The Breakdown

Bitcoin is on a 7 week upward trend. Having already smashed through its $9,000 Vegeta memes, it is now inching closer towards $10k. 

 

On this episode, @nlw is joined by Kraken’s Dan Held to discuss how bitcoin has changed in a number of ways since the last time we were at the $10,000 price level last year. They look at:

1. Narrative - Speculation around bitcoin as a safe haven and the role of the halvening continue to shape the conversation
2. Infrastructure - The tools for how people can interact with bitcoin - from lending to derivatives - have never been broader 
3. Audience - Institutions are no longer just around the corner but actively participating in the market

 

On this episode, @nlw is joined by Kraken’s Dan Held to discuss how bitcoin has changed in a number of ways since the last time we were at the $10,000 price level last year. They look at:

Narrative - Speculation around bitcoin as a safe haven and the role of the halvening continue to shape the conversation

Infrastructure - The tools for how people can interact with bitcoin - from lending to derivatives - have never been broader

Audience - Institutions are no longer coming but participating

That’s the way Meltem Demirors described Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard’s remarks at Stanford yesterday. For the first time, the Fed has said it is actively researching and experimenting with digital currencies and distributed ledger technologies. This is a change in tone from a Fed that, when asked previously, has more or less dismissed digital currencies. 

On this episode, @nlw looks at Brainard’s speech, along with: the latest from Japanese lawmakers proposing a digital currency to counteract the influence of a forthcoming Chinese digital yuan; a Bank for International Settlements digital currency working group with six major central banks; and the potential implications of CBDCs on bitcoin. 

For the first time, the Fed has said it is actively researching and experimenting with digital currencies and distributed ledger technologies.

On this episode, @nlw looks at the Fed governer's speech, along with: the latest from Japanese lawmakers proposing a digital currency to counteract the influence of a forthcoming Chinese digital yuan; a Bank for International Settlements digital currency working group with six major central banks; and the potential implications of CBDCs on bitcoin.

If venture investments and acquisitions provide a window into the sentiment in markets, boy did we get a big dose of information today. 

Today we look at investments in the world’s best known developer of the Lightning Network; a new prominent corporate investor for a tokenized securities platform; and Square’s investment in a real-time payments company. 

We also look at a set of acquisitions, including a ConsenSys acquisition poised to get them in the $3.8T municipal bond space; a Bakkt acquisition poised to get them ready for a consumer app that includes more than just cryptocurrencies; and an attempt by Bakkt-parent ICE to buy eBay for north of $30b. 

Today we look at investments in Lightning Labs; a new prominent corporate investor for a tokenized securities platform; and Square’s investment in a real-time payments company.

We also look at a set of acquisitions, including a ConsenSys acquisition poised to get them in the $3.8T municipal bond space; a Bakkt acquisition poised to get them ready for a consumer app that includes more than just cryptocurrencies; and an attempt by Bakkt-parent ICE to buy eBay for north of $30b.

As claims of election tampering, fraud, and other dubious activities fly around the botched Democratic Caucus in Iowa, trust in our public institutions continues to crater. 

The question of trust and censorship are at the heart of our episode today. Handshake is a new protocol for uncensorable web domains. The goal is to create a new blockchain-based Top Level Domain system that governments can’t censor or block. 

To explain why Handshake (HNS) matters, @nlw is joined by Tieshun Roquerre, the CEO of Namebase, a next-generation domain registrar for HNS. 

In this interview, they discuss: 

• What Handshake is 
• How a HNS domain is different from a standard web domain 
• Why uncensorable web domains are the next great blockchain killer app 
• How Roquerre became interested in the space
• How Namebase works 

To explain why Handshake (HNS) matters, @nlw is joined by Tieshun Roquerre, the CEO of Namebase, a next-generation domain registrar for HNS. 

In this interview, they discuss: 

What Handshake is 

How a HNS domain is different from a standard web domain 

Why uncensorable web domains are the next great blockchain killer app 

How Roquerre became interested in the space

How Namebase works

Much of the Crypto Twitter conversation this weekend was dominated by talk of Twitter’s suspension of ZeroHedge. @nlw explores why the specifics of the infraction or the quality of the publication aren’t the important part of the conversation, and why he thinks we’ll see arguments for social media platforms to be turned into public utilities in the years ahead. 

Also on this episode:

• Debates around Ethereum marketing. Does the community need to spend more resources telling the story and recruiting new users or should the tech speak for itself? 
• What Brexit means for the crypto community - practically and metaphorically. 

The last section features comments from Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier.

On this episode:

Why the crypto community cares so much about social media censorship

Debates around Ethereum marketing. Does the community need to spend more resources telling the story and recruiting new users or should the tech speak for itself? 

What Brexit means for the crypto community - practically and metaphorically. 

The last section features comments from Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier.