The Breakdown

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**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/

Latest Episodes:

Is Crypto Converging With Public Markets? Oct 16, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Initial jobless claims rise to highest level since August
BTC as a DeFi reserve asset
Twitter reactions as Filecoin goes live

Our main discussion focuses on the convergence of the crypto and public markets. NLW looks at:

Narratives of bitcoin’s correlations to stocks
Growing overlap of retail and institutional traders
SPACs and public crypto companies
Bitcoin treasuries
Geopolitical intrigue around ANT Financial

A $10B Firm Makes Bitcoin Its Primary Treasury Asset Oct 15, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Bitcoin hashrate at all-time highs
Record number of large companies lose money during the pandemic
JPMorgan releases research note on bitcoin

Our main discussion: Stone Ridge Holdings Group discloses $114 million in bitcoin treasury assets.

NLW digs into what Stone Ridge is, why it spun off New York Digital Investments Group (NYDIG) and how the company has quietly built itself into a serious player in the institutional crypto asset space.

The IMF, G20 and BIS Gear Up for the Central Bank Digital Currency Era Oct 14, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Is the “blue wave” Democrat victory narrative in the presidential election starting to shake up Wall Street?
Johnson & Johnson pause COVID-19 vaccine trial
1000 Satoshi-era bitcoins are on the move

Our main discussion: The world’s central banks are moving quickly on digital currencies. NLW looks at a slew of recent news showing how much of a priority CBDCs are becoming:

A report from the Bank for International Settlements and seven other central banks setting design principles for CBDCs
A G20 regulatory standards framework
A forthcoming OECD tax reporting framework

One need only look at the increasingly speedy rollout of China’s DCEP to understand why this has become a major priority for central banks everywhere.

What the Stock Market is Predicting Around the Elections Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Market rally to highest point in six weeks
BTC and ETH up in part on Grayscale ETH trust becoming an SEC reporting company (Grayscale, like CoinDesk, is a unit of DCG.)
CBDCs (and CBDC skepticism) on the rise

Our main discussion: How markets are trading the U.S. presidential election in November.

A look at what different stock and other market preferences suggests about who Wall Street expects to win, including:

Energy
Private prisons
Student loans
Health care
Infrastructure
Dollar
Bitcoin

Is Bitcoin More Correlated to Stocks or Gold? Oct 11, 2020

Show notes

Today on Long Reads Sunday, a reading of Lyn Alden’s piece for CoinDesk: “Bitcoin Correlations Depend on What Phase It Is In”

In it, Lyn argues that bitcoin’s correlation patterns are, in part, reliant on where bitcoin finds itself in its own cycles of expansion or consolidation.

A Regulatory Reckoning for the Crypto Industry? Oct 10, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s Breakdown weekly recap, NLW looks at a cross-section of regulatory news, including:

CFTC and DOJ action against BitMEX and its leadership
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s ban of crypto derivative products for retail investors
The DOJ’s new cryptocurrency enforcement framework

NLW discusses why these might reflect a new moment in crypto history, what it means for current builders in bitcoin and DeFi, and why recruiting corporate allies like Square will become more important than ever.

Cathie Wood: Secrets of the World’s Best Innovation Investor Oct 10, 2020

Show notes

Forbes called her “the newest superstar investor,” and it’s not hard to see why.

Cathie Wood is radically disrupting the way money is allocated. Fighting the rise of passive – what she calls the “greatest misallocation of resources in history” – Wood’s funds are actively managed exchange-traded funds that give investors exposure to public companies in key areas of innovation.

In this conversation, NLW and Wood 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

The Market Reacts to Square’s $50M Bitcoin Buy Oct 08, 2020

Show notes

A special breaking edition of The Breakdown follows the market’s reaction to Square’s surprise $50 million bitcoin investment.

NLW breaks down the foundations for the investment, including:

2020’s alignment between the bitcoin narrative and structural economic realities
An increase in bitcoin’s perceived resilience
The precedent set by MicroStrategy

He also discusses the market’s reaction, from the (potential) connection to Coinbase’s “apolitical” stance from last week to the notion of Square intentionally setting a framework others can follow.

Why Bitcoin Will Become the Reserve Asset for DeFi, Feat. Qiao Wang Oct 08, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

Stimulus talk shutdown spooks markets
House recommends antitrust actions but likely to get nowhere
CBDC trial results from China

Our main discussion is with trader and entrepreneur Qiao Wang. In this conversation, NLW and Qiao discuss:

Bitcoin’s resilience in the face of a barrage of bad news
Why DeFi is a natural next step from the foundation bitcoin has built
How bitcoin could end up the reserve asset for DeFi
Why regulation is the greatest threat to the space

The UK Bans Bitcoin & Crypto Derivatives Oct 07, 2020

Show notes

Today on the Brief:

John McAfee arrested in Spain
BTC addresses added spikes to two-year high
A new election-market narrative emerges

Our main discussion: The U.K. has banned crypto derivatives.

Just days after the U.S. announced significant action involving BitMEX, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has made its own move to stop crypto derivatives.

In this episode, NLW breaks down what actually happened, and looks at the reactions from the crypto industry including:

Accusations of hypocrisy
Skepticism of enforceability
Why it might actually be good for bitcoin

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