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.


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1851
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.30 | Recap of Senate Banki...
In their second hearing in 2 weeks, the Senate Banking Committee invited 3 panelists to discuss the current state of and recommendations for crypto and digital asset regulation. In this recap, I look at three key points: 1) the shadow of Libra and Big...
13 min
1852
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.29 | Lightning Network vs....
Weekly countdown of the 5 most important essays and threads from the week before on Long Reads Sunday. This week featuring Lightning Network vs the encroaching surveillance state; a US Congressman's response to Circle leaving the US; a hot take on the...
19 min
1853
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.24 | Encryption Backdoors ...
The US Attorney General has reignited a debate about encryption backdoors for law enforcement. Libra has a long way to go, with a recent poll finding it significantly less trustworthy to Americans than Bitcoin. And finally, a regulatory roundup...
13 min
1854
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.23 | Trontroversy! // Ethe...
Justin Sun canceled his lunch with Warren Buffett this week, claiming kidney stones. Reports today, however, suggested that he was compelled not to leave China by border authorities due to investigations. But then he showed up in SF? So basically,...
15 min
1855
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.22 | The "Libra Goes To Wa...
From 5 to 1, counting down the most important threads, essays and content from last week. Featuring the key setup questions for the Libra hearings; a case study of Cuba on whether a project like Libra could make a difference to the "unbanked"; the...
28 min
1856
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.19 | BitMEX vs. CFTC / Bit...
The CFTC's investigation of BitMEX is the latest in string of screws tightening on global exchanges touching US customers. In an interesting twist, a lawsuit leads to a Chinese court determining that Bitcoin is a protected legal property. Ycash has...
12 min
1857
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.18 | Libra Aftermath - G7,...
Libra was a hotbutton issue at the G7 meetings - maybe the one thing they agreed on. Meanwhile, the project made news in China as Facebook's David Marcus revealed explicitly that it saw Alipay and Wechat as competitors. Meanwhile, the crypto community...
12 min
1858
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.17 | Libra Hearings Day 2 ...
On Day 2 of Libra hearings, Facebook's David Marcus testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee. And boy oh boy, it could not have been more different than yesterday. Today was massively more substantive, thoughtful, and holy crap was...
21 min
1859
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.16 | Libra Hearing Day 1 R...
Libra's David Marcus testified before a relatively hostile Senate Banking Committee today. In today's  we go over: 1) Facebook's trust problem; 2) the most important topics and themes of the questioning; 3) what it all means for Bitcoin. ...
17 min
1860
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.15 | Long Reads Sunday #55...
Every Sunday, I put together a list of the top tweets, threads and essays shaping the crypto conversation. On Monday, I countdown my five favorites with BlockTV. Monday's Crypto Daily  is the audio recording version.  For those who want to...
21 min
1861
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.12 | Special Edition: Trum...
A very Trump-y special edition! On this episode, we look at 1) what happened with Trump’s Bitcoin/Libra tweet; 2) the crypto community’s response; 3) the surprisingly with it mainstream media response; and 4) what it means going forward and why we...
25 min
1862
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.11 | Comply or Die Token S...
On this episode, we discuss: 1) Reg A+ compliant token sales from Blockstack and YouNow and why it's becoming comply or die; 2) Turkey planning a central bank digital currency and how the crypto market is trifurcating; 3) IDEO's new crypto startup...
13 min
1863
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.10 | Alt Season Dreams & N...
We discuss: 1) the chatter around a potential alt season and what makes things different this time around; 2) new financing that shows where crypto investors heads are at (hint: infrastructure not apps); 3) the latest salvos between Libra and...
13 min
1864
Crypto Daily 3@3 - 7.9.19 | Deutsche Bank layof...
Deutsche Bank announces 18k layoffs & a photo instafamous memes a tailor with a Bitcoin bag as a fired banker Strong counter argument against the idea that Libra is somehow good for Bitcoin A new platform for fractionalized art and culture...
11 min