The Breakdown

Raoul Pal is the founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor and Real Vision and one of the leading voices in modern macroeconomic discussions. In this conversation, he and NLW discuss bitcoin's monster 2020, how DeFi compares to ICOs, and why we should be paying more attention to central bank digital currencies. Find our guest online: @RaoulGMI  The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW

On this week’s Long Reads Sunday, NLW starts with the latest essay by Jeffrey Snider, “A Nonsensical Jumble of Misused Words Requires Discussion” and then with Caitlin Long’s followup thread, putting the discussion of rehypothecation in the bitcoin context. 

On March 12, as the U.S. government struggled to wrap its head around the emerging COVID-19 pandemic and markets floundered, bitcoin had one of its worst days in history, crashing by thousands of dollars and even hitting below $4,000 on some exchanges.  That evening, NLW and podcaster Preston Pysh recorded a conversation about bitcoin, central banks and what happens when currencies fail. Nine months later, the conversation is as salient as ever.  Find our guest online: @PrestonPysh

Balaji Srinivasan is an angel investor and entrepreneur, the former CTO of Coinbase, a former General Partner at Andressen Horowitz and more.  In this wide-ranging conversation with NLW, he discusses: How networks are taking a power role once reserved for god and the state Why pre-internet institutions will not survive the internet  Why bitcoin at $1 million is a global government Woke capital vs. communist capital vs. crypto capital The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW

With so much focus on bitcoin’s record-setting price run, a number of huge (and hugely bullish) stories have gotten comparatively short shrift. In this episode, NLW looks at: Ruffer LLP’s $744 million bitcoin buy Hedge Funder Alan Howard and One River’s $1 billion digital assets bet Northern Trust getting into crypto custody Guggenheim Partners’ CIO calling for $400,000 BTC CoinDesk sister company Grayscale as the fastest-growing asset manager in history?  The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW

After weeks of flirting with all-time highs, bitcoin has broken through the most significant psychological barrier: $20,000.  In today’s episode of The Breakdown, NLW looks at why the moment is so significant, arguing: Bitcoin is an incentive design system where price drives more benefits than financial gain  The validation of retail traders and more recent institutional investors creates an even stronger group of evangelists  The psychological price barrier is likely to increase FOMO among those on the sidelines The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW

Ben Hunt is the founder of Second Foundation Partners and lead author of Epsilon Theory. Alex Gladstein is the chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation.  In this conversation, they discuss one of the most important burgeoning topics of the year: In a world where bitcoin goes mainstream with traditional financial institutions, can it keep its more renegade spirit? More important, can it keep its more renegade features such as permissionless access and censorship resistance?  Ben and Alex join for a good faith, spirited discussion of whether the bitcoin we know today will be preserved or whether it is doomed to be co-opted by the financial powers that be.  Find our guests on social: Ben: @EpsilonTheory Alex: @Gladstein  The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW

Today on the Brief: First COVID-19 vaccines roll out in the U.S.  Are IPOs the new ICOs? U.S. Treasury and other federal departments hacked  Our main discussion: A massive new category of bitcoin demand?  Last week, when MassMutual announced its $100 million buy, NLW explored whether it would be the beginning of a trend for other insurance companies. A recent note from JPMorgan analysts suggests that even a 1% allocation by that category of company in major markets in the U.S., Europe and Japan could represent $600 billion of new demand.  NLW also discusses recent comments from long-term institutional bitcoin and crypto bulls including Chamath Palihapitiya and Abigail Johnson. The Breakdown is produced and distributed by CoinDesk.com   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW

This week’s edition of Long Reads Sunday is a reading of “How Much Debt Is Too Much?” by Raghuram Rajan on Project Syndicate. In it, the author explores the shifting conventional wisdom on national debt and worries that countries may reach their limit far earlier than they think.

On this edition of the weekly recap, NLW looks at the brewing battle to be the bitcoin and crypto bank of the future. He looks at three stories reporting banks getting into crypto (BBVA, Standard Chartered and DBS) as well as crypto companies applying to become banks. Finally, he examines why this is happening right now, and what are the true stakes of the game.