The Breakdown

By BlockworksBusiness Investing

The Breakdown episodes

May 18, 2021Bitcoin Is the ‘No Heroes’ Asset
If you thought last week’s Elon intrigue was over, think again. This weekend saw an absolute showdown at the bitcoin corral, with Musk seriously losing his cool. In this episode, NLW explores the tussle from a number of dimensions:

What it says about the efficacy of Bitcoin Maximalism

What is says about Elon Musk specifically

What it says about power in a social media-powered world

-- 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
19 min
May 16, 2021 Bitcoin Is Much More Than a Speculative Asset
This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” is a reading of Alex Gladstein’s latest piece, “Check Your Financial Privilege.” It follows the stories of people in three African nations who paint a very different picture from the rampant speculation you hear about in the news.
-- 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
32 min
May 15, 2021Vitalik vs. Dog Money: Recapping a Crazy Week in Crypto History
On this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW discusses:

Why the Elon Musk issue is really one of power and audience

What the Colonial Pipeline attack reveals about our critical infrastructure

The debate around Vitalik Buterin and the Shiba coins

-- 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
13 min
May 15, 2021Why the DOJ, IRS Investigation Into Binance Could Be Good for Bitcoin
Today on the Brief:

More chaos from Elon Musk

Hedge funds moving into DeFi?

Tether reserve attestations

Our main discussion looks at recent revelations of investigations by the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service around Binance. NLW breaks down:

What we know about who is involved

Why the sound bite seems worse than the real story

Why each possible outcome leads the Bitcoin industry to a better place

-- 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
15 min
May 14, 2021Et tu, Elon? What’s Really Behind Tesla’s Bitcoin Betrayal
Crypto Twitter exploded last night when Elon Musk announced Tesla was backtracking and would no longer be accepting bitcoin as payment for cars. The debate came fast and furious about whether this was genuine environmental concern and, if so, how Elon was just discovering it now. On this episode, NLW looks at other interpretations, including:

Elon playing 4D chess with the price

The simple vagaries of an eccentric billionaire

Pressure to remain in ESG portfolios

Shifting government narratives

-- 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
15 min
May 13, 202146M Americans Now Own Bitcoin as Inflation Rises to Highest Level in 13 Years
Today on the Brief:

SEC throws cold water on bitcoin ETF dreams

MoneyGram brings bitcoin for cash to 12,000 locations (for a hefty fee)

Palantir considering adding bitcoin to balance sheet

Our main discussion: Inflation has seen its biggest growth month in a very long time. Is it just transitory or reducible to base effects or is something more going on? Meanwhile, a new survey suggests 46 million Americans now own bitcoin. Related?
-- 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
12 min
May 11, 2021 Crypto to Replace Dollar as World’s Reserve Currency? Investing Legend Stanley Druckenmiller Thinks So
Last year, hedge fund gurus like Paul Tudor Jones set off the wave of institutional bitcoin buying by cementing the narrative of bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Today, one of those investors - Stanley Druckenmiller - is back with even more dire pronouncements about the likely implication of Federal Reserve policies. The dollar, he says, will lose reserve currency status in the next 15 years. The most likely candidate to replace it? 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
13 min
May 11, 2021If Prices Keep Going Up, We Might Have to Start Calling It Inflation
Today on the Brief:

Elon Musk saves an SNL flop with a dogecoin satellite

Growing interest in Ethereum

UBS explores offering crypto to wealthy clients

Our main discussion:The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are both running headlines about increasing consumer prices. For now, most pieces like these remain a healthy combination of spot data (in other words specific companies raising prices) and anecdotes versus aggregate data. That isn’t stopping a new inflation narrative from forming, however. Listen to find out what it means.
-- 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
15 min
May 09, 2021 CBDCs Aren't About Money, They're About Power
On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads Sune Sorenson’s “China Is Opting Out of US-Run Financial System.” He also discusses recent pieces by Niall Ferguson and The Economist that point to a growing conversation about CBDCs that is fundamentally about power and the global system.
-- 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
14 min
May 08, 2021‘My 401(k) is now my 401(k9)': Doge, SNL and Why This Was Quietly a Massive Week for Bitcoin
On this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at:

Why ETH should have had most of the attention

The camps forming around dogecoin and why it’s likely to dump after “Saturday Night Live”

A slew of massive institutional bitcoin news that flew under the radar

"Remy: Dogecoin Rap" (Dog Money), ReasonTV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbI31x3FpS0
-- 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
14 min

About The Breakdown

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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.