A daily analysis of macroeconomics, bitcoin, geopolitics and big picture power shifts, hosted by Nathaniel Whittemore @nlw. The Breakdown is part of Blockworks.
Bitcoin Is Now a Trillion-Dollar Asset: Where D...
Bitcoin is officially a $1T asset. As the price surged over $54,000, the total market cap of bitcoin reached the new all-time high. In this episode, NLW explores the significance of the milestone, arguing: There has been a slate of good news,...
11 min
1377
How 2,000 Years of Monetary History Led Us to B...
Nik Bhatia is a financial researcher, a CFA charterholder and an Adjunct Professor of Finance and Business Economics at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. Nik’s new book “Layered Money: From Gold and Dollars...
55 min
1378
Coinbase Trades at a $77B Valuation as BTC Head...
Today’s episode of “The Breakdown” analyzes a number of topics across the bitcoin and crypto industry, including: Bitcoin reclaims $50,000 and looks towards a $1 trillion market cap Treasury yields rise, hammering gold but so far having no...
10 min
1379
Is $50,000 BTC the Beginning of a Bitcoin Super...
Early this morning, bitcoin reached a new all-time high above $50,000. While the market quickly retraced, the psychological barrier was breached. On today’s episode, NLW explores what it means, including whether there is any technical value in the...
19 min
1380
The Mainstream Media Narrative Shifts as Deutsc...
Today on the Brief: A follow-up on celebrity in crypto Dapper Labs and BlockFi raising at multibillion dollar valuations Cathie Wood and ARK increase their bitcoin position Our main discussion looks at the latest institutional bitcoin news: ...
12 min
1381
Why Comparing Bitcoin to Visa Doesn’t Make Any ...
This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” is a reading of Nic Carter’s latest essay for CoinDesk “.” -- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE...
14 min
1382
Corporate Crypto Makes Government Bans Less Likely
On this edition of the weekly recap, NLW breaks down the entrance of corporates into the crypto space this week, including: Tesla BNY Mellon Mastercard Twitter Amazon He also argues that more corporate actors investing in bitcoin and crypto makes it...
8 min
1383
Why Jay-Z's Bitcoin Trust Matters
On today’s episode, NLW breaks down: The Miami Commissioners vote to start educating people about bitcoin and crypto The Nigerian Senate debate following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recent crypto ban Why Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey’s bitcoin trust...
14 min
1384
Gradually, Then Suddenly: Mastercard, BNY Mello...
On today’s episode of The Breakdown, NLW looks at a slew of news from corporates getting into the bitcoin and crypto space, including: Twitter CFO exploring bitcoin treasury holdings and payments to employees and vendors Mastercard announcing...
13 min
1385
How Nigeria and India Are Dealing With Crypto Bans
On today’s episode, NLW examines two governments' attempts to restrict how their citizens interact with crypto. He breaks down: India’s history with crypto bans India’s history with demonetization and financial control What we know about a new...
20 min
1386
Will Apple Be the Next Fortune 500 to Buy Bitcoin?
Today on the Brief: A shifting inflation narrative Reddit raises $250M and has a $6B valuation Castle Island Ventures announces $50M fund II Our main discussion: Might Apple by the next company to dive into bitcoin? In the wake of...
18 min
1387
Elon Musk Buys Bitcoin: Everything You Need to ...
Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) has purchased $1.5 billion in bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. Additionally, the company will soon be allowing people to pay for Teslas with bitcoin. In this episode, NLW breaks down: How Elon got to this moment,...
22 min
1388
Wall Street Is ‘The Hunger Games’ With Suits
On this edition of Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads Ben Hunt’s latest essay “” about the lies of Wall Street and how the GameStop episode has exposed them for all to see.
20 min
1389
A Bitcoiner Is Now on the Senate Banking Committee
On this edition of The Breakdown’s weekly recap, NLW discusses: The state of WallStreetBets The Bitcoin for Corporations event ETH all-time highs in advance of CME ETH futures Tether Cynthia Lummis on the Senate Banking Committee -- Earn up to 12%...
9 min
1390
Travis Kling: In the Fed Era, There’s No Such T...
On today’s episode, NLW is joined by Travis Kling, co-founder and chief investment officer of Ikigai Asset Management. They discuss: GameStop, WallStreetBets and financial populism Whether regulatory hearings will actually address any issues around...
77 min
1391
What We Learned About PayPal's Crypto Strategy ...
Today on the Brief: Elon Musk back to DOGE trolling Bank of England says to prepare for negative interest rates Janet Yellen on “Good Morning America” discussing retail investors Our main discussion: What did we learn about PayPal’s crypto...
14 min
1392
Michael Saylor’s Mission to Get 1,400 Corporati...
Today on the Brief: An update on Ant and Jack Ma Bezos stepping down as CEO of Amazon Miami’s play to become a crypto hub Our main discussion: MicroStrategy’s “Bitcoin for Corporations” event Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy...
22 min
1393
Is This the End of the Reddit Retail Investor D...
WallStreetBets is having a rough day. Its stocks are crashing. Champions from as recently as last week are selling out. More brokerage apps are turning off buying. In this episode, NLW explores what it means for this set of assets and the larger...
20 min
1394
Have the Hedge Funds Infiltrated Reddit’s WallS...
Today on the Brief: Elon Musk talks bitcoin on Clubhouse India trying to ban crypto? DEXs have best month ever in January Our main discussion: Has WallStreetBets been infiltrated by hedge funds? Reddit community WallStreetBets became...
19 min
1395
What Ray Dalio Really Thinks of Bitcoin
Today’s “Long Reads Sunday” is a reading of Ray Dalio’s recent LinkedIn post, “.” In his interpretation, NLW argues the post shows Dalio and Bridgewater are at the beginning of a deep dive into the space. -- Earn up to 12% APY on...
11 min
1396
GameStop, Robinhood and the Failure of Un-Free ...
In this edition of the Breakdown’s weekly recap, NLW looks at: Robinhood’s ham-fisted explanations for why it shut down buying for GME and other stocks Why the root cause seems to have been insolvency How politicians are gearing up for political...
15 min
1397
In Retrospect, It Was Inevitable: Elon Musk Pum...
Last night, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk changed his Twitter profile to a single word: “bitcoin.” He also tweeted a cryptic message: “In Retrospect, It Was Inevitable.” The price of bitcoin surged in the wake of the tweet, as did Google...
12 min
1398
WallStreetBets Is Occupy Wall Street With Teeth
This week, a collective of foul-mouthed internet memers took down some of Wall Street’s best-known hedge funds. In today’s episode, NLW looks at: The historical context of how the Great Financial Crisis set the stage for WallStreetBets How WSB...
27 min
1399
Bitcoin Doesn't Care About Your Politics: Why B...
Falling down the proverbial bitcoin rabbit hole tends to lead people to ask deep questions about the nature of the economy and society. Today’s Breakdown guests are all professionally trained to ask those sorts of questions as philosophers. ...
65 min
1400
‘The Four Wars We Could Fight With China,’ Feat...
In this episode, NLW speaks with Kyle Bass. Kyle is the founder and chief investment officer of Hayman Capital Management, a hedge fund focused on global events. He is known for correctly predicting the subprime mortgage crisis, as well as for his...