A daily analysis of macroeconomics, bitcoin, geopolitics and big picture power shifts, hosted by Nathaniel Whittemore @nlw. The Breakdown is part of Blockworks.
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Hacking Humanity With Bitcoin, feat. Max Keiser...
Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert are one of bitcoin's most dynamic duos, producing a variety of content, including the Orange Pill podcast. In this discussion with NLW, they talk about why this year was transformational in terms of how people view the...
26 min
1577
Raoul Pal on the Coming Transformation of Monet...
Raoul Pal is the founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor and Real Vision and one of the leading voices in modern macroeconomic discussions. In this conversation, he and NLW discuss bitcoin's monster 2020, how DeFi compares to ICOs, and why we should...
25 min
1578
Why Bitcoin and Rehypothecation Don’t Mix
On this week’s Long Reads Sunday, NLW starts with the latest essay by Jeffrey Snider, “” and then with Caitlin Long’s , putting the discussion of rehypothecation in the bitcoin context.
21 min
1579
Preston Pysh on Why Currencies Fail [Encore]
On March 12, as the U.S. government struggled to wrap its head around the emerging COVID-19 pandemic and markets floundered, bitcoin had one of its worst days in history, crashing by thousands of dollars and even hitting below $4,000 on some...
65 min
1580
Balaji Srinivasan on Communist Capital vs. Woke...
is an angel investor and entrepreneur, the former CTO of Coinbase, a former General Partner at Andressen Horowitz and more. In this wide-ranging conversation with NLW, he discusses: How networks are taking a power role once reserved for god and...
75 min
1581
The CIO of $230B Guggenheim Just Called for $40...
With so much focus on bitcoin’s record-setting price run, a number of huge (and hugely bullish) stories have gotten comparatively short shrift. In this episode, NLW looks at: Ruffer LLP’s $744 million bitcoin buy Hedge Funder Alan Howard and One...
11 min
1582
Why $20,000 Bitcoin Matters
After weeks of flirting with all-time highs, bitcoin has broken through the most significant psychological barrier: $20,000. In today’s episode of The Breakdown, NLW looks at why the moment is so significant, arguing: Bitcoin is an incentive...
13 min
1583
Will Wall Street Ruin Bitcoin? Featuring Ben Hu...
Ben Hunt is the founder of Second Foundation Partners and lead author of Epsilon Theory. Alex Gladstein is the chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation. In this conversation, they discuss one of the most important burgeoning topics...
81 min
1584
JPMorgan Discusses $600B in Potential New Bitco...
Today on the Brief: First COVID-19 vaccines roll out in the U.S. Are IPOs the new ICOs? U.S. Treasury and other federal departments hacked Our main discussion: A massive new category of bitcoin demand? Last week, when MassMutual...
14 min
1585
How Much Debt Can a Country Handle?
This week’s edition of Long Reads Sunday is a reading of “” by Raghuram Rajan on Project Syndicate. In it, the author explores the shifting conventional wisdom on national debt and worries that countries may reach their limit far earlier than...
11 min
1586
The Bitcoin Banking Battle Heats Up
On this edition of the weekly recap, NLW looks at the brewing battle to be the bitcoin and crypto bank of the future. He looks at three stories reporting banks getting into crypto (BBVA, Standard Chartered and DBS) as well as crypto companies applying...
10 min
1587
Why a Massive 169-Year-Old Insurance Company Ju...
Today on the Brief: FDA panel recommends Pfizer vaccine approval as initial jobless claims soar Antitrust lawsuit calls for Facebook breakup Crypto-friendly CFTC chairman to resign at the beginning of the year Our main discussion: Why MassMutual...
14 min
1588
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on a Bitcoin ETF...
Hester Peirce is a commissioner at the Securities Exchange Commission, sworn in for her second term in August. Sometimes referred to as “Crypto Mom,” Peirce has been a fierce advocate for the industry in a regulatory context that hasn’t...
20 min
1589
The Most Important Trends and People Shaping Cr...
What were the most important trends? Who were the most important people? Was it the year of Bitcoin Macro, the year of DeFi or both? Ryan Selkis is the founder and CEO of Messari. Each year he puts together a massive “” report that looks at the...
62 min
1590
MicroStrategy Is Raising Another $400M to Buy BTC
Today on the Brief: BBVA set to offer crypto trading and custody Wells Fargo discusses bitcoin in recent investor memo Square launches Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative with $10 million Our main discussion: Michael Saylor is back at it. ...
17 min
1591
China's Latest Digital Currency Trial Is Its Mo...
Today on the Brief: COVID-19 vs. Stimulus Small hedge funds outperform large brethren Equities now worth 115% of global GDP Our main discussion: Why the newest trial of China’s central bank digital currency is its most important...
13 min
1592
Niall Ferguson on Why Bitcoin and China Are Win...
On today’s Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads Niall Ferguson’s latest Op-Ed for Bloomberg: “” In it, Ferguson argues that bitcoin’s sovereignty and “built-in scarcity in a virtual world characterized by boundless abundance” are driving its...
15 min
1593
$50K BTC in 2021? Bloomberg Analysts Join the '...
On this edition of the weekly recap, NLW looks at the consolidating narrative of a bitcoin rally that is: Being driven by institutional investors Shifting the center of the industry from East Asia to North America Winning converts from major...
9 min
1594
A ‘Santa Claus Rally’ for the Stock Market?
Today on the Brief: Payrolls report underperforms expectations Spotify looking for crypto director Lame-duck crypto legislation on the way? Our main discussion: Will we see a “Santa Claus rally” this year? This kind of rally...
14 min
1595
Why Stablecoins Are the First Battleground of t...
On Wednesday, three U.S. congressional Democrats announced the STABLE Act, an 18-page bill that would require, among other things, stablecoin issuers to acquire banking charters, get approval from the Federal Reserve and hold FDIC insurance. The...
25 min
1596
Josh Brown on Bitcoin’s ‘Respectability Rally’ ...
Josh Brown is the CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management. He is also the host of “The Halftime Report” on CNBC, author of the “Reformed Broker” blog and host of “The Compound Show” podcast. Most recently, he is the author of “.” In...
32 min
1597
Why a $631B Asset Manager Just Changed Its Mind...
Today on the Brief: Libra is now “Diem” Christine Lagarde comes down on private stablecoins Dow closes its best month in 33 years Our main discussion: AllianceBernstein changes its mind. Yesterday, CoinDesk received...
26 min
1598
Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High: What Happens Ne...
On this historic day, NLW looks at punching through its previous December 2017 all-time high. Specifically, he looks at: How different people benchmark the all-time high What drove the latest price action, including the prospect of new...
13 min
1599
How Bitcoin Gets to $100,000
On this edition of The Breakdown’s Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads by Hong Fang, CEO of OKCoin. In it, Fang provides a set of valuation models and scenarios that plausibly lead to bitcoin achieving a significant $100,000 value...
21 min
1600
What Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary Means f...
On this edition of The Breakdown weekly recap, NLW looks at what was an absolutely action-packed holiday week. He discusses: price action The Dow’s 30,000 psychological milestone Eth 2.0 cleared for Beacon chain launch The...