CoinDesk Podcast Network

Critiques of correlation between bitcoin and equities miss the fact that bitcoin adoption within traditional markets has been driven by a fiat collapse concern.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

Today on the Brief:

Our main discussion: Investors and the BTC price dip.

Over the last several weeks, bitcoin has pulled back from $12,400 to around $10,000. This dip has happened alongside a broader retracement in equities, led by falling tech stocks. 

While some have levied correlation to equities as a failure of bitcoin, NLW argues this critique misunderstands the narrative that has driven accumulation from new holders over the last six months.

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Whether the U.S. government likes it or not, the world is demanding crypto-dollars and the private market is ready to supply them. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

On this special Labor Day edition of The Breakdown, NLW is doing a reading of Nic Carter’s most recent essay “The Crypto-Dollar Surge and the American Opportunity.”

In it, Carter argues that rather than fight the tide, the U.S. government should accept and take advantage of its unique position in the emerging world of global crypto monies.

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A reading on revolutions from the late great David Graeber. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

Earlier this week, news broke that David Graeber, author of influential works such as “Debt: The First 5000 Years,” had passed away. 

In his memory, today’s Long Reads Sunday is a reading of his 2013 piece “A Practical Utopian’s Guide to the Coming Collapse.” 

In it, he argues the impact of the revolutionary period of the 1960s was much more profound than popular opinion has it, and that the age of revolution is far from complete.

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The markets kicked off the week with a 5-1 Tesla stock split rally and ended with major questions about tech company valuations.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

On this episode of The Breakdown Weekly Recap, NLW looks at the full story the stock markets are telling us about the economy, including:

This week on The Breakdown:

Monday | US Stock Market Cap to GDP Ratio Reaches 190%, Eclipsing Dot-Com Bubble High 

Tuesday | Financial Postmodernism and the Great Inflation Debate 

Wednesday | Let Them Eat Equities! The Economic Chickens Come Home to Roost, Feat. Luke Gromen 

Thursday | DeFi Degens Are Crypto’s Suicide Squad 

Friday | 8 Historical Analogies That Help Explain the Madness of 2020 

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It wasn’t long ago the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade went live on an official test network. Developers have been catching mission-critical bugs in the code ever since. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

“This is the biggest testnet launch that Ethereum 2.0 has seen. … So we learned about things that were frustrating for people. We found some bugs. We’ve been troubleshooting a very interesting and elusive bug at the moment that can cause nodes to crash,” said Paul Hauner, the lead developer of the Ethereum 2.0 Lighthouse client. 

Also testing the new Eth 2.0 mock network – called “Medalla” – and finding some surprises along the way is staking-as-a-service startup Staked. In the mind of Tim Ogilvie, co-founder and CEO of Staked, all of the bugs and unexpected issues on the Medalla network thus far are relatively minor and give no cause for concern. 

“We run 25 other proof-of-stake networks and so we’re used to running in testnets,” Ogilvie said. “We see a lot of the same issues in testnets, which is that sometimes the software doesn’t communicate perfectly or has issues where the network needs to be restarted. I think [Eth 2.0] is in pretty good shape relative to a lot of the other testnets we’ve seen.”

That said, both Hauner and Ogilvie agree there are important features about the Eth 2.0 network that users need to understand before staking their ETH. 

A “really important one,” according to Ogilvie, is the fact that once ETH is transferred to the Eth 2.0 network, it cannot be transferred back to the original Ethereum blockchain. 

“It is a one-way trip until the next phase [of Ethereum 2.0 development] has been enabled. Your funds are not liquid. Really, the only thing you can do is participate in staking. People have to understand that fundamentally before they get started,” Ogilvie said. 

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From the U.S. presidential elections of 1896 to the dot-com bubble to housing markets in 2006, these historical moments help us make sense of a truly WTF year.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

Inspired by Michael Batnik’s “All Wrapped In One,” this episode examines eight moments from history that can help us make sense of one of the most chaotic years of our lives. 

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A look at the subculture and ethos driving the white-hot DeFi space, which has grown from $2 billion to $9 billion in total value locked in just two months.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

Today on the Brief:

Our main discussion is about DeFi’s “degens.” NLW talks about:

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One of the best-known macro analysts breaks down last week’s Jerome Powell speech and whether it truly represents a new policy era for the Federal Reserve.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

Today on the Brief:

Our main conversation is with Luke Gromen, founder of the Forest for the Trees consulting firm. 

In this conversation, we discuss: 

Find our guest online:

Website: fftt-llc.com

Twitter: @LukeGromen

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This Best of The Breakdown August 2020 edition features commentary from Hugh Hendry, Preston Pysh and Adam Tooze.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

August has come to a close. In this recap and “best of” episode, NLW looks at the big themes that defined the month. Most notable was the discussion of inflation culminating in the Federal Reserve’s newly announced policy of average inflation targeting. 

This episode features commentary from:

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The booming stock market is driven by perception of the Federal Reserve’s commitment to high prices and growing individual trading, but how sustainable is it?

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

Today’s episode of The Breakdown looks at the stories the stock market is trying to tell, including:

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