The Breakdown

The ‘crypto’ industry is having a hard time fitting everything that’s happening inside that one monolithic term. On this episode, @nlw looks at current news stories from across at least 5 different categories - DeFi, enterprise blockchain, central bank digital currencies, digital collectibles and bitcoin - to ask whether they really all belong lumped in in the same category. 

The episode also looks at:

• Four reasons these increasingly different categories remain bunched together 
• Why turning other parts of the industry into an enemy is rewarded in the public sphere
• Why letting individual parts of the industry evolve individually is likely to bring more, not fewer resources into the space.

The DeFi world continues to dissect the recent attacks on bZx. To most, the amount lost in the attacks is far less relevant than what the attacks suggest about how DeFi applications need to be designed. 

Within that, one key topic of conversation is the role of price oracles - the systems by which DeFi applications check the prices of assets that dictate what happens in a given smart contract. Since asset price manipulation was at the core of the recent attacks, this is a particularly pertinent area of inquiry. 

Yesterday, Chainlink announced that it would be helping bZx upgrade their systems taking advantage of Chainlink’s recently-launched “meta oracle.” On this episode of The Breakdown, Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov discusses:

• The role of price oracles in DeFi
• How price oracles were targeted in the recent attacks
• What the DeFi industry can learn from early crypto exchange hacks

Part of what makes DeFi interesting to people is how it takes advantage of open source protocols to enable types of transactions never before available. The problem, however, is that financial structures mean new financial vulnerabilities. 

In the last few days, two attacks on bZx have used a similar strategy of manipulating the price of synthetic assets in the context of a new instrument called “flashloans.” On this episode of @nlw breaks down exactly 

• How the attacks were carried out 
• How the community is responding 
• What the larger ramifications for DeFi might be

The full week's shows as one long episode, featuring guests including Travis Kling (Ikigai), Muneeb Ali (Blockstack), Coinlist (Andy Bromberg) 

• Monday | On the Frontlines of the SEC Safe Harbor Proposal With CoinList President Andy Bromberg
• Tuesday | Muneeb Ali Explains Blockstack’s Big Bet on Bitcoin
• Wednesday | Why Crypto Sentiment and Prices Are Soaring: Puppets, Pundits, Partnerships
• Thursday | The US Government Sends Mixed Signals on Digital Currency Privacy
• Friday | The Top Narratives Driving Crypto Market Growth feat. Travis Kling

There’s no denying that 2020 is off to a roaring start. From prices to volume to social media, sentiment is up up up. 

But what’s driving it? On this special Valentine’s Day episode, @nlw reacts to listeners votes about which narratives are most driving the shift in energy, discussing: 

• The BTC halving
• Coronavirus and volatility
• Fed action
• Central bank digital currency intrigue
• Ethereum and DeFi
• Price reflexivity and Lindy effects 

The episode finishes up with some hot takes on what is driving the markets and what we should be most concerned about and most excited for with Ikigai Asset Management’s Travis Kling.