The Breakdown

Today on the Brief:

• PayPal to allow crypto withdrawals
• Regulatory rumblings from the SEC and FinCEN
• Bitcoin moving off exchanges again

In our main discussion, NLW looks at the macro conversation around inflation, including:

• How concerns around inflation and the Federal Reserve withdrawing support have caused markets to go risk-off
• Where bitcoin fits in a risk-on/risk-off context
• Why billionaire Carl Icahn is eyeing a $1B-$1.5B crypto bet

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Today on The Breakdown, NLW covers:

• More information about the Bitcoin Mining Council, and why its members say they’re strictly focused on energy transparency 
• A new, temporary crypto mining ban in Iran
• The latest on the China mining ban, including new proposed rules from Inner Mongolia, more on-chain data about miner activity, and a very different interpretation of the CCP’s motivations for the current action 

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Yesterday, Michael Saylor and Elon Musk surprised the Bitcoin community when they announced a new “green” mining initiative that would see many of North America’s leading mining operators come together to develop common energy reporting standards as well as advocate for greener mining worldwide. 

In this episode, NLW breaks down the community’s response, which ranged from enthusiastic to downright aghast. He discusses why there are such big differences in how people are interpreting the initiative and what their reasons for supporting or questioning it say about Bitcoin as a network.

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Today’s episode of “The Breakdown” is split into two parts. In part one, NLW recaps the latest out of China, including:

• Interpretations of Friday’s surprise targeting in a speech by the Vice Premier
• A weekend market crash, the second of the week 
• Miner selling and the motivations behind it
• What to watch for in the coming days 

In part two, he puts in context the news that Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio owns bitcoin, looking at the larger institutional pattern that has driven the bitcoin bull and Dalio’s specific concerns about currency devaluation.

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For this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads:

“What If Somebody Hacks the Money Pipeline Next?” By David Z. Morris

“A Central Bank Digital Currency Would Be Bad for the US” by Dante Disparte

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On this week’s “Breakdown Weekly Recap,” NLW explores U.S. regulatory FUD. He specifically looks at recent statements from the SEC’s Gary Gensler, as well as new Treasury Dept. policy that wants businesses to report crypto transactions of over $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. He argues that this is a “bureaucrat's bull market” that will be focused on compliance, not banning. 

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This week has been China story after China story in the world of crypto. Increasingly, NLW argues, bitcoiners are getting sick of the baggage that Chinese mining and Chinese state involvement place on bitcoin and crypto as a whole. In this episode, he looks at the latest news from China and points to interpretations from a number of voices that show why what appears to be FUD could actually be a welcomed development. 

 

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In this episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the market structure dimension of the crypto crash, leveraging insights from Alameda Research, Willy Woo and many more. He explores: 

• Why the recent bull run was driven by derivatives more than by spot trading
• How crypto moving onto exchanges signaled the big move down
• How cascading liquidations made the down moves even more extreme 
• What the industry thinks about 100x leverage
• Insider reports on how institutional investors responded

CoinStack newsletter referenced in the show: https://coinstack.substack.com/

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In one of the bloodiest days in recent crypto history, NLW looks at the reasons behind the wild market crash and explores whether it means an end to the bull market. As part of this, he explores five different categories of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD):

• Elon energy FUD
• Resurgent tether FUD
• China ban FUD
• Used for crime FUD
• Regulatory FUD

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On today’s episode, NLW provides an extended brief style episode, covering:

• Crypto’s allies on Capitol Hill
• Is “long bitcoin” the most crowded trade in the world?
• How much of the dip was just Tax Day?
• No, China didn’t just ban crypto 
• Pomp launches Bitcoin Pizza

-- 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