CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: Why the Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein Says Governments Can’t Stop Crypto

One of Capitol Hill’s most connected insiders says crypto is here to stay.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

On this week’s “Breakdown Weekly Recap,” NLW explores U.S. regulatory FUD. He specifically looks at recent statements from the SEC’s Gary Gensler, as well as new Treasury Dept. policy that wants businesses to report crypto transactions of over $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. He argues that this is a “bureaucrat's bull market” that will be focused on compliance, not banning.

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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: Why Bitcoiners Are Rooting for This Latest China Mining Ban to Finally, Actually Be Real

Could new pressure from the CCP remove coal-powered hash power from the bitcoin mix? 

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

This week has been China story after China story in the world of crypto. Increasingly, NLW argues, bitcoiners are getting sick of the baggage that Chinese mining and Chinese state involvement place on bitcoin and crypto as a whole. In this episode, he looks at the latest news from China and points to interpretations from a number of voices that show why what appears to be FUD could actually be a welcomed development.

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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: The Real Story of the Crypto Crash Has Very Little to Do With Elon or China

It wasn’t narrative but market structure that drove yesterday’s big move down. 

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

In this episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the market structure dimension of the crypto crash, leveraging insights from Alameda Research, Willy Woo and many more. He explores: 

  • Why the recent bull run was driven by derivatives more than by spot trading
  • How crypto moving onto exchanges signaled the big move down
  • How cascading liquidations made the down moves even more extreme 
  • What the industry thinks about 100x leverage
  • Insider reports on how institutional investors responded


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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: The Bloodbath-ening – Is This the End of the Crypto Bull Market?

In a sea of red, investors ask whether this is just a bull market pullback or represents a more fundamental bearish turn.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

In one of the bloodiest days in recent crypto history, NLW looks at the reasons behind the wild market crash and explores whether it means an end to the bull market. As part of this, he explores five different categories of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD):

  • Elon energy FUD
  • Resurgent tether FUD
  • China ban FUD
  • Used for crime FUD
  • Regulatory FUD


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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - OPINIONATED: QuadrigaCX – An Exit Scam or Just a Crypto Tragedy

This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Aaron Lammer, author of a podcast series about the now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

The QuadrigaCX saga, first broken by our colleague Nik De and still not finished, could be a dark detective novel: Gerald Cotten, a CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, reportedly dies in India, the crypto wallets are empty and his widow inherits a mind-blowing fortune, while users are trying to get their money back in court for years (the case is still ongoing). 

Aaron Lammer, an experienced crypto podcaster, took on a tricky task to tell the QuadrigaCX story to people who might not know about crypto but definitely can learn a thing or two from this thriller story. Aaron told us how he was investigating the QuadrigaCX story and trying to explain the basics of crypto to a non-crypto audience. The first episodes of his show, “Exit Scam,” are now available for listening.

Aaron interviews a very diverse group of people who have insight into what could have happened at QuadrigaCX, from a private detective specializing in fake deaths to Michael Perklin, chief information security officer at ShapeShift, who knew Gerald Cotten personally. He walks us through what we know and don’t know about QuadrigaCX and its founders, and how the centuries-old history of scams and financial fraud got a new life in crypto. 

Enjoy the conversation, as we did, and definitely check out the podcast, an arresting detective story with elements of Crypto 101 course for everyone. 

Aaron’s Twitter handle is: @aaronlammer. 

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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: No, China Didn’t Just Ban Crypto

Despite inflammatory headlines, today’s note from the People’s Bank of China was a reaffirmation of central bank policy from 2017.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

On today’s episode, NLW provides an extended brief style episode, covering:

  • Crypto’s allies on Capitol Hill
  • Is “long bitcoin” the most crowded trade in the world?
  • How much of the dip was just Tax Day?
  • No, China didn’t just ban crypto 
  • Pomp launches Bitcoin Pizza 


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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: Bitcoin Is the ‘No Heroes’ Asset

Bitcoin Twitter’s latest skirmish with Elon Musk has as much to say about the nature of power in a social media landscape as it does about bitcoin.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

If you thought last week’s Elon intrigue was over, think again. This weekend saw an absolute showdown at the bitcoin corral, with Musk seriously losing his cool. In this episode, NLW explores the tussle from a number of dimensions:

  • What it says about the efficacy of Bitcoin Maximalism 
  • What is says about Elon Musk specifically
  • What it says about power in a social media-powered world

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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - HARD PROBLEMS: Inside Bram Cohen’s Proof-of-Work Reinvention

Bitcoin's 'Nakamoto Consensus' changed the world. For the first time ever, strangers on the internet were empowered by a system that allowed them to individually and jointly track who owned which internet-native items... First money, then early stage (and often illegal) investments, followed by digital cats, multi-million dollar art, viral memes and soon enough, well, everything.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp.

If there's one complaint (whether right or wrong) about Satoshi's breakthrough, it's the energy cost it comes at.

Whether you're talking about Bitcoin or the myriad other proof of work systems, 'Nakamoto Consensus' is a "competitive money burning process." Each time transactions are added to the permanent history it's a race to see who can prove their commitment to the network by finding the winning raffle ticket the fastest. Everyone races but only one wins and when each block is found, the process starts over. It's not a perfect system, but it works and it's the best one we've found... So far.

In this premiere episode of "Hard Problems", join BitTorrent inventor and Chia CEO Bram Cohen, CoinDesk's Adam B. Levine, community members JMHands and Michel Erb for a lively discussion of Bram's newly launched reinvention of distributed, proof of work consensus known as Proofs of Space and Time.

In it, we discuss

  • The challenges Bram believes his new system resolves
  • How 'Proofs of Space and Time' works compared to traditional 'Nakamoto Consensus'
  • The differences between Bitcoin mining and Chia farming
  • Why improving proof-of-work is the better choice than proof-of-stake or other consensus systems
  • Plus many questions from the live Clubhouse audience, with a special line of questioning from Tuur Demeester


If you'd like to join the live audience for our next Clubhouse recording where Jeffrey "Sneak" Paul joins Bram to dig into the hard and growing problems behind Ransomware, follow 'bramcohen' and 'adamblevine' on Clubhouse.

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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

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Bitstamp is the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchange, supporting investors, traders and leading financial institutions since 2011. With a proven track record and dedication to personal customer service with a human touch, Bitstamp’s fast, secure and reliable crypto investing platform is trusted by over four million people worldwide. To learn more, visit www.bitstamp.net.

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: Bitcoin Is Much More Than a Speculative Asset

Stories from Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia show how bitcoin is being used in the real world.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp.

This week’s “Long Reads Sunday” is a reading of Alex Gladstein’s latest piece, “Check Your Financial Privilege.” It follows the stories of people in three African nations who paint a very different picture from the rampant speculation you hear about in the news.


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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

-

Bitstamp is the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchange, supporting investors, traders and leading financial institutions since 2011. With a proven track record and dedication to personal customer service with a human touch, Bitstamp’s fast, secure and reliable crypto investing platform is trusted by over four million people worldwide. To learn more, visit www.bitstamp.net.

-

Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

-

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

CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: Vitalik vs. Dog Money – Recapping a Crazy Week in Crypto History

From Elon’s shenanigans to Vitalik’s SHIB rug pull, this was one for the history books.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io and Bitstamp.

On this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW discusses:

  • Why the Elon Musk issue is really one of power and audience
  • What the Colonial Pipeline attack reveals about our critical infrastructure 
  • The debate around Vitalik Buterin and the Shiba coins


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Nexo.io lets you borrow against your crypto at 5.9% APR, earn up to 12% on your idle assets, and exchange instantly between 75+ market pairs with the tap of a button. Get started at nexo.io.

-

Bitstamp is the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchange, supporting investors, traders and leading financial institutions since 2011. With a proven track record and dedication to personal customer service with a human touch, Bitstamp’s fast, secure and reliable crypto investing platform is trusted by over four million people worldwide. To learn more, visit www.bitstamp.net.

-

Join thousands of newsmakers and influencers talking the future of money at Consensus 2021, a live virtual experience from CoinDesk. (Use discount code "BREAKDOWN" to save $25!) 

-

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