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The Breakdown — Business
The Breakdown

The Breakdown dives into the deepest topics in crypto, blockchain, and the macro forces shaping markets and power structures. Each episode breaks down complex ideas into clear, grounded analysis — separating signal from noise across crypto, finance, and geopolitics.

Hosted by David Canellis, The Breakdown features explainers, interviews, and conversations with the people building, regulating, and challenging the financial system.

A Blockworks podcast.

Subscribe to The Breakdown newsletter: https://the-breakdown.carrd.co/

Copyright: © All Rights Reserved

Latest Episodes:

For Bitcoin and Crypto, a Week of Mainstreaming Moments Apr 03, 2021

Show notes

On this edition of “The Breakdown” Weekly Recap, NLW looks at a set of mainstream moments including:

“SNL” doing a song about NFTs
Visa accepting USDC on Ethereum as a native settlement currency
PayPal opening crypto checkout to 29 million merchants
Goldman Sachs opening bitcoin investment programs
Chipotle’s “bitcoin and burritos” promotion

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

An Interview With Cathie Wood on Bitcoin, Tesla and Innovation Investing Apr 02, 2021

Show notes

This episode is a replay of NLW’s conversation with Cathie Wood from October 2020. In it, they discuss:

Why she had conviction in Tesla before the market caught up
Why her fund offered the first bitcoin investment opportunities to Wall Street
Why it doesn’t hire traditional Wall Street analysts
Why it gives away all research for free
Why it shares the trades made in a completely open-source way
ARK’s recent Bitcoin Investment Thesis white paper
What the prospects are for innovation in 2021

Find our guest online:

Twitter: @CathieDWood

Web: ark-invest.com

This episode is a replay of NLW’s conversation with Cathie Wood from October 2020. In it, they discuss:

Why she had conviction in Tesla before the market caught up
Why her fund offered the first bitcoin investment opportunities to Wall Street
Why it doesn’t hire traditional Wall Street analysts
Why it gives away all research for free
Why it shares the trades made in a completely open-source way
ARK’s recent Bitcoin Investment Thesis white paper
What the prospects are for innovation in 2021

Find our guest online:

Twitter: @CathieDWood

Web: ark-invest.com

Corruption, Leverage and Cheap Money: Archegos and the Fastest Loss of Wealth in History Apr 02, 2021

Show notes

The financial world has been rocked by the Archegos scandal. A family office managing at least $10 billion and betting with $50 billion-$80 billion on leverage that was completely undone, literally overnight.

In this episode, NLW breaks down:

Bill Hwang’s origins in Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management
Hwang’s conviction for insider trading
How Hwang leveraged his fund’s performance to get off prime broker blacklists
Why Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others decided to margin call Archegos last week
What the whole affair says about markets today

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

Goldman Sachs To Offer Bitcoin to Wealthy Clients, Completely Reversing Course Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

As the old saying goes: “First they ignore you, then they mock you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Ten months ago, Goldman Sachs declared that “cryptocurrencies including bitcoin are not an asset class.” Today, CNBC broke the news Goldman is planning to release a full suite of bitcoin and crypto investment products.

On this episode, NLW breaks down the larger macro context that got us from then to now and explains why, if you’re a wealthy client of Goldman, you might have some big questions to ask.

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

PayPal Opens Crypto Payments for Millions of Merchants Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

BTC micro futures coming to CME
Michael Jordan is now an NFT investor
Bitcoin doesn’t care about Treasury yields

Our main discussion: PayPal has begun rolling out its crypto checkout tools to millions of merchants. NLW breaks down:

Why payments for day-to-day items have been historically deprioritized for Bitcoin and Ethereum
Why the PayPal checkout tools are unlikely to shift the primary use case from store of value style functions to medium of exchange
Why the liquidity and utility PayPal crypto checkout creates still adds significant value to these crypto assets

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

Visa Just Supercharged Stablecoin Legitimacy Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

Today’s episode of “The Breakdown” is an extended brief with five different topics:

NFTs make it to “SNL”
“Green” bitcoin mining
Square’s CFO thinks all companies should hold bitcoin in their treasuries
Crypto M&A doubles in 2020
Visa announces USDC as settlement currency

Ultimately, he argues that while non-fungible tokens are showing up in pop culture, the Visa deal reinforces the notion that this crypto bull market is being driven by large-scale institutional engagement.

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

Can NFTs & Crypto Create Cultural Revolutions? Mar 28, 2021

Show notes

On this edition of “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads David Hoffman’s essay “The Digital Cultural Revolution” from Bankless. The essay argues that culture, more than economics, will be the most important long-term beneficiary of the rise of crypto.

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

Soros Breaks Into Bitcoin Mar 27, 2021

Show notes

On this week’s Weekly Recap, NLW:

Highlights the four most important happenings around regulation and central bank digital currencies in the U.S.
Updates the macro inflation narrative for a “new normal” era
Digs into what we’ve learned recently about George Soros’ bitcoin and crypto strategy

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

Worried About Bitcoin's Price Action? Here's Why You Shouldn't Be Mar 27, 2021

Show notes

Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW digs into bitcoin and crypto markets. He argues that despite two weeks of sideways-down price action, there are a set of reasons to be optimistic:

Historically bad March months versus historically good Aprils
Retracements and pullbacks in 2017
Analysis around options expiry in 2021
The continuation and expansion of the macro inflation narrative
Institutions applying for bitcoin ETFs
Coins leaving exchanges

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

The Fed Chair and the Treasury Secretary Come Out Against Privacy-Respecting, Anonymous Digital Dollar Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Fidelity files a bitcoin ETF application
Stimmies to China
The situation in the Suez

Our main discussion:

In response to a question from Illinois Democrat Bill Foster during a House hearing earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell went on the record as being against an anonymous digital dollar. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reinforced that stance, saying anonymity made the U.S. government’s anti-money laundering goals extremely difficult to achieve.

In today’s episode, NLW breaks down why bitcoiners should be willing to get involved in the digital dollar privacy fight.

-- Earn up to 12% APY on Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD, EUR, GBP, Stablecoins & more. Get started at nexo.io -- Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M= Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com

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