faster Access to Trump’s Market-Moving Posts via Truth API https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/16/truth-social-will-sell-investors-faster-access-trumps-market-moving-posts/ White House Teleprompter Operator Made Over $100K Betting on Trump’s Speeches https://abcnews.com/US/white-house-teleprompter-operator-made-100k-betting-trumps/story?id=134764573 29 Countries Sign Agreement to Establish World AI Cooperation Organization https://www.reuters.com/world/china/twenty-nine-countries-sign-agreement-establish-global-ai-cooperation-body-2026-07-16/ Federal Reserve Announces Leadership of Five Task Forces to Advance Monetary Policy https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20260709a.htm AI 2040: Plan A – Delay Superintelligence Until 2040 with Full Research Transparency https://ai-2040.com/ DoorDash Opens CLI for AI Agents to Order Food Directly https://x.com/andyfang/status/2077516962515599799 .ME Registry Temporarily Suspends telegram.org Domain Over Sanctions, Then Restores It https://x.com/domainme/status/2077077395777994942 3:33 - The show must go on 11:03 - Dashboard and air filters 16:08 - Noah Doe 20:43 - BPI quarterly report 37:03 - Bitcoin battlefield 38:43 - AnchorWatch 42:13 - LN economics 56:28 - HRF Story of the Week 1:01:43 - Software updates 1:08:23 - Trump insider trading 1:13:33 - Fed task forces 1:14:53 - AI 2040 1:15:53 - DoorDash CLI 1:18:08 - Telegram .ME suspension Shoutout to our sponsors: Strike https://strike.me/ Stakwork https://stakwork.ai/ Salt of the Earth https://drinksote.com/rhr Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Nostr https://primal.net/marty Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://tftc.io/podcasts/ Follow Odell: Nostr https://primal.net/odell Newsletter https://discreetlog.com/ Podcast https://citadeldispatch.com/

RABBIT HOLE RECAP #417: THE GRIND CONTINUES

https://rhr.tv/stream Bull Bitcoin Files Legal Challenge Against EU DAC8 Crypto Reporting Rules https://x.com/BULLBITCOIN_/status/2074770378350617052 Strike Launches Volatility-Proof Bitcoin-Backed Loans with No Price Liquidations https://x.com/Strike/status/2074546850309263365 Polymarket Adds Instant Bitcoin Lightning Deposits Powered by Spark https://x.com/spark/status/2074539080197775421 Radar.Chat Launches: Private Messaging with Self-Custodial Bitcoin Lightning on Signal https://x.com/RadarChat/status/2074523998596055061 Sen. Wyden Urges Preserving Blockchain Developer Protections in Crypto Bill https://www.theblock.co/post/407648/wyden-urges-senate-leaders-preserve-contested-blockchain-developer-protections-in-broader-crypto-bill Mempool Joins Stratum V2 Working Group for Decentralized Template Construction https://x.com/OrangeSurfBTC/status/2074928271481819614 Spiral: Block’s Open-Source Bitcoin and AI Initiative https://spiral.xyz/about/ Bangladesh | Central Bank Mandates State QR Payment System Starting July 1, every merchant QR code in Bangladesh will be replaced by a government-backed standard. This comes after Bangladesh Bank announced that Bangla QR, its QR code system, will become mandatory. Banks and payments providers are required to update their existing merchant QR codes to Bangla QR by June 30 or face financial penalties. Officials claim the system will help create more digital transaction records, shrink the informal economy, improve tax collection, and strengthen anti-money laundering efforts. It also comes as part of the central bank’s efforts to reduce reliance on more private payment methods, such as cash. FinancialFreedomReport.org Bitcoin Core 31.1 Released: Fixes PrivateBroadcast IP Leak and Chainstate Issues https://bitcoincore.org/en/releases/31.1/ SeedSigner v0.8.7 “Summer of SeedSigner”: 22 Languages and BBQr Support https://github.com/SeedSigner/seedsigner/releases/tag/0.8.7 Bitcoin Safe 2.0.0: Guided Wallet Setup, Private Sync, and Device-Focused Signing https://bitcoin-safe.org/en/news/bitcoin-safe-2-0-0/ Giga Energy Introduces GigaBase: AI Data Centers Ready in 9 Months https://x.com/GigaEnergy_/status/2074478543719800951 3:33 - Opening riff 5:23 - Dashboard 9:08 - Bull Bitcoin DAC8 23:43 - Strike 27:58 - Polymarket Spark 29:58 - Radar Chat 35:28 - Sen. Wyden dev protections 37:03 - Mempool StratumV2 & Ocean announcement 39:28 - Spiral 42:03 - HRF Story of the Week 43:23 - Zaps/Boosts 50:53 - Software updates 54:23 - Giga energy Shoutout to our sponsors: Coinkite https://coinkite.com/ Strike https://strike.me/ Stakwork https://stakwork.ai/ Salt of the Earth https://drinksote.com/rhr Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Nostr https://primal.net/marty Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://tftc.io/podcasts/ Follow Odell: Nostr https://primal.net/odell Newsletter https://discreetlog.com/ Podcast https://citadeldispatch.com/

RABBIT HOLE RECAP #416: BITCOIN IS THE BEST MONEY

https://rhr.tv/stream Bitcoin Crowdfunding for Venezuela Earthquake Relief Supplies https://x.com/pakovm/status/2070254848814288935 Strike Now Authorized Under MiCA Across All 27 EU Countries https://x.com/jackmallers/status/2072353197650518196 Bark Wallet Solves Offchain State Backups with Encrypted Snapshots https://x.com/notgrubles/status/2072386304642286029 Blink Wallet Introduces Non-Custodial Accounts https://blink.sv/blog/non-custodial-accounts-in-blink-wallet Calvin Kim Receives OpenSats Long-Term Support Grant https://opensats.org/blog/calvin-kim-receives-lts-grant OpenSats Developer Spotlight: Egge (Coco) https://opensats.org/blog/developer-spotlight-egge-coco OpenSats Developer Spotlight: Rajarshi Maitra https://opensats.org/blog/developer-spotlight-rajarshi-maitra OpenSats Grant Map https://opensats.org/map BitGo CEO Announces ~15% Workforce Reduction for Strategic Focus https://x.com/mikebelshe/status/2070240967479996463 Strategy Announces Digital Credit Capital Framework https://www.strategy.com/press/strategy-announces-digital-credit-capital-framework_06-29-2026 Cambodia Launches Smart Policing Initiative in Phnom Penh Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior formally launched a China-backed “Smart Police” initiative in the capital city of Phnom Penh. The new policing system will connect 487 cameras equipped with AI-powered identity and vehicle tracking and send all video feeds into a new centralized command center. To support the rollout, Chinese-backed regional security partners are providing financial and technical support for the project and have pledged to expand the camera grid in the future. Cambodian officials say the project will protect residents and tourists. But in a country where dissent is overtly and systematically punished, these new AI-powered systems can easily double as a surveillance machine capable of identifying anyone who criticizes the ruling party. FinancialFreedomReport.org Ashigaru Terminal v1.0.0 Released: Whirlpool Coinjoin Client Built from Sparrow https://ashigaru.rs/news/release-terminal-v1-0-0/ COLDCARD 5.5.1 and 1.4.1Q Firmware: BIP-322 Proof of Reserves, WIF Store, and Secure Notes Upgrades https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-5.5.1-1.4.1q-release/ Wasabi Wallet v2.8.0 Release https://github.com/WalletWasabi/WalletWasabi/releases/tag/v2.8.0 Noah v0.1.3 Release https://github.com/smolcars/noah/releases/tag/v0.1.3 New Checkout Method for in Person BTCPay Stores https://x.com/MrKukks/status/2072677988026421484 Bitcoin Core secp256k1 Pull Request #1884 https://github.com/bitcoin-core/secp256k1/pull/1884 Tails 7.9.1 Release https://tails.net/news/version_7.9.1/ Open Standard Introduces Open USD https://joinopenstandard.com/blog/introducing-open-usd The Secret History of Polymarket – Part 1: DARPA, Thiel, and Prediction Market Origins https://unlimitedhangout.com/2026/06/investigative-series/the-secret-history-of-polymarket-part-1/ Claude Code Accused of Hiding China Proxy Fingerprints Inside System Prompts https://www.internationalcyberdigest.com/claude-code-accused-of-hiding-china-proxy-fingerprints-inside-system-prompts/ Foreign Influence Campaign Against American AI – Part II: Singham Ground Game https://www.btcpolicy.org/articles/foreign-influence-campaign-against-american-ai-part-ii-singham-ground-game AI Drones Rapidly Restoring Degraded Land in Brazil (MORFO) https://x.com/alex_verem/status/2072001777487196662 Home Mining Playbook: https://www.tftc.io/home-mining-energy-playbook 3:33 - Sweaty rip 6:38 - Dashboard 9:28 - Venezuela relief 14:28 - Strike EU 16:13 - Bark 18:43 - Blink 23:23 - Open USD 27:13 - OpenSats 31:03 - BitGo layoffs 32:28 - Strategy update 33:58 - HRF Story of the Week 38:43 - Boosts 44:18 - Software updates 47:58 - Secret history of Polymarket 53:18 - BPI foreign AI 59:38 - MORFO Shoutout to our sponsors: Coinkite https://coinkite.com/ Strike https://strike.me/ Stakwork https://stakwork.ai/ Salt of the Earth https://drinksote.com/rhr Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Nostr https://primal.net/marty Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://tftc.io/podcasts/ Follow Odell: Nostr https://primal.net/odell Newsletter https://discreetlog.com/ Podcast https://citadeldispatch.com/

RABBIT HOLE RECAP #415: AS IS TRADITION

Coinkite Warns of Physical Letter Firmware-Update Scam https://blog.coinkite.com/paper-spam/ Camp Nakamoto https://x.com/campnakamoto/status/2069181607341170760 First StratumV2 Block Mined https://x.com/pavlenex/status/2070132430875267538 Law Enforcement and Catholic Groups Warn CLARITY Act Could Create Crypto Crime Loopholes https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/law-enforcement-catholic-group-clarity-act India | Frozen Account Leaves Savings Out of Reach In India, a man named Shiva spent years building a savings fund for his son’s wedding. The money came from small jobs and side work, carefully set aside in a separate bank account opened specifically for that purpose. But when the balance exceeded a certain threshold, the financial system automatically froze the account. Overnight, Shiva had been cut off from his own money. When the issue was escalated to the branch manager of his bank, they explained that the freeze was automatically imposed from the central bank’s IT system, and there was nothing they could do. To recover access, he was prompted to complete forms written in English, a language he could not easily navigate. Ultimately, the account was restored only after outside intervention from a friend who helped push the case through a process Shiva could not resolve on his own. FinancialFreedomReport.org Tor Project to Sunset Tor 0.4.8; Upgrade to 0.4.9 by September https://blog.torproject.org/sunsetting-tor-048/ JoinMarket-NG 0.33.0 Adds Config Center, Wallet History API, and Address-Reuse Defense https://github.com/joinmarket-ng/joinmarket-ng/releases/tag/0.33.0 Utreexo v0.18.0 Improves Forest Allocation, Rehashing, and Windows Builds https://github.com/utreexo/utreexo/releases/tag/v0.18.0 ASIC-RS v0.7.0 Adds Power Limits, Miner State Messages, and Temperature Model https://github.com/256foundation/asic-rs/releases/tag/v0.7.0 The Six Billion Dollar Man Bitcoin Premiere Bypasses Media Gatekeepers https://www.thesixbilliondollarman.com Imagine If Nashville Project Homepage https://www.imagineifnashville.com Freedom Tech DC 2026 https://www.btcpolicy.org/summit 3:33 - WE RIPPIN 4:38 - Dashboard 11:53 - Coinkite paper spam 21:33 - Camp Nakamoto 22:48 - StratumV2 24:38 - CLARITY loopholes 28:48 - HRF Story of the Week 32:13 - Boosts 38:43 - Software updates 45:53 - Imagine If & Freedom Tech DC 47:33 - Economy data Shoutout to our sponsors: Coinkite https://coinkite.com/ Strike https://strike.me/ Stakwork https://stakwork.ai/ Salt of the Earth https://drinksote.com/rhr Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Nostr https://primal.net/marty Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://tftc.io/podcasts/ Follow Odell: Nostr https://primal.net/odell Newsletter https://discreetlog.com/ Podcast https://citadeldispatch.com/