Author: CoinDesk

With CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump’s corresponding call for her agency to provide more regulatory clarity, many say the enforcement action is actually a win for crypto. 

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the $1.25M settlement Kraken just finalized with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which accused the crypto exchange of offering margin lending products without the proper licensing. Many noted the small size of the settlement suggested a more lenient CFTC. More important, however, was CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump’s concurring statement, which called upon her colleagues to replace the current guidance - nearly four years old in concept at this point - with real, formalized rules. 

Also today on the Brief:

• Elizabeth Warren lambastes Fed Chair Jerome Powell
• A positive new crypto mining bill from a bipartisan source
• Ripple launches a $250 million NFT fund

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Tidal Wave” by BRASKO. Image credit: Marilyn Nieves/E+/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.

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Plus a Wall Street Journal investigation uncovers hundreds of U.S. judges who ruled on cases involving companies they had investments in.

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW explores traditional financial system actors behaving badly, including why two Fed presidents are retiring early after revelations that they were actively trading stocks at the height of last year’s market crisis. He also covers:

• A new WSJ investigation that found 131 federal judges had broken the law by not recusing themselves from cases where they had a financial interest
• The latest macro issues around Evergrande, inflation and more
• More crypto companies leaving China for good 

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: Cooper Neill/Bloomberg/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The crypto community weighs in on whether the latest out of the People’s Bank of China is any more significant than previous “bans.”

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at two major recent stories. 

Twitter has added bitcoin tipping features. The features take advantage of the Lightning Network powered by Strike and has started rolling out to iOS users. Additionally, the Twitter team says they’re exploring NFT avatar authentication as well as crypto integration with other monetization features. 

Even bigger was the latest out of the People’s Bank of China, which seems to make illegal a broad range of crypto trading-related activities that were, if not approved before, at least in a gray area. Huobi has subsequently suspended new Chinese user registrations and will be gradually shutting down all Chinese accounts. NLW looks at what the implications might be for DeFi and for U.S. crypto regulation. 

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Tidal Wave” by BRASKO. Image credit: Iuliya Moshkareva/iStock/Getty Images Plus, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Four Twitter threads that paint an interesting picture of where crypto fits in a larger pattern of societal change. 

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” returns to the format’s roots with four threads from Twitter:

Chris Dixon on tokens as a new web primitive

• https://twitter.com/cdixon/status/1440026947036356619

Raoul Pal on the coming change to securities laws

• https://twitter.com/RaoulGMI/status/1440361603459735556

Cozomo (aka Snoop) on getting into Punks

• https://twitter.com/CozomoMedici/status/1433587285035913217

Kris Sidial on why millennial investing is not the same

• https://twitter.com/Ksidiii/status/1434299567974100996

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: gremlin/E+/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the early days of Bitcoin, a few idealistic individuals attempted to live entirely on the bitcoin currency. Nine years and an abundance of technological developments later, is an entirely closed-loop bitcoin economy possible, or even useful?

Join hosts Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Andreas M. Antonopoulos as they reflect on bitcoin’s evolution as a currency and commodity. In the early days, an era of retail adoption as merchants began to accept bitcoin from their customers seemed to point to a bright future for daily bitcoin use. The 2013 IRS addendum treating bitcoin as a commodity, rather than as a foreign currency, quickly made transactions a burden with onerous tax reporting requirements, dimming that retail bitcoin future.

In the time since, the crypto community has adopted a HODL mindset. Why spend bitcoin if it’s disinflationary in nature and will bring you more value in the future? Those idealistic individuals' dreams of bitcoin as a daily currency may no longer align with bitcoin's maturation.

Developments in layer 2 technology, like the Lightning Network, have allowed experiments in bitcoin as legal tender to be not only a possibility, but a pragmatic choice for governments like El Salvador’s. With news of Ukraine considering following in El Salvador’s footsteps, will clusters of closed-loop bitcoin life bloom around the world?

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Do you have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show

Today's show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan. This episode was edited by Jonas, with music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats. Our album art is based off a photo by Ishan_@seefromthesky on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From regulatory intrigue to new types of actors coming into markets, are we at an inflection point? 

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

On this edition of “The Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at the heightened state of affairs in the crypto landscape, from celebrity interactions with NFTs to the latest bluster from the SEC. This one goes to 11. 

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: Malte Mueller/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From growth in Lightning Network capacity to outstanding stablecoin supply, a numerical tour.

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

NLW looks at the current state of crypto markets through numbers, including:

• Bitcoin illiquid supply 
• Lightning Network capacity 
• Evergrande’s debt
• The total value of CryptoPunks 
• And more

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Tidal Wave” by BRASKO. Image credit: Vertigo3d/E+/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How will markets handle less Fed support for the bond markets and eventual interest rate increases?

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW examines the upcoming Federal Reserve winding down, or taper, of its support for the markets. This includes scaling back its bond-buying programs, a process that could begin as early as next month and conclude the middle of next year. Plus, the Fed may raise interest rates before the end of 2022. Additionally, on the Brief, he covers:

• A $50 million fundraise for a former ConsenSys exec
• A new social token focused accelerator 
• Invesco and Galaxy team on crypto ETFs 

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

-

“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What Snoop’s reveal says about the state of NFTs and crypto in general.

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

Today on the Brief:

• BlockFi gets another extension
• Chainalysis’s secret data honeypot
• Robinhood crypto finally gets transfers

In our main discussion, NLW talks how crypto has mainstreamed over the last year, including:

• Bitcoin for hedge funders
• Bitcoin for El Salvador
• NFTs for NBA fans
• NFTs for crypto OGs and celebrities 

He specifically looks at what rapper Snoop Dogg’s anon account disclosure in the space means for the future. 

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

-

“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Tidal Wave” by BRASKO. Image credit: Gary Miller/Getty Images Entertainment, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A look at the latest regulatory action in what seems like a quickly gathering storm. 

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at reports from Messari’s Mainnet conference that the Securities and Exchange Commission served one of the speakers with a subpoena right before a panel. He discusses:

• The growing tension between securities regulators and crypto lending and interest programs
• Why Coinbase backed down from its fight with the SEC about its upcoming Lend product 
• The non-news from today’s Gary Gensler webinar 
• OFAC’s first sanctions against a crypto exchange. 

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

-

“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: Lyubchik Prokopchuk/iStock/Getty Images Plus, modified by CoinDesk.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.