Tens of thousands of Nepalis turned to Jack Dorsey’s experimental offline messaging app Bitchat after the government blocked 26 major social media platforms during anti-corruption protests, reports Alex Lari in Decrypt. Downloads surged from fewer than 3,500 to nearly 49,000 in days, making Nepal the app’s largest user base. Bitchat, built with developer Calle, enables encrypted communication without the internet via Bluetooth mesh and Nostr protocol relays. Protesters cited the app’s rapid spread and privacy features—such as “Panic Mode” data wipes—as vital amid police crackdowns that left at least 19 dead and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s resignation. Calle noted, “Today we’re seeing an even bigger spike from Nepal during youth protests.” Analysts view the surge as part of a broader shift toward “freedom tech,” with the team now exploring Bitcoin-based payments through Ecash to expand functionality.
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The Satoshi Pacioli Tax team outlines how capital gains taxes apply to Bitcoin, noting bluntly that “Taxes aren’t going away anytime soon.” Capital gains arise when BTC is sold or spent at a higher value than its purchase price, with treatment depending on both holding period and income bracket. Short-term gains (assets held under a year) are taxed as ordinary income at rates up to 37% in 2025, while long-term gains (over one year) benefit from preferential rates of 0%, 15%, or 20%, plus possible 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax for high earners. Notably, holding Bitcoin, moving between wallets, or borrowing against BTC does not trigger taxation. Strategic planning—such as realizing gains in low-income years or resetting cost basis at the 0% rate—can materially reduce liability. The piece emphasizes that for Bitcoiners, disciplined tax planning is as important as disciplined HODLing.
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Heat exchangers, those unglamorous workhorses of industry, underpin everything from brewing to nuclear power, writes author Incautious Optimism in Forgotten Atlas. At their core, they transfer heat between two fluids without mixing, but design complexity spans from simple double-pipe systems to sprawling shell-and-tube giants weighing hundreds of tons. Efficiency often depends on flow direction, with counterflow maximizing thermal transfer. Plate heat exchangers offer compact power but are constrained by gaskets, while brazed and printed circuit exchangers extend performance into higher pressures and temperatures. Newer approaches, like pillow-plate retrofits for breweries or 3D-printed gyroid exchangers for aerospace, hint at a future of tailored, high-density thermal systems. Even data centers, consuming a fifth of Ireland’s electricity, rely on them to dissipate waste heat. As the piece concludes, “Heat exchangers are… an unglamorous keystone of our civilization. Remember these forgotten mules.”
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Tether announced last Friday it will launch a U.S.-regulated stablecoin, USAT, under the leadership of Bo Hines, former White House digital assets official. Reporting for Decrypt, Sander Lutz notes the token will be issued by Anchorage Digital and based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a “lean” team. USAT comes in response to the newly passed GENIUS Act, which for the first time provides a legal framework for stablecoins in the U.S. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino framed the move as complementary to USDT, calling USAT an “America-first product” while USDT remains the “distribution channel for USAT abroad.” While rivals like Circle share yield with customers, Ardoino emphasized Tether’s strategy of reinvesting returns into its network, arguing it makes the model more sustainable. At the Manhattan launch, Ardoino also revealed broader ambitions: “Tether is going to become the biggest Bitcoin miner in the world by the end of this year.”
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