For a child bursting with energy, few things are more fun than hurtling through a bouncy castle, launching into the air, and ping-ponging between every surface. But that childhood buoyancy will quickly deflate when it turns out those surfaces are smeared with a hypervirulent, multidrug-resistant pathogen.

That was the horrifying reality for a community in Ireland in fall 2025. Neighbors had gathered for an afternoon of merriment, complete with a barbecue, a sweets station, and three bouncy castles. Officials estimate that about 120 people joined the festivities, and around half of them were children and teens. Within a day, some children began developing signs of an infection. In all, 48 children in the community developed aggressive skin and soft-tissue infections.

Of the 48 cases, 33 were treated by their regular doctor, and 15 sought emergency care. Four children ended up being hospitalized. Luckily, all of the children recovered. The results of the outbreak investigation were reported this week in the journal Eurosurveillance.

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Castle Opens Its Bitcoin Savings Stack to Individuals

Castle, the company behind an automated bitcoin financial stack for businesses, has said it is opening its platform to individuals, bringing its high-yield product to personal accounts along with a first for the category: the option to take dividend income in bitcoin at whatever ratio the customer picks.

The yield comes from STRC, Strategy‘s perpetual preferred stock, which Castle added earlier this year and which currently pays a 12% annual dividend on a semi-monthly schedule. 

Holders can take 100% of that payout in cash, 100% in bitcoin, or anything in between, according to a Tuesday statement. Most Castle customers land in the middle, the company said, covering operating expenses with cash while the remainder compounds into bitcoin automatically at every payout.

“Investors have long faced a choice between earning steady yield and holding bitcoin. Castle eliminates that trade-off,” co-founder and CTO João Almeida said. “By enabling a portion of dividend income to be automatically converted into bitcoin, so customers get both cash flow and long-term upside.”

The broader pitch is consolidation: Castle puts operating cash, fixed income, and bitcoin accumulation on one platform, cutting out the shuffle between a bank, an onramp, and a brokerage. The system is built automation-first: users define a strategy once and the platform executes it.

Until now, Castle served business entities exclusively — restaurants, gyms, churches, accounting firms, e-commerce shops, auto dealers, SaaS companies, real estate, and non-profits among them. The push into personal accounts came from those same customers.

“Feedback we heard over and over from business owners was: ‘I love this stack — when can I use it personally?'” co-founder and CEO Stephen Cole said. “Today we’re answering that. The same automated bitcoin-powered financial stack that runs their company’s balance sheet can now run their personal finances.”

Castle was founded by Cole and Almeida and is backed by Boost VC and Winklevoss Capital. More information about the company’s product can be found here.

This post Castle Opens Its Bitcoin Savings Stack to Individuals first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.