Jack Dorsey’s Square purchases $50 million worth of bitcoin

> The investment represents approximately 1% of Square’s total assets as of Q2 2020.

> Square has become the second publicly-listed company after MicroStrategy to invest in bitcoin.

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/80175/jack-dorsey-square-purchases-50-million-worth-of-bitcoin
archive: https://archive.vn/s8lEu

Square, Inc. Bitcoin Investment Whitepaper

> On October 7, 2020, Square, Inc. purchased approximately 4,709 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $50 million. Square has been a leader in the bitcoin space since 2018 through our Cash App product, which provides customers the ability to buy and sell bitcoin. As believers in bitcoin’s potential for continued future growth, the company formed Square Crypto, an independent team solely focused on contributing to bitcoin open source work for the benefit of all.

> Given the rapid evolution of cryptocurrency and unprecedented uncertainty from a macroeconomic and currency regime perspective, we believe now is the right time for us to expand our largely USD-denominated balance sheet and make a meaningful investment in bitcoin.

https://images.ctfassets.net/2d5q1td6cyxq/5sXNrlEh2mEnTvvhgtYOm2/737bcfdc15e2a1c3cbd9b9451710ce54/Square_Inc._Bitcoin_Investment_Whitepaper.pdf

Attorney General William P. Barr Announces Publication of Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework

> The Framework provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging threats and enforcement challenges associated with the increasing prevalence and use of cryptocurrency; details the important relationships that the Department of Justice has built with regulatory and enforcement partners both within the United States government and around the world; and outlines the Department’s response strategies.

press release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-william-p-barr-announces-publication-cryptocurrency-enforcement-framework
pr archive: https://archive.vn/MQzOO
framework: https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1326061/download

(framework pdf attached)

New bitcoin privacy guide released

> A simple website that's packed with explainers and actionable steps for new and existing bitcoiners wanting to level up their privacy game.

https://bitcoinprivacy.guide/
archive: https://archive.vn/TFS0J

Hexa Wallet v1.2.0 released

- Donation account
- Bug fixes

https://github.com/bithyve/hexa/releases/tag/v1.2.0
blog: https://medium.com/@thebitcoinbee/bitcoin-donations-for-everyone-3f55d2a79b8
archive: https://archive.vn/hg23d

Partial LND Vulnerability Disclosure, Upgrade to 0.11.x

> We are writing to let the Lightning community know about the existence of vulnerabilities that affect lnd versions 0.10.x and below. The full details of these vulnerabilities will be disclosed on October 20, 2020.

https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/lightning-dev/2020-October/002819.html
archive: https://archive.vn/a2VFC

BitMEX CTO Samuel Reed released on $5 million bond

> BitMEX CTO Samuel Reed, who was charged and arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice on October 1, has been released on a $5 million appearance bond.

> The $5 million bond is unsecured, with $500,000 in cash. Reed and his wife's passports have also been reportedly seized.

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/80296/bitmex-cto-samuel-reed-released-on-bond
archive: https://archive.vn/lLDeQ

Top Podcasts of the Week

Tales from the Crypt - Rabbit Hole Recap - https://anchor.fm/tales-from-the-crypt/episodes/Rabbit-Hole-Recap-Week-of-2020-10-05-ekposk

Stephan Livera - Godfrey Bloom - https://anchor.fm/stephan-livera/episodes/SLP217-Exploring-Bitcoin-With-Godfrey-Bloom-eknfvc

What Bitcoin DId - How Bitcoin is Helping Protesters in Belarus with Alex Gladstein & Jaraslau Likhachevski - https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/how-bitcoin-is-helping-protesters-in-belarus

The Van Wirdum Sjorsnado - The Perpetual One-Way Peg - http://nadobtc.btc.libsynpro.com/the-perpetual-one-way-peg-nado-12

Tales from the Crypt - Edward Evenson - https://anchor.fm/tales-from-the-crypt/episodes/199-Edward-Evenson-ekqjmv

Once Bitten - Parker Lewis - https://anchor.fm/daniel-prince6/episodes/parkeralewis---Bitcoin-Is-One-For-All-75-ekqd1k

Lightning Junkies - Mario Havel - https://anchor.fm/lightning-junkies/episodes/LNJ037---Mario-Havel-Talks-Bitcoin-Lightning-Onboarding-ekn9bm

Tales from the Crypt - Leo Zhang - https://anchor.fm/tales-from-the-crypt/episodes/198-Leo-Zhang-ekm1pm

myNode v0.2.17 released

- Major UI Update
- Dojo to v1.8.0
- hunderhub to v0.9.15
- Specter to v0.8.1
- Bug Fixes

notes: https://github.com/mynodebtc/mynode/blob/master/CHANGELOG
source: https://github.com/mynodebtc/mynode/releases/tag/v0.2.17

Nodl v0.1.1f released

- lnd v0.11.1
- Dojo v1.8

tweet: https://twitter.com/nodl_it/status/1314461046413897729
source: https://gitlab.lightning-solutions.eu/nodl-private/nodl-admin-private/-/tags/v0.1.1a

ReasonTV - Before the Web: The 1980s Dream of a Free and Borderless Virtual World (Part 1)

> Part one of a four-part documentary series about the cypherpunk movement of the 1990s, which led to the creation of bitcoin, WikiLeaks, and more.

youtube: https://youtu.be/YWh6Yzr12iQ

BitMEX hires former Revolut executive to lead compliance efforts

> Malcolm Wright, former chief compliance officer at Revolut, has joined BitMEX operator 100x Group. Wright had a short 5-month stint at Revolut in 2018, according to his LinkedIn.

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/80533/bitmex-hires-new-chief-compliance-officer
archive: https://archive.vn/ut7o4

Amid Confusion About Rules, Indian Crypto Community Pushes for Regulatory Sandbox

> The proposed interface would pool information from exchanges and providers, and funnel it to regulators and governing councils via an application programming interface, or API. 

https://www.coindesk.com/india-crypto-regulatory-sandbox
archive: https://archive.vn/X9jZm

Five Eyes governments, India, and Japan make new call for encryption backdoor

> The Five Eyes alliance, comprised of the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, have made similar calls to tech giants in 2018 and 2019

https://www.zdnet.com/article/five-eyes-governments-india-and-japan-make-new-call-for-encryption-backdoors/
archive: https://archive.vn/LXQEF

International Statement: End-To-End Encryption and Public Safety

> consultation with governments and other stakeholders to facilitate legal access in a way that is substantive and genuinely influences design decisions

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/international-statement-end-end-encryption-and-public-safety
archive: https://archive.vn/ptHh3

Call me Ishmael

> This report examines the concept of brainwallets and in which contexts they may be useful. As an experiment eight Bitcoin private keys were created, using passphrases from popular works of fiction and other media. All the funds were swept away in a short amount of time and in one case, remarkably, the funds were taken in around 0.67 seconds. The report concludes by arguing that brainwallets may not be a safe way to store coins, certainly not by using popular phrases in published works.

https://blog.bitmex.com/call-me-ishmael/
archive: https://archive.vn/a220L

RTL v0.9.1-beta released

- UTXOs list [LND]
- Active HTLCs list on the Channels page [LND]
- LOOP v0.9.0 support
- Force channel close support [C-Lightning]

https://github.com/Ride-The-Lightning/RTL/releases/tag/v0.9.1

Spain plans bill to force disclosure of crypto-currency holdings

> The new regulations will form part of a broader package of legislation aimed at cracking down on tax fraud, she said after the weekly cabinet meeting

https://news.trust.org/item/20201013100845-lja6d/
archive: https://archive.vn/6AKg1

Stone Ridge Reveals $115 Million Bitcoin Investment As Part Of Billion-Dollar Spin-Off

> Stone Ridge Holdings Group revealed NYDIG is custodying 10,000 of the parent company’s bitcoin, valued at $115 million at today’s price.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/13/stone-ridge-reveals-115-million-bitcoin-investment-as-part-of-billion-dollar-spin-off/
archive: https://archive.vn/UWSkO

Marathon Patent Group Announces Joint Venture with Beowulf Energy for 105-Megawatt Bitcoin Mining Data Center

> Marathon will deploy the 11,500 next generation S19 Pro Antminers (110 TH/s) it previously acquired through its partnership with Bitmain Inc. at the Data Center. These miners will generate 1.265 EH/s when fully deployed, with full deployment anticipated through Q2 2021. Currently, 500 of the S19 Pro Antminers have been delivered and deployed at the Data Center. The Data Center has the capacity to deploy up to 30,000 S19 Pro Miners that will generate 3.320 EH/s, providing Marathon with substantial opportunity for future expansion.

> The Data Center will lower Marathon’s aggregate mining cost for electricity and data center management to $0.034/kWh, which is 38% below the Company’s current cost of mining. This low-cost electricity reduces Marathon’s breakeven costs to produce Bitcoin from approximately $7,500 per Bitcoin today to $4,600 per Bitcoin...

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/10/13/2107538/0/en/Marathon-Patent-Group-Announces-Joint-Venture-with-Beowulf-Energy-for-105-Megawatt-Bitcoin-Mining-Data-Center.html
archive: https://archive.vn/iTht6

Eclair v0.4.2 released

- keysend
- anchor outputs
- better plugin support
- bug fixes

https://github.com/ACINQ/eclair/releases/tag/v0.4.2