The Breakdown

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 narrative The bitcoin game theory for small nations to invest in bitcoin  How this could impact ESG critiques  -- Earn up...

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 Salvador’s bitcoin legal tender law.  In this interview, NLW and Mike discuss:...

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 crypto: China shutting down mining in two provinces and apparent censorship of exchange-related terms on Baidu and Weibo A CFTC commissioner’s extremely negative comme...

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 today’s episode, NLW breaks down: The substance of the bill  Specific...

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 break bitcoin  Why Tim Wu’s bitcoin holdings are intellectually consistent with his antitrust stance    -- Earn up to 12% APY...

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 legal tender in the country.  Since then there has been a huge amount of debate and discussion about the implications and the significance of the move....

A reading of David Z. Morris’ piece for CoinDesk “Has COVID-19 Made Biden’s Big Spending the New Normal?”.   -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content?   SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddS...

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 discusses how the macro landscape may be playing into it.  -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP...

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 action and the divergent actions of large holders and small holders over the month of May. -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bit...

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 a Russian opposition leader is moving his supporters to crypto fundraising exclusively  A review of a series of reports from Chinese state-owned media that, whi...

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 payments that contribute to ransomware  Why some are using ransomware as justification for crypto bans Why crypto bans would be painful...

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 actions.  -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at 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 why the paper mattered.  -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more....

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 “A Network Union.”  -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started...

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 reducing the duration of future market downturns -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get sta...

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’s about-face  China and “green” mining  Investing in technology innovation Why ARK is investing in Ethereum  What role bitcoin p...

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 and the Federal Reserve withdrawing support have caused markets to go risk-off Where bitcoin fits in a risk-on/risk-off context Why billionaire Ca...

Today on The Breakdown, NLW covers: More information about the Bitcoin Mining Council, and why its members say they’re strictly focused on energy transparency  A new, temporary crypto mining ban in Iran The latest on the China mining ban, including new proposed rules from Inner Mongolia, more on-chain data about miner activity, and a very different interpretation of the CCP’s motivations for the c...

Yesterday, Michael Saylor and Elon Musk surprised the Bitcoin community when they announced a new “green” mining initiative that would see many of North America’s leading mining operators come together to develop common energy reporting standards as well as advocate for greener mining worldwide.  In this episode, NLW breaks down the community’s response, which ranged from enthusiastic to downright...

Today’s episode of “The Breakdown” is split into two parts. In part one, NLW recaps the latest out of China, including: Interpretations of Friday’s surprise targeting in a speech by the Vice Premier A weekend market crash, the second of the week  Miner selling and the motivations behind it What to watch for in the coming days  In part two, he puts in context the news that Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio o...

For this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads: “What If Somebody Hacks the Money Pipeline Next?” By David Z. Morris “A Central Bank Digital Currency Would Be Bad for the US” by Dante Disparte -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content?   SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693...

On this week’s “Breakdown Weekly Recap,” NLW explores U.S. regulatory FUD. He specifically looks at recent statements from the SEC’s Gary Gensler, as well as new Treasury Dept. policy that wants businesses to report crypto transactions of over $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. He argues that this is a “bureaucrat's bull market” that will be focused on compliance, not banning.  -- Earn up to...

This week has been China story after China story in the world of crypto. Increasingly, NLW argues, bitcoiners are getting sick of the baggage that Chinese mining and Chinese state involvement place on bitcoin and crypto as a whole. In this episode, he looks at the latest news from China and points to interpretations from a number of voices that show why what appears to be FUD could actually be a w...

In this episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the market structure dimension of the crypto crash, leveraging insights from Alameda Research, Willy Woo and many more. He explores:  Why the recent bull run was driven by derivatives more than by spot trading How crypto moving onto exchanges signaled the big move down How cascading liquidations made the down moves even more extreme  What the indust...

In one of the bloodiest days in recent crypto history, NLW looks at the reasons behind the wild market crash and explores whether it means an end to the bull market. As part of this, he explores five different categories of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD): Elon energy FUD Resurgent tether FUD China ban FUD Used for crime FUD Regulatory FUD -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GB...