The Breakdown

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    Late Wednesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected Grayscale’s proposal to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Within minutes, Grayscale, a CoinDesk sister company, had filed suit against the SEC about that decision. In this episode, NLW explains why the crypto community is in...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW gives a 101-level overview of the Lightning Network, including where it came from, how it works, and who is building on it.  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank card and earn up to 16% interest on your assets. On the platform you can also swap 300+ market pairs and borrow against you...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    NLW is joined today by Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer of the Human Rights Foundation. They discuss the Oslo Freedom Forum, the human rights use case for Bitcoin and what Alex is excited about heading into the bear market.    Find out guest on Twitter: @gladstein  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW explores the ongoing policy debate around “unhosted” (or, as crypto users call them – “self-hosted”) wallets, looking at MiCA legislation in Europe, an updated policy for the U.K. and hints from the Biden administration in the U.S.  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank card and earn u...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW builds off of Stack Hödler’s thread on a recent Putin speech to examine the Russian leader’s weaponization of inflation.  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank card and earn up to 16% interest on your assets. On the platform you can also swap 300+ market pairs and borro...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    In this edition of the “Weekly Recap,” NLW argues that this week saw the crypto community settling into the bear market. He looks at why both the macro landscape and crypto’s recent string of problems could be the beginning of a longer lull.  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank card and earn up to 16% inter...

  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW looks at two big events: Congress held a committee meeting about the role of the CFTC in regulating and overseeing the crypto industry Solana announced a new crypto-native mobile development stack as well as an Android phone called the Solana Saga    - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.  For the past two days, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been testifying on the Hill before both committees in the Senate and House. One of the most pointed discussions has been around the possibility that the Fed’s rapid about-face on interest rates and other market support might have the unintended consequence of dropping the econo...

  This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW looks at the state of bitcoin miners’ balance sheets. Specifically, he looks at increased selling of bitcoin over the past few months, and to what extent it has to do with additional debt and leverage taken on during the bull market.  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank card and ea...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s show, NLW explores the discussion around the bitcoin relief rally of the last two days, following the crash last Friday and Saturday. Some think that there are a plethora of bottom signals that suggest we may have a mean reversion and return to being correlated with equities, after falling much faster than Nasdaq thanks to the Lu...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.  The crypto market just went through one of its most turbulent and brutal weekends in recent memory. In today’s episode, NLW looks at how much the broader downturn as well as these more recent moves are being driven by the crypto specific factors such as Terra, Celsius and Three Arrows Capital, versus being just part of a larger macroeconomic...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On this “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads a thread from Punk6529, “On Why The Metaverse Needs Crypto.” - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank card and earn up to 16% interest on your assets. On the platform you can also swap 300+ market pairs and borrow against your crypto from 0% APR. Sign up at nexo.io by June...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On this edition of the “Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at two stories from the past week in crypto. The first is advocacy group Coin Center’s lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS around what it argues is an unconstitutional surveillance provision in last year’s infrastructure law. The second is the announcement of Web5 from Ja...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    Yesterday, the Federal Reserve increased the target Federal Funds rate by 0.75% – the biggest increase since 1994. While the markets initially popped on the news, stocks subsequently tanked and began pricing in even more economic pain to come. In today’s episode, NLW looks at the growing consensus around the idea that the United States is h...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On this episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the Federal Reserve’s increasing hawkishness on inflation. He explains how market expectations around Fed interest rate raises have shifted, and also explains how the mortgage and housing markets are being impacted in ways that have potentially problematic long-term consequences.  - Nexo is a...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW looks at the market’s reaction to Celsius’ struggle to remain solvent. He also examines to what extent the recent downturn is being driven by Celsius and other crypto-specific considerations, compared with being a by-product of larger macro trends.  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a ban...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    Today on “The Breakdown,” Sens. Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand join NLW to discuss their recently released Responsible Financial Innovation Act. They discuss: How Senator Gillibrand came to be interested in the topic.  How “ancillary assets” came to be defined for digital assets. The bill’s approach to investor protections.  Stableco...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s interview, NLW is joined by Mathieu Nouzareth, the CEO of The Sandbox. The Sandbox is one of the leading metaverse platforms today, with deep roots in gaming. In this conversation, they look at the state of metaverse build out, what Web 3 needs to work on building next and why cities are a model for how to design metaverses.    F...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    NLW is joined on “The Breakdown” by Nic Carter, the founding partner at Castle Island Ventures. In this conversation, they discuss the market cycle, what’s valuable about being in a bear market and the promise of decentralized finance on the Lightning Network.    Find our guest on Twitter: @nic__carter - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    There is a growing appetite among crypto companies to avail themselves of the legal system to fight for what they believe. This week, Custodia Bank (formerly Avanti), run by Caitlin Long, filed suit against the Federal Reserve for failing to process the bank’s master account application. Grayscale, meanwhile, has hired President Obama’s for...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    Crypto critics have been emboldened lately. The New York Times this week published an article seemingly meant to convince people that because early bitcoin mining was concentrated, bitcoin’s ideal of decentralization was somehow compromised. The newspaper also published a Paul Krugman op-ed saying that bitcoin hadn’t found any uses in 15 ye...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On today’s episode, NLW covers a set of recent news in the crypto industry, including: Reactions to the Responsible Financial Innovation Act SEC investigating Binance over BNB Reuters report on Binance and money laundering  BlockFi raising money on a down round Coinbase’s rescinded job offers    - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you ca...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    After months of anticipation, new landmark crypto legislation has arrived. Senators Cythnia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) released their Responsible Financial Innovation Act today. The bill covers a huge swath of the digital asset space, from stablecoins to tokens. In this episode, NLW recaps the key features of the bill as...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    Last week, corporate executives from Tesla’s Elon Musk to BlackRock’s Larry Fink discussed what they see as a coming recession. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called the coming economic environment a “hurricane.” At the same time, last week’s jobs report was a surprise, as payrolls grew more than economists expected. On today’s show, NLW lo...

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.    On this edition of “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads “How Web 3 Changes Philanthropy” by Rhys Lindmark.  - Nexo is an all-in-one platform where you can buy crypto with a bank card and earn up to 16% interest on your assets. On the platform you can also swap 300+ market pairs and borrow against your crypto from 0% APR. Sign up at nexo.io by Jun...