The Breakdown

Last year, the first crypto legislation was supposed to be common-sense rules for stablecoins. The two political parties couldn’t come together, however, and the legislation was scrapped. Now, the House Republicans have reintroduced a draft, and on Wednesday held a hearing that featured witnesses including the Blockchain Association’s Jake Chervinsky and stablecoin expert (and recent “The Breakdown” guest) Austin Campbell.  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=   Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh.  Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has positioned himself as crypto’s biggest opponent in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, however, a House oversight hearing took Gensler to task for his regulation by enforcement and his inability or unwillingness to provide the crypto industry with clarity. But was it all just political theater?    “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh.  Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

The U.S. regulatory crackdown on crypto seems to be having the exact impact that industry advocates feared, because some of the largest companies in the space consider relocating to more favorable regulatory regimes. This week, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is in the U.K., and told an audience at Fintech Week in London that without regulatory clarity the crypto exchange may have to leave the U.S.  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=   Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh.   Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.  

It’s hard to have good faith dialogue about regulation when one group involved in the discussion doesn't think the industry being regulated should even be allowed to exist. That increasingly seems to be the problem with crypto legislation. 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=   Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh.Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

This episode is an excerpt from my recent interview with Glassnode's James Check. The full interview covers why the recent $30k run-up was spot not leverage driven, why BTC is shifting from whales to smaller holders, and why these markets are much healthier than when FTX was around.  Subscribe to Bitcoin Builders and get the full episode here: https://pod.link/1680067216/episode/5b15ff1cd80a9f799055323582dae4bc  

This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” looks at three refutations of the piece, by: David Z Morris Daniel Batten  Margot Paez - “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh.  Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

This week on the “Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at the Shapella upgrade, including emergent narratives around institutional investment, as well as checking in on the FTX bankruptcy estate and previewing the House Financial Services Committee oversight hearing with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler next week.  - “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.  

NLW is joined by Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov for the first in “The Breakdown”'s "Paradigm Shift" interview series. Sergey discusses why society's trust model has broken down, how cryptographic truth serves as an alternative, and why this alternative method of understanding truth will become even more important as a countermeasure to artificial intelligence.  - “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh.  Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.  

On todays show, NLW gives a primer on the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) space, including introducing key concepts such as Generative AI, LLMs and more. He also looks at why bitcoiners have a particularly important vantage point in the emerging AI conversation.  - “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh. Image credit: Midjourney.  Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.  

Inflation came in at an annualized 5% this month, beating economists’ expectations and dropping to its lowest level in two years. That’s good, right? Well, hold your horses, say some analysts. Services inflation remains sticky, and with recent production cuts from OPEC+ and an end to tapping U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves, energy prices could come back up during the U.S. summer high season.  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=   Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW   - “The Breakdown” is written, produced and narrated by Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Michele Musso and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsor today is “Foothill Blvd” by Sam Barsh. IMAGE: CREATED WITH MIDJOURNEY. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.