CoinDesk Podcast Network

The top stories and best shows in the blockchain world, delivered daily from the team at CoinDesk.

Latest Episodes:

Clarity Act Tweak Could Sweep DeFi Devs Into SEC Rules | CoinDesk Daily May 19, 2026

Show notes

A last-minute tweak in the Clarity Act may punch DeFi .

A last-minute amendment to the Senate's Clarity Act stripped out protections for non-controlling blockchain developers. They could now be folded into financial regulations as "securities intermediaries" if regulators argue they have any level of control over a protocol. CoinDesk's Sam Ewen hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

This episode was hosted by Sam Ewen. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

Blockspace: Iran’s Hormuz Safe BTC Insurance, Prime Trust’s Swan Lawsuit, Hive’s 320 MW AI Data Center May 19, 2026

Show notes

Iran wants tankers to pay for maritime insurance in BTC with its Hormuz Safe program, and the Prime Trust estate is suing Swan to claw back nearly $1B in assets.

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today, we cover the bombshell news that Iran is now accepting bitcoin for maritime insurance for tankers trapped in the Strait of Hormuz. Francis Corvino of Lygos Finance joins us to talk about why he believes this is the greatest threat to the Bitcoin network yet, plus his takes on STRC, SATA, and “digital credit.”. We also break down the lawsuit where the Prime Trust Bankruptcy Trust is seeking to claw back nearly $1 billion from Swan Bitcoin, as well as similar clawbacks from Circle, Strike parent company Zap, and Huobi. We also look into the public backlash surrounding a proposed 9-gigawatt data center in Utah, IREN’s acquisition of Awaken Media, and Hive's 320 MW AI data center in Canada.

👉CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success.

👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool. Start hashing today with Luxor!

👉Lygos Finance, Borrow against your Bitcoin, without compromising on custody.

Strategy Drops $2B on Bitcoin in One Week | CoinDesk Daily May 18, 2026

Show notes

Strategy spent $2B on Bitcoin last week.

Strategy purchased 24,869 bitcoin last week for roughly $2 billion at an average price of $80,985 per coin, bringing its total holdings to 843,738 BTC at an aggregate cost of $64 billion. The purchase was funded almost entirely through sales of its STRC preferred stock. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

This episode was hosted by Sam Ewen. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

HYPE Hits Wall Street as BTC ETFs Bleed $1B and $19B in Assets Go On-Chain May 18, 2026

Show notes

On this episode of CoinDesk's Public Keys from the New York Stock Exchange, Jennifer Sanasie is joined by Fundstrat Head of Digital Asset Strategy Sean Farrell to unpack the crypto IPO slowdown, the Fed's hawkish pivot, and why Bitcoin miners pivoting to AI infrastructure remain one of the year's best places to hide in crypto. 21Shares Global Head of Research Eli Ndinga breaks down the launch of the first Hyperliquid ETF in the U.S. market, makes the bull and bear case for HYPE, and shares his $75 price target. Plus, NUVA Labs CEO Anthony Moro discusses the company's launch with nearly $19 billion in tokenized real-world assets from Figure Technologies and his vision for bringing TradFi to DeFi.

Timecodes:

00:00 Welcome to Public Keys

00:38 Clarity Act Passes, Macro Headwinds Hit Crypto

01:53 Crypto IPO Boom Hits a Speed Bump

02:09 Fundstrat's Sean Farrell Joins Public Keys

03:30 Why AI Is Driving the Tech IPO Market

05:00 Bitcoin Miners Pivot to AI for Higher Yields

06:13 Macro Outlook and Fed Chair Warsh

08:12 Hyperliquid's $850M Revenue and Pre-IPO Markets

12:23 Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs See Major Outflows

13:48 Two HYPE ETFs Launch on Wall Street

14:25 21Shares' Eli Dinga on the THYP Debut

17:30 The Bull and Bear Case for Hyperliquid

22:30 21Shares' $75 Price Target for HYPE

23:55 Nuva Labs Launches with $19B in Tokenized RWAs

30:00 The Nuva Roadmap and Token Generation Event

This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie.

Blockspace: IREN’s $3B Note, CME Compute Futures, Mike Alfred’s Stock Picks, Trump’s Q1 Bitcoin Equities May 16, 2026

Show notes

AI compute futures are now live on the CME, and IREN has raised $3B in a new convertible note offering.

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Today for news, we cover IREN’s new $3B convertible note – the largest convert ever for a public bitcoin miner – Trump’s Q1 bitcoin equity buys, and the 90-day pause on zoning discussions for Hut 8’s proposed 500 MW data center in Logan County, Illinois. Plus, Mike Alfred of Alpine Fox Hedge Fund joins us to discuss his top stock picks for AI, and Kush Bavaria of Ornn jumps on to discuss how Ornn is providing an H100 index for the CME’s new AI compute futures – and his thoughts on the future of these incipient compute futures markets. Mike San Miguel of Luxor also joins us to discuss the latest in GPU markets and AI ASICs, and pseudonymous user Soup explains how he used Claude and $15 in tokens to spin up 3.5 trillion passwords to crack his long-lost bitcoin wallet.

👉CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success.

👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool. Start hashing today with Luxor!

👉Lygos Finance, Borrow against your Bitcoin, without compromising on custody.

Clarity Act Clears Senate Banking, But Ethics Fight Looms May 15, 2026

Show notes

Jito Labs' Rebecca Rettig and Paul Hastings' Renato Mariotti return to The Policy Protocol after Consensus Miami to break down the Clarity Act's historic bipartisan passage out of the Senate Banking Committee. They're joined by Lindsay Fraser, Chief Policy Officer at the Blockchain Association, on what's at stake in Section 301, why ethics is still the #1 unresolved issue, and whether the July 4th signing deadline is real. Plus, they discuss the stablecoin yield compromise and unveil this week's Person of the Week.

Timecodes:

00:00 - Welcome Back to The Policy Protocol After Consensus 2026

01:13 - The CLARITY Act Clears Senate Banking — Stick or Carrot?

02:15 - Section 301 and the Last-Minute Developer Protection Cut

05:04 - Inside the Markup: Five Bipartisan Amendments

06:57 - Two Democrats Cross Over and the Path to the Floor

08:25 - Ethics Is Still the #1 Outstanding Issue

10:42 - The Gillibrand and IRS DeFi Broker CRA Precedent

12:24 - Stitching the Senate Banking and Ag Bills

13:58 - Is the July 4th Signing Deadline Real?

15:34 - Stablecoin Yield: "A Distinction That Works for Lawyers"

16:14 - Person of the Week: Senator John Thune

This episode was hosted by Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti.

Arthur Hayes Says AI Layoffs Are Coming for the Banking System | Markets Outlook May 14, 2026

Show notes

At Consensus Miami, BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes joins CoinDesk Live to break down why AI-driven layoffs could create the next banking crisis and how bitcoin is already pricing it in. He also shares his updated BTC price target, his conviction bet on Hyperliquid, and why he thinks crypto regulation misses the point entirely.

00:00 - Q1 No-Trade Zone and What Changed Arthur's View

02:34 - AI Layoffs, Over-Leveraged Economy, and the Coming Banking Crisis

04:57 - Why the Fed Is Missing the Problem and What Bitcoin Is Signaling

06:09 - Crypto Regulation, the CLARITY Act, and Why Arthur Doesn't Care

08:29 - Bitcoin $125K Target and the Money Printing Thesis

09:26 - Hyperliquid, Hype $150 by August, and Why Trading Apps Win

15:23 - Prediction Markets, Zcash, and Why Altcoins Will Never Die

Cerebras IPO Values AI Chipmaker at $40B | CoinDesk Daily May 14, 2026

Show notes

Will the AI IPO pipeline drain crypto?

Cerebras priced its IPO at a $40 billion valuation, nearly 5x what it was worth eight months ago. The AI capital boom is pulling investor attention and money away from crypto, with SpaceX and OpenAI listings still to come. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

Blockspace: MARA’s Q1 Earnings, Nebius’ Blowout Q1, the $1,000 Bull Case for MSTR May 14, 2026

Show notes

MARA provided updates for its AI business in its earnings this week, and Nebius shocks the market with a 684% rise in revenue YoY in Q1.

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! For news, we break down why major pools like MARA and viaBTC are signaling support for the Great Consensus Cleanup (BIP 54), plus Q1 earnings recaps for MARA and Nebius. For guest segments, Lucas Krejci, CTO of Brains, joins us to talk about the new Stratum V2 working group with Block, MARA, Foundry, Antpool, and other leading bitcoin mining firms. Pio Vincenzo also joins to give his bull case for Strategy – including why the company selling bitcoin is not what people think – and Mezo’s Yogi hops on to give a breakdown for why Spirit Airlines bit the dust.

👉CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success.

👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool. Start hashing today with Luxor!

👉Lygos Finance, Borrow against your Bitcoin, without compromising on custody.

Grant Cardone Sees a Real Estate Meltdown Coming, and He's Ready With Bitcoin May 13, 2026

Show notes

Grant Cardone joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026 in Miami to explain his real estate-Bitcoin hybrid strategy — stacking $100M of Bitcoin on a $235M Boca Raton property. Plus, why Michael Saylor advised him to drop the real estate altogether, his takedown of the crypto community's "degenerate investing," and an oddly specific Bitcoin year-end target: $189,425.

00:00 Grant Cardone Joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026

00:48 The Real Estate-Bitcoin Hybrid

02:35 Why Real Estate Beats Bitcoin's "Deficiency": Cash Flow

03:34 "Change Lanes on Your Way to Success"

05:43 "Saylor Told Me to Drop the Real Estate"

06:42 The Multi-Trillion Real Estate Correction Nobody's Talking About

08:46 Crypto: "A Magnet for Degenerate Investing"

09:00 "Real Estate Gets Sick, It Never Dies"

09:36 The Bitcoin Year-End Target: $189,425