The Breakdown

The entire week's shows in one convenient file:

• Monday | What the Market Crash Means for Bitcoin, Feat. Delphi's Kevin Kelly
• Tuesday | Crypto Fundraising and the Nothing-Is-Safe Haven
• Wednesday | Ben Hunt on the Clash of Narratives in the Age of Coronavirus
• Thursday | 6 Good Reasons for Bitcoiners to Keep Calm and HODL On
• Friday | What Happens When Currencies Fail? Featuring Preston Pysh

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced more than a trillion dollars in liquidity injections into the market. In the coming weeks, many observers expect trillions of more in stimulus in a variety of exotic new intervention tactics. 

While this will (hopefully) stem the still emerging economic fallout from the pandemic, it creates its own new set of problems. In this episode of The Breakdown, @NLW is joined by “We Study Billionaires” host Preston Pysh to discuss:

• How bond markets will react to the wave of stimulus 
• The challenge of global coordination for a new Bretton Woods
• Why in the wake of stimulus some governments might turn to bitcoin 
• The three factors that lead to currency failure 

The Coronavirus got really extra real today for markets. A two and a half week selloff was tipped to the next level by a major ratcheting up of action from the US government (which still seemed clearly to be not enough to calm markets). 

In bitcoin, this meant a drop from around $8000 yesterday to under $6000 today - a head-spinning dump, especially for those who are more recent to crypto. 

Still, in this episode, @NLW argues that there are 7 good reasons to keep calm and HODL on:

1. It’s not just bitcoin 
2. Correlation means infiltration
3. Peak fear 
4. Asia on the upswing 
5. Buy order behavior 
6. Bitcoin’s been dead before  
7. And a bonus: this environment is exactly what bitcoin was built for

The week of February 12, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was reaching new all time highs. Meanwhile, China’s quarantine of the 11 million people in Wuhan was three weeks old and expanding to other parts of the country. 

While the global equities markets have finally started to catch up to the fear of a global pandemic, the Coronavirus has been one a profound case study in the power of narratives to shape behavior. Even now, those seeking to contain the spread in the US are fighting against narratives from leadership that range from “it’s just the flu” to “it’s a hoax from the media.” 

On today’s episode of The Breakdown, NLW speaks with Epsilon Theory co-founder and market theorist Ben Hunt, who makes it his business to understand how narratives are shape and shaped by the world around us. 

Since the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak, Ben has been a clarion voice in the chaos. This episode is no exception.

Whatever you thought of the uncorrelated or safe haven narratives a few weeks ago, it’s hard to deny that bitcoin and crypto are moving in lock step with equities - even mirroring a small bounce in the morning that retreated in the early afternoon. 

On this episode of The Breakdown, NLW looks at hot takes on the narrative from Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal and crypto investor Ari David Paul. 

Not all the news is bleak, however. Also on this episode, we break down recent financings for 

• Argent’s de-fi friendly wallet 
• Horizon Games’ blockchain-based Hearthstone/MtG style game SkyWeaver
• Futureswap’s decentralized futures exchange and more