The Breakdown
The Breakdown dives into the deepest topics in crypto, blockchain, and the macro forces shaping markets and power structures. Each episode breaks down complex ideas into clear, grounded analysis — separating signal from noise across crypto, finance, and geopolitics.
Hosted by David Canellis, The Breakdown features explainers, interviews, and conversations with the people building, regulating, and challenging the financial system.
A Blockworks podcast.
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1301
What to Do About the Looming Disaster for Crypt...
This episode is sponsored by . On this edition of “The Breakdown Weekly Recap,” NLW covers: SEC Chair Gensler’s recent comments on crypto enforcement The OCC concludes its crypto sprint Why the crypto community is so concerned about...
12 min
1302
Central Banks Sending Worrisome Signals About t...
This episode is sponsored by . On today’s episode, NLW gets macro with a discussion of a flattening of the yield curve and what increasingly seems like a failed yield curve control experiment in Australia. He looks at: What the “yield curve” is...
10 min
1303
Why Some US Congressmen Are Asking Gensler Abou...
This episode is sponsored by . On today’s episode, NLW follows up on the burgeoning bitcoin-mayor competition between New York City’s Eric Adams and Miami’s Francis Suarez. The show’s main topic is an open letter sent by Congressional...
12 min
1304
New York City Gets Itself a Bitcoin Mayor
This episode is sponsored by . Despite (or perhaps because of) being one of the world’s great traditional financial hubs, New York has a contentious relationship with crypto. Between the BitLicense and a very active state attorney general, New York...
14 min
1305
What You Need to Know About Biden's Stablecoin ...
This episode is sponsored by . The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets has finally released its much-anticipated report on Stablecoins. In this episode, NLW breaks down: The PWG’s three major concerns surrounding stablecoins The...
19 min
1306
Top 5 Things That Happened in Crypto in October
This episode is sponsored by . NLW counts down the top 5 things to happen in crypto over the last month, including a DAO buying a Wu Tang clan album, top 5 US banks creating new crypto offerings, battles around SEC subpoenas and much more. Listen to...
16 min
1307
Where Bitcoin Fits in a Post-Scarcity World
This episode is sponsored by . This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” is a reading of EY Global Blockchain Lead Paul Brody’s latest essay for CoinDesk: “.” , the institutional-grade platform for bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of...
10 min
1308
Inflation or Deflation? Jack Dorsey, Cathie Woo...
This episode is sponsored by . Last weekend, Jack Dorsey set the internet alight when he proclaimed, “Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening.” That kicked off a mighty debate involving Cathie Wood, Elon Musk, Jeff Booth and...
10 min
1309
Everything You Need to Know About Facebook’s ‘M...
This episode is sponsored by . Facebook announced yesterday it is changing its corporate name to Meta. The name change reflects the company’s growing focus on virtual reality, augmented reality and a new version of the internet that people are...
18 min
1310
14 Takes on Shiba Inu Coin
This episode is sponsored by . NLW today provides 14 different takes on shiba inu coin (SHIB) that reflect the range of perspectives across the crypto community, including: “You could have been a billionaire if…” This plays into regulator’s...
20 min
1311
CFTC Acting Chair: ‘Nearly 60%’ of Cryptos Are ...
This episode is sponsored by . On today’s episode, NLW does an extended brief, covering: The CFTC Chair arguing for more power to regulate crypto Comments from the FDIC chair saying that banks need to be allowed to participate in crypto...
12 min
1312
Has the SEC Won the Battle to Regulate Stableco...
This episode is sponsored by . 2021 has been the year of crypto regulation. In China, that has manifested as a complete banning of bitcoin mining and crypto trading. In the U.S., the verdict is still out, but it has been clear there has been a fair...
17 min
1313
Why One Crypto Company Is Suing the SEC
This episode is sponsored by . At Messari’s Mainnet conference in September, rumors flew that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had served a subpoena on a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol founder moments before he was set to speak on...
14 min
1314
The US Government Sold a Wu-Tang Album to a DAO...
This episode is sponsored by . On today’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW tells the story of PleasrDAO buying a one-of-a-kind hip hop album, and what it means that the U.S. government is interacting with this new type of collective. He also reads: ,...
12 min
1315
Bitcoin Wraps the First Week of the ETF Era
This episode is sponsored by . On this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW covers: The record-setting performance of the first bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund and what happens next as new ETFs come to market A massive...
10 min
1316
Why the Bitcoin and Crypto Communities Are So S...
This episode is sponsored by . Today’s episode is nominally about Worldcoin. The project launched this week with ambitions to airdrop a new cryptocurrency on everyone in the world. To do so, it’s using biometric eye scanning to identify people and...
22 min
1317
Paul Tudor Jones: ‘Inflation … [Is] the Single ...
This episode is sponsored by . Last year, Paul Tudor Jones wrote a paper called “The Great Monetary Inflation” that would end up creating narrative motivation for many traditional retail and institutional investors to allocate to bitcoin as an...
15 min
1318
LFG! Bitcoin Clears $66K and Hits New All-Time ...
This episode is sponsored by . On today’s episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the market’s reaction to a new bitcoin all-time high, including: The success of the first day of the ProShares bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund Why...
12 min
1319
Massive Trading Volume for ProShares Bitcoin Fu...
This episode is sponsored by . On today’s episode, NLW catches up on a variety of topics from the past week, including: How the first day of trading the ProShares $BITO bitcoin futures ETF is going (and why it could be headed for record breaking...
18 min
1320
It's Here: Bitcoin Futures ETF to Begin Trading
This episode is sponsored by . Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW rounds out the story of the bitcoin futures ETF process that has dominated crypto chatter for the last week or more. He looks at the details of the first ETF that will go live, as well...
14 min
1321
Hester Peirce Reclaims the “Wild West” for the ...
On this week’s Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s recent speech:
21 min
1322
How the Crypto Industry Thinks It Should Be Reg...
On this edition of the Weekly Recap, NLW looks at two new policies frameworks released by companies in the crypto and web3 space. The first comes from Coinbase and argues that there should be a new overarching regulator for digital assets. The second...
17 min
1323
Bitcoin Is Actually, Finally About to Have an ETF
This episode is sponsored by . On today’s episode, NLW looks at the buzz and excitement around a bitcoin futures ETF. The historical moment could be an inflection point for new audiences to get into the asset class. At the same time, there are some...
16 min
1324
No, Bank of England, Crypto is Not the Same as ...
This episode is sponsored by . Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW takes a deep dive into a recent speech by Sir Jon Cunliffe, the Bank of England’s Deputy Governor, Financial Stability. The speech was called “Is ‘crypto’ a financial stability...
19 min
1325
The US Is Officially the Global Leader in Bitco...
This episode is sponsored by . Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at how the United States has been perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the Great Hashrate Migration away from China following the country’s mining ban in May. This has political...
18 min