The Breakdown

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   On today’s episode, NLW looks at a slate of news from the crypto industry, organized around three big-picture themes: Regulatory – including the latest from the SEC, CFTC and Treasury Department  Institutional involvement – including a Barclays investment in a crypto custodian  Builder activity – including a new non-token Web3 project...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   On today’s episode, NLW catches listeners up on the criminal charges filed against a former Coinbase employee and two of his associates last week around insider trading. The charges come from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and it is the SEC’s charges that have the biggest implications. Nine of the t...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW looks at two discussions of the positive role Bitcoin can play in greening the grid.    He reads:  “Need a Use Case for Decentralization? Start with Energy” - Michael Casey   Thread by Level39   - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The c...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   Qiao Wang is a creator of and core contributor to Alliance DAO, an accelerator for Web3 companies in decentralized finance (DeFi), infrastructure, distributed autonomous organizations (DAO), non-fungible tokens (NFT) and more. In this episode, he and NLW discuss the macro landscape, how this bear market is different and what he’d like...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   On today’s episode, NLW is joined by Jim Bianco, the president of Bianco Research. In this wide-ranging discussion, they talk about the bind the Federal Reserve finds itself in, the stickiness of inflation, structural economic changes post-coronavirus, and why crypto matters even when prices go down.    - Nexo is a security-first plat...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   Today, the Bitcoin energy debate is all about how much energy bitcoin mining consumes, and what percentage of that comes from renewable sources. Today’s guest Troy Cross argues that in the future, Bitcoin will be seen as a technology that actually enables the overall economy to move to cleaner, greener energy sources even beyond minin...

  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   NLW kicks off his “Midsummer Macro” series with a deep dive conversation with Demetri Kofinas, host of the “Hidden Forces” podcast. They discuss the Fed, inflation, the secular shift to stagflation and the tectonic geopolitical shifts that must be understood to truly understand the macroeconomic picture.    Find our guest online: @k...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.   On today’s episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the possible reasons for crypto’s recent rally and discusses the growing role of crypto in Russia and Ukraine related to refugee nonprofits and charities.     - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your c...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, and FTX US.   On today’s episode, NLW covers the crypto industry chatter around the Ethereum Merge. Last week, ETH devs pointed to September as a likely date for the transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, and the price of ether has been going up ever since. But does the Merge also create political risk?    - Nexo is a security-first plat...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and Ava Labs.   On this week’s Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads the “essay” version of Balaji Srinivasan’s new book “The Network State”    - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your crypto by relying on five key fundamentals including real-time auditing and insuran...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and Ava Labs.   On this edition of the Weekly Recap, NLW looks at: The markets new expectations for a 100bps or 1% rate hike at this month’s FOMC meeting 3AC and Celsius news  Mt. Gox FUD Bank protests in China   - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your crypt...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and Ava Labs.   Is a recession coming? Are we in a recession already? Can we be in a recession with only 3.6% unemployment? On today’s episode, NLW explores the new narrative of recession starting to take hold in financial media (and American households).    - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and Ava Labs.   On today’s episode, NLW covers Celsius moving into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. This move has been anticipated for some time, but in advance Celsius sought to repay as many of its DeFi loans as possible. Also covered is a small but important decision in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple. ...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and Ava Labs. Nothing is more important to markets right now than how the Fed responds to inflation. On today’s show, NLW discusses the latest consumer price index numbers for June. He argues that they make it likely that the Fed continues with another 75 basis point hike at the FOMC meeting later this month, but also shows that the market...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and Ava Labs.   On today’s episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the latest in the battle involving toppled former crypto giant hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, including accusations from liquidators the fund’s founders were unresponsive, and accusations from Three Arrows that liquidators were causing harm to the fund by not exercising S...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and Ava Labs.   After months of dithering, Elon Musk announced last Friday he would officially be pulling out of his deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion. He cited as his reason a lack of transparency or clarity around the true number of bot accounts. In this episode, NLW describes what different commentators think is really going on. He...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads and discusses:   “DAOs Are the Real Meritocracies” by Parker McCurley “Why Brands Should Adopt a ‘Hybrid DAO’ Model” by Simon Yu    - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your crypto by relying on five key fun...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    After years of what many would consider hostility to the industry, the British government did a major about-face in April when Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the country’s intention to make the U.K. a global crypto hub. But as Sunak resigned as part of a mass exit leading to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignati...

  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    The crypto industry hasn’t been particularly pleased with the SEC under Gary Gensler. In particular, the continued rejections of bitcoin spot ETFs (even after a futures ETF was approved last year) have been particularly irksome – even leading to legal action. In this episode, NLW breaks down a recent editorial in the Wall Street Jo...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    The U.S. Office of Government Ethics released rules this week that executive branch staffers who owned crypto would not be allowed to work on any crypto-related regulation. NLW explores the pros and cons of this, and expands the discussion to ethics and financial conflicts of interest more broadly.  - Nexo is a security-first platfor...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW digs into the idea of the U.S. dollar as a global wrecking ball, and explores why the dollar is the strongest it has been against other currencies in 20 years. As part of this, he also looks at structural weakness in Japanese and European currencies.  - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exch...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW looks at a number of crypto events from the long weekend, including:  Why Argentines flooded into stablecoins and drove the price of tether above $1 over the weekend Whether on-chain bottom signals are reliable this cycle  The latest in crypto contagion    - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy,...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads and reflects on Nic Carter’s “Setting the Record Straight.” - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your crypto by relying on five key fundamentals including real-time auditing and insurance on custodial assets...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    On the “Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at:  The progress around two major European crypto regulation frameworks. The latest in Three Arrows Capital crypto contagion.  Issues in the mining space.  And more!    - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your crypto b...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW looks at:  Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on inflation at the ECB conference. The latest recession indicators.  Manufacturing declines.  Turmoil in the housing market. And more!    - Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your cr...