The Breakdown

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

Website : http://nlwcrypto.libsyn.com/

IPFS Feed : https://ipfspodcasting.net/RSS/398/TheBreakdown.xml  

Last Episode : May 27, 2023 10:00am

Last Scanned : 23 minutes ago

Episodes

Episodes currently hosted on IPFS.

Can Bitcoin Avoid the Partisan Curse?
Confirmed 4

On this episode of Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads "DeSantis and the Growing Culture War Around Bitcoin" by Daniel Kuhn. 

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Expires in 14 hours
Published Saturday
The Tornado Cash Lawsuit Advances
Confirmed 3
Today on The Breakdown, NLW covers:
  • Tornado Cash lawsuit and hack
  • The latest in Ledger
  • The Debt Ceiling debate nears a conclusion
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Published Friday
Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis Pledges to Protect Bitcoin
1

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his presidential campaign formally last night on a Twitter spaces with Elon Musk. During the conversation he discussed Bitcoin, including why he thinks it's important and why he'll protect it as president. On today's episode, NLW looks at Bitcoin's history with presidents and presidential candidates. 

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Published Thursday
Hong Kong Opens For Crypto Business
1

One of the surprising twists of this crypto cycle is the US closing down to crypto and Hong Kong (and the Chinese powers behind it) opening back up. In this episode, NLW looks at Hong Kongs new crypto exchange rules as well as Coinbase's response to the SEC's response to its lawsuit. 

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Published Wednesday
Reuters Says Binance Commingled Funds, But Is It Just More FUD?
1

After FTX, the industry's guard is up when it comes to exchanges behaving badly. Reuters today published a piece saying that Binance had commingled user funds in 2020 and 2021. Binance strenuously denied the claims and called it just more FUD. Who has the right of it? The show also covers an update in the DCG case. 

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Published Tuesday
Biden Defaulting on the Debt to Own the Crypto Bros?
1

On today's episode, NLW digs into the acrimonious debt ceiling debates, including the way in which crypto has recently become yet another partisan football. 

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Published Monday
Why Ordinals and BRC20 Tokens are Driving Bitcoin Layer 2 Development
1

Bitcoin has been experiencing much higher-than-normal fees of late, driven by Ordinal inscriptions and BRC-20 token memecoin mania. On this Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads two essays that explore how they're driving layer 2 development.

Frogs, Fevers and Fees: Bitcoin’s New Governance Challenge - Michael Casey

As Bitcoin Scales, We Need Better Custodial Solutions - George Kaloudis 

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Published 05/21
Crypto Wins A Key Battle in its War with the SEC
1

On this edition of the weekly recap, NLW covers:

  • Ledger turmoil
  • Stablecoin reserve shifts
  • Binance out in Australia 
  • Binance total market share dips below 50%
  • SEC says Filecoin is a security
  • Judge rules Hinman emails can't be locked

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Published 05/20
Crypto Allies Introduce Securities Clarity Act
1

Congressional Blockchain Caucus leaders Tom Emmer (R) and Darren Soto (D) have introduced the Securities Clarity Act, which is designed to ...well...give clarity on what tokens are securities and when. The crypto community has heralded it as simple, common sense, and potentially hugely positively impactful. 

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Published 05/19
Will the US Default on Its Debt? Circle Ditches Treasuries and Tether Buys BTC
1

Oh the irony. For most of the last few years, the US political establishment has been concerned about the risk that stablecoins might have for the mainstream financial system. This year, however, it's been the mainstream financial system wreaking havoc on stablecoins. On today's episode, NLW discusses Circle's move from longer-dated Treasuries to repo agreements, as well as Tether's new Bitcoin purchase plan. 

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Published 05/18
Ledger Recover Announcement Leads to Massive Crypto Uproar
1

Ledger announced a new program yesterday called "Ledger Recover" that has people feeling confused, betrayed, and angry. NLW explores what the uproar is about and what it says about the start of self-custody and self-sovereign values in the crypto industry. 

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Published 05/17
SEC Finally Responds to Coinbase Lawsuit
1

After ignoring a Coinbase request for rulemaking for 10 months, Coinbase sued the SEC, compelling a judge to compell the SEC to respond. In 36 pages of legalese, the SEC effectively said "we don't have to move any faster than we want and regulation by enforcement is fine." 

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Published 05/16
Binance Says "Bye" To Canada
1

On today's episode, NLW looks at Binance's troubled history with the Great White North, and explores to what extent their exit from Canada is a story about Binance or a story about Canada. Also Quadriga CX is finally returning to creditors at 13c on the dollar. 

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Published 05/15
The Utter Folly of Biden's Proposed Bitcoin Mining Tax
1

Today on Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads Nic Carter's "The White House’s Bitcoin Mining Tax Undermines Itself"

 

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Published 05/14
The IRS Says FTX Owes HOW Much!?
1

Today on The Breakdown its FTX's Insane tax bill and why 2022 won't leave us alone.

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Published 05/13