The Breakdown

Latest Episodes:

Dalio Says Governments Will Kill Bitcoin. Is He Right? Nov 14, 2020

Show notes

On this edition of the weekly recap, NLW looks at bitcoin’s surge past $16,000. Additionally, he explores some recent FUD from Ray Dalio, which NLW argues seems strangely locked in years-old narratives.

PayPal Rolls Out Crypto for All US Customers Nov 14, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Christine Lagarde’s digital euro hunch
Deutsche Bank CBDC note
COVID-19 resurgent

Our main discussion:

PayPal is rolling out crypto to all its users and increasing transaction limits from $10,000 to $20,000. In this episode, NLW breaks down the community response to the news, including an interesting discussion of whether the company’s BitLicense requires PayPal to hold 1:1 all the BTC its customers pay for.

Meet the $10B Asset Manager With a 10,000 BTC Treasury, feat. NYDIG’s Robby Gutmann Nov 13, 2020

Show notes

Robby Gutmann is the co-founder of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, a $10 billion alternative asset manager and co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, the group’s bitcoin subsidiary.

In this first-ever podcast conversation, Gutmann discusses:

Buying his first bitcoin from Craigslist in 2010
The personal and professional experiences that drove his team to bitcoin
Why bitcoin fits the firm's founding principle of financial security for all
A set of key trends driving institutional investors and fiduciaries/asset managers into the bitcoin space
Why the coming year is poised for even more aggressive expansion of the investor market for bitcoin

Discovering Bitcoin Through the #EndSARS Movement, Feat. Yele Bademosi & Akin Sawyerr Nov 12, 2020

Show notes

Yele Bademosi is CEO at Bundle social payments app and the founder of investment firm microtraction. Akin Sawyerr is involved across the industry and leads operations at BarnBridge.

Over the course of October 2020, the world’s attention became firmly fixed on a growing movement in Nigeria. With the hashtag #EndSARS, the movement was, on the one hand, about addressing police brutality. On the other hand, as our guests discuss, it was a broader awakening and a demand for generational economic opportunity. At one point, even Twitter founder Jack Dorsey called for people to donate bitcoin to help the movement.

In this conversation, Yele and Akin discuss:

The state of the economy in Nigeria leading into the protests
Generational differences in political action
Why the #EndSARS protests exploded into action in October
Why the movement turned to bitcoin to avoid bank confiscation
How crypto can play a role in a brighter future

Find our guests online:

Yele Bademosi - twitter.com/YeleBademosi

Akin Sawyerr - twitter.com/AkinSawyerr

Legendary Investor Stan Druckenmiller Turns Bitcoin Bull Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Was Monday’s stock rally overdone?
Lebanon to launch digital currency
3 reasons BTC has rallied 60%+ in two months

Our main discussion: Stan Druckenmiller, Bitcoin Bull.

A few months ago, Stan Druckenmiller told CNBC that he could imagine inflation of 5%–10%. Yesterday, he returned to the network to discuss why bitcoin had captured his attention as a potential hedge.

"The Biggest Macro Event Since March” Nov 10, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

GRIN gets 51% attacked
Crypto trading volume down 25.8% in October
How the market is receiving Joe Biden

Our main discussion: The stock market soars on promising Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trials.

The S&P 500 and DJIA hit new all-time highs after Pfizer announced its experimental vaccine had prevented COVID-19 in 90% of patients. Travel stocks soared, work from home stocks suffered and safe havens fell. In this episode, NLW explores the shifting market sentiment, as well as what it means for bitcoin.

Why Emerging Markets Are Wary of Modern Monetary Theory Nov 08, 2020

Show notes

Today’s Long Reads Sunday is a reading of Andy Mukherjee’s piece: “Why Emerging Markets Are Wary of a Modern Monetary Fix”.

The argument is that while Western governments debate just how far we can take the idea of money printing without paying a dubious price, for emerging-market governments there simply isn’t the same capacity to print their way out of problems.

How a Massive Devaluation of the Egyptian Pound Inspired a $100M Bitcoin ETP Nov 07, 2020

Show notes

Hany Rashwan is the CEO of Amun/21Shares, the creator of a variety of publicly traded crypto products with over $100 million assets under management.

In this conversation, he and NLW discuss:

How he was introduced to bitcoin by Tim Draper in 2012
How the Egyptian revolution and challenges that followed influenced his thinking
How a 48% overnight devaluation of the Egyptian pound created the “aha” moment around bitcoin
How bitcoin could become the global reserve currency

Find our guest online:

Twitter: twitter.com/hany

Website: 21shares.com

How the World Stopped Producing Enough Money, Feat. Emil Kalinowski Nov 07, 2020

Show notes

Emil Kalinowski is the host of “Making Sense/Eurodollar University” collaborations with Jeff Snider.

In this illuminating conversation, he and NLW discuss:

How the global monetary order changed over the last 50 years
The exact moment the world demonstrated it had too little money
Why bitcoin and MMT are competing to shape the next generation of monetary thinking
Why a big crash is coming, but we’ll be better on the other side

Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO Nov 06, 2020

Show notes

As the U.S. election picture starts to become more clear, bitcoin has smashed through $15,000 – its highest price since 2017’s record-breaking run. Alongside the price action has come a wave of mainstream media coverage.

In this special he-was-supposed-to-be-on-vacation episode, NLW breaks down Twitter’s response and shares interpretations, including:

“Quietest bull run ever”
Stimulus on the way
Halving bull redemption
Death of the nation-state
Start of a reflexive cycle
It feels real

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected