The Breakdown

A daily analysis of macroeconomics, bitcoin, geopolitics and big picture power shifts, hosted by Nathaniel Whittemore @nlw. The Breakdown is part of Blockworks.

Business
Investing
1301
The Biggest Bitcoin News of the Year? NYDIG CEO...
NLW is joined today by Robby Gutmann, CEO of NYDIG. NYDIG is quickly emerging as one of the leading companies helping onboard institutions to bitcoin. This year, it received from and announced partners with companies like MassMutual, New York Life,...
29 min
1302
Is Dogecoin at $0.58 a Triumph or an FU to the ...
NLW asked his Twitter followers about what the success of dogecoin meant to the crypto industry. He got an extremely diverse set of takes. Some see it as a triumph of crypto’s uncontrollability. Some see it as a triumph of the underlying bitcoin...
14 min
1303
Why Bitcoin Is Making Some Legendary Investors ...
Today on The Breakdown, NLW looks at: Charlie Munger’s and Bill Maher’s weekend comments about bitcoin and why we’re likely to see a lot more of this type of critique the more the bull market heats up The beginning of Taproot’s ‘Speedy...
14 min
1304
Wall Street’s Bitcoin Isn’t Your Bitcoin
Ben Hunt is the author of the wildly popular and always provocative “Epsilon Theory.” In his recent essay “In Praise of Bitcoin,” he calls on bitcoiners to rise up and recognize that the “bitcoin” being adopted by Wall Street is an...
24 min
1305
Welcome Back, Flippening Narrative
On this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW explores: Why JPM and Tesla drove the bitcoin story Why Ethereans are hot on the call for a “flippening” again Why CBDCs are low key one of the most important stories of 2021  --...
10 min
1306
Crypto's War of the Roses: The 7 Factions of th...
On today’s episode, NLW gives a comprehensive view of the battleground for attention and resources that makes up this 2021 bull market, including: Bitcoin Ethereum and DeFi Ethereum alternatives  Ponzi coins Stablecoins and CBDCs NFTs Doge ...
23 min
1307
What an Increasingly Booming Economy Means for ...
For the past year, bitcoin’s narrative has been deeply tied to the larger macro narrative of looming inflation. As the economy starts to boom, many continue to point to the spectre of inflation as a bullish force for bitcoin. In today’s episode,...
19 min
1308
Visa's CEO on Crypto: "This Is a Space We Are L...
Today on the Brief: Elon pumps Doge again Detailing Biden’s $1.8T American Families Plan  Turkey, Iran, SEC Our main discussion looks at comments this week from Visa CEO Al Kelly on the company’s relationship with crypto, analyzing the five...
14 min
1309
Tesla's Bitcoin Selling Shows How BTC Is More T...
Yesterday Bitcoin Twitter reacted in horror upon discovering that Tesla had sold 10% of its bitcoin. Elon has paper hands! Institutions will abandon us! The horror and scorn ran far and wide.  On today’s episode, NLW argues that: The sales...
16 min
1310
JPMorgan's Bitcoin Journey: From 'Worse Than Tu...
Today on the Brief: Sports and crypto come together WTF is going on in Turkey? Wyoming DAO law  Our main discussion: After years of CEO Jamie Dimon ragging on bitcoin, JPMorgan is reportedly set to offer a new actively managed bitcoin product....
12 min
1311
Bitcoin and the New Non-Governmental Monetary R...
For this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads Nik Bhatia’s latest piece: “.” He also provides more thoughts on the notion of bitcoin as a non-sovereign money and what that might mean in terms of global balances of power.  -- Earn up...
10 min
1312
2017 PTSD and the Dip That Ate Alt Season
On this edition of “The Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at the twin dips that shaped the week. He argues that one upshot is the dips may have taken the wind out of the sales of some very 2017-esque froth that threatened the entire industry.  -- Earn...
10 min
1313
What Biden's Tax Hike Has to Do With Money Prin...
Today on the Brief: Coinbase Pro to list USDT A new Bitcoin Mayor in Tennessee ETH and BTC ETF updates Our main discussion looks at President Biden’s proposed increase of the capital gains tax rate. NLW breaks down everything bitcoiners are saying...
13 min
1314
This Earth Day, Let's Reclaim the Bitcoin Energ...
Today on the Brief: Crypto M&A heats up Is ETH deflationary now? Cathie Wood is the Michael Saylor of Coinbase stock Our main discussion: Square’s Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative and ARK Investments have teamed up to release a memo about how...
12 min
1315
ICO 2.0: How Will Big Bitcoin-Buying Institutio...
The years 2017 and 2018 were some of the frothiest, wildest times in crypto market history. Their fallout also dragged the industry down for years, leaving an unmistakable stench of scam for many.  Thus far in this market cycle, much of those...
14 min
1316
Governments Banning Bitcoin? Not So Fast as For...
As this cycle heats up, “governments will ban bitcoin” is one of the top areas of fear, uncertainty and doubt. On this episode, NLW breaks down why that FUD just doesn’t hold much weight right now, looking at: Why the examples of India, Turkey,...
16 min
1317
No, Bitcoin's Flash Crash Wasn't Caused by Turk...
In 20 minutes on Saturday night, bitcoin’s price fell by more than 12%. Crypto Twitter raced to explain it as the byproduct of hashrate crashes after Chinese miners went offline, a suspicious report about the U.S. Treasury Department going after...
19 min
1318
A Point-by-Point Rebuttal of the Most Recent Bi...
On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads Nic Carter’s “,” a rebuttal of the New York Times’ recent piece on bitcoin energy consumption he says is riddled with false data and debunked sources.    -- Earn up to 12% APY on...
30 min
1319
Here Are All the Institutions That Bought Bitco...
On this edition of the “Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at three key themes: The continued institutionalization of bitcoin (and, increasingly, ethereum as well)  Warning signs of market mania in DOGE and NFT prices Global intrigue around bitcoin...
11 min
1320
Dogecoin: The Emperor of All Shitcoins and the ...
Dogecoin is on a tear. And it’s causing many mainstream media outlets to call “bubble.” On this episode, NLW breaks down DOGE as: Valueless memecoin Internet culture incarnate Dada-esque protest to a broken system  Much wow.  -- Earn...
16 min
1321
Why the Biden Administration Is Increasingly Co...
On today’s “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at an underreported story from earlier this week. There are increasingly loud whispers that officials across several agencies, including Treasury, National Security and Defense, are growing concerned with...
14 min
1322
The Definitive Guide to Coinbase Going Public
On the day of Coinbase’s historic direct listing on NASDAQ, NLW answers your most important questions about the company and its place in the industry.  How did Coinbase become successful? What is the crypto public's perception of Coinbase?...
22 min
1323
The Real Story of Inflation Right Now
There is perhaps no question more debated in macroeconomics than what sort of inflation we’re likely to see in the coming years. Many are convinced that the combination of a growing money supply, expansionary monetary policy, pent-up demand,...
15 min
1324
Coinbase Going Public Is the Bitcoin Bull Marke...
Coinbase is set to go public via direct listing on Wednesday. In today’s episode, NLW breaks down why this is the current bull market’s first big test, looking at: Mainstream narratives  Institutional liquidity  Retail...
23 min
1325
How Bitcoin Can Help Break Cycles of Poverty
This week’s edition of “Long Reads Sunday” features NLW reading Bradley Rettler’s “.” It is an argument that, far from being just a speculative tool for the already wealthy, bitcoin represents a disruptive force that can combat wealth...
11 min