CoinDesk Podcast Network

Plus more bitcoin institutional news and a FUD recap on this edition of the "Weekly Recap." This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. This week on "The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap" NLW covers: More institutional bitcoin news, including a new Morgan Stanley fund from NYDIG and FS Investments and a Goldman Sachs trading partnership with Galaxy Digital  A resurgence of “crypto is for criminals”...

"It's either shorter-term bear markets, or it's just going to zero. And I really don't believe it's going to go to zero." This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. The idea of a multiyear supercycle is fading as shorter cycles take their place. In this episode, NLW and guest Larry Cermak, director of research at The Block, discuss the transformation of the supercycle timeline as the crypt...

With more than 7,000 listeners, Michael Saylor and many North American miners added color to the initiative.  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. On today’s episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW first follows up on yesterday’s episode about the FOMC meeting and a potential future shift in Fed policy. As many expected, the Fed kept its short-term policy the same, but revised forward its es...

More sense of the changes coming ahead of today’s FOMC briefing.  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. On today’s episode, NLW looks at the Federal Open Markets Committee briefing coming up this afternoon and discusses what it might signal in terms of future monetary policy. The discussion includes: How the Great Financial Crisis inspired “the largest monetary policy experiment in hi...

A digital dollar hearing today in Congress could provide insight into the future of USD. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. The question of digital currencies is a question of power. On today’s episode, NLW explores that power in multiple dimensions: between states, between states and companies and within states with regard to their citizens. NLW looks at recent regulatory announce...

The originator of the “Great Monetary Inflation” thesis that helped jumpstart this bull run weighs in on bitcoin and macro. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. Just when it seemed like the “Economic Empowerment” narrative coming out of El Salvador was poised to overtake the inflation/digital gold narrative, one of that viewpoint’s strongest advocates was back on CNBC today. Hedge fu...

A reading of Alex Gladstein’s recent essay. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” presents a reading of Human Rights Foundation CSO Alex Gladstein’s piece “Bitcoin Is a Trojan Horse for Freedom.”  NLW contextualizes the piece with this week’s landmark legislation out of El Salvador and the concerns some international observers have about that country’s president. -...

Driven by El Salvador, a new narrative for global bitcoin adoption is emerging. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. On this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at: Why the El Salvador news didn’t (immediately) impact bitcoin’s price How narratives set the tone for new entrants to the bitcoin market How the digital gold/inflation narrative relates to the economic empowerment narr...

Featuring Bitcoin Beach’s Mike Peterson.  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. On today’s episode, NLW is joined by Mike Peterson, director of Bitcoin Beach. Bitcoin Beach is a community project in El Salvador that has spent the last two years helping individuals and companies integrate bitcoin into their daily lives and long-term habits. President Nayib Bukele cited Bitcoin Beach in inspiring El...

China shuts down mining and starts censoring crypto exchange terms while U.S. senators and CFTC commissioners attack crypto. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. In a week so filled with the optimism coming out of El Salvador, of course there had to be another side of the story.  On today’s episode, NLW looks at three examples of the existing power structure fighting back against the rise of cryp...

Recapping a historic evening.  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. Last night, El Salvador voted to pass the bill making Bitcoin legal tender. As representatives debated the bill, the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele and his brother and campaign manager Karim Bukele surprise-joined a Twitter Space hosted by Nic Carter, where the president would spend about an hour answering questions.  In t...

Why being anti-Big Tech monopoly and pro-bitcoin are clearly compatible ideologies.  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. On today’s episode, NLW looks at a grab bag of recent news: El Salvador’s bitcoin announcement makes waves as politicians from six more Central and South American countries change their profiles to laser eyes Donald Trump resurfaces to rip bitcoin again  No, the FBI didn’t bre...

A discussion of the implication of El Salvador’s announcement for Salvadorans, bitcoin and the world at large.  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. On Saturday, the Bitcoin 2021 organizers teased that one of the biggest announcements in bitcoin’s history was coming. That announcement ended up being from El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who shared that he was advancing a bill to make bitcoin l...

Does the Biden budget signal a new era of deeper government involvement in American’s lives?  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. A reading of David Z. Morris’ piece for CoinDesk “Has COVID-19 Made Biden’s Big Spending the New Normal?”. - Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 6.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 100+ market pairs with the tap of a...

After the third-worst month in bitcoin price history, it’s worth asking. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. Today on “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap” NLW looks at a growing number of predictions of a new “crypto winter” as well as some reviews of how companies and DAOs are preparing for that possibility. He shares poll results from whether Bitcoin Twitter thinks this bull market is over and discu...

Who is buying? Who is selling? And who is driving the future of the space?  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. Today on the Brief: May’s middling jobs report A ransomware update Square building a bitcoin hardware wallet Our main discussion looks at the various constituencies within bitcoin and asks who has what type of power to shape the network. Specifically, NLW homes in on recent price actio...

A series of new reports from state-owned media aren’t kind to crypto trading, but they reinforce that it is still allowed. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. Today’s episode looks at crypto in geopolitical context, focusing on: A follow-up on the ransomware surge, with experts suggesting that it’s not about crypto payments but about the “ransomware-as-a-service” distribution model A look at why...

With a rise in ransomware attacks, many are jumping to blame bitcoin and crypto. Are they right? This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. Today on the Brief: China’s next digital yuan trial More Bitcoin ETF delays Standard Chartered to open crypto prime brokerage Our main discussion focuses on the rise of ransomware. NLW examines: The real reasons ransomware is on the rise  The factors beyond crypto...

An exploration of the shifting tones of U.S. regulators around crypto. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. Today’s episode includes a quick update on Marathon’s bitcoin mining about-face. Our main discussion focuses on the changing shape of crypto regulatory discussion in the U.S. While more regulation appears to be on the horizon, that regulation likely reduces the chance of more extreme action...

A replay of NLW’s original episode on the topic from May 2020. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io. A year ago this month, legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones released a paper about the “Great Monetary Inflation.” It set the entire narrative backdrop for the institutional move into bitcoin, and also revealed PTJ as a bitcoiner. This is a replay of NLW’s original episode breaking down wh...

American Hacker Jeffrey "Sneak" Paul joins Bram for a deep-dive into the hard problems behind the growing rash of ransomware attacks, what it means and what we can do about it. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. On this episode we’re digging into, not a new problem, but an old problem that seems to be getting worse as a growing proportion of our lives are spent connected, to each o...

A reading of Balaji Srinivasan’s essay “The Network Union.” This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. What exists between a Facebook group and a formal organization? Right now, not much. But in the future, Balaji Srinivasan argues, blockchain-powered communities will be able to exert the power to help them develop the polities of the future. On this “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads Balaji’s...

Given the past few weeks’ price actions, has the popular theory been disproven?  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. On this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at what this cycle has taught us in terms of: Who is investing and how it’s influencing markets How market structure and narrative interact to shape price action Why stablecoins could be a dark horse for red...

A discussion with the ARK founder on bitcoin, ESG and, of course, Elon Musk.  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. Today’s special edition of “The Breakdown'' is a replay of NLW’s fireside chat with ARK’s Cathie Wood that premiered yesterday as a closing keynote at Consensus 2021. In this conversation, they discuss: How macro going risk-off has impacted bitcoin  What was driving Elon...

A look at the macro discussion on inflation and why it’s pushing people like Icahn to crypto. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp. Today on the Brief: PayPal to allow crypto withdrawals Regulatory rumblings from the SEC and FinCEN Bitcoin moving off exchanges again In our main discussion, NLW looks at the macro conversation around inflation, including: How concerns around inflation a...