Author: CoinDesk

The story of the week was the Tale of Two Dips. 

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

On this edition of “The Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at the twin dips that shaped the week. He argues that one upshot is the dips may have taken the wind out of the sales of some very 2017-esque froth that threatened the entire industry.

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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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Some say this amounts to a way to profit off assets inflated by monetary policy.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

Today on the Brief:

• Coinbase Pro to list USDT
• A new Bitcoin Mayor in Tennessee
• ETH and BTC ETF updates

Our main discussion looks at President Biden’s proposed increase of the capital gains tax rate. NLW breaks down everything bitcoiners are saying about it, with a particular focus on what it has to do with monetary policy. 

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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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Bitcoin mining isn’t destroying the planet, it’s creating a solution to key problems of renewable energy.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

Today on the Brief:

• Crypto M&A heats up
• Is ETH deflationary now?
• Cathie Wood is the Michael Saylor of Coinbase stock

Our main discussion:

Square’s Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative and ARK Investments have teamed up to release a memo about how bitcoin addresses key issues in the renewable energy space. Not only do renewables make sense as an energy source for mining, but bitcoin mining as “the energy buyer of last resort” could address key issues of intermittency and grid congestion. 

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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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A whiff of 2017 is in the air as TikTok investors and pump-and-dump private groups increase. 

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

The years 2017 and 2018 were some of the frothiest, wildest times in crypto market history. Their fallout also dragged the industry down for years, leaving an unmistakable stench of scam for many. 

Thus far in this market cycle, much of those excesses have been avoided. Attention and energy has largely been focused on the rise of institutional bitcoin players, or other areas like decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFT) that, while some of the prices might be shocking, at least are full of good faith actors. 

On today’s “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at some of the more concerning recent trends that have the stench of 2017 all over them. Can we avoid another cycle where “alt season” games drag down everything else? 

Part of the answer to that may lie in how bitcoin’s new institutional buyers react to the froth.

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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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Despite the FUD, the prospects for bitcoin and crypto in a broader regulatory context have never looked brighter. 

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

As this cycle heats up, “governments will ban bitcoin” is one of the top areas of fear, uncertainty and doubt. On this episode, NLW breaks down why that FUD just doesn’t hold much weight right now, looking at:

• Why the examples of India, Turkey, Nigeria and China are not as bad as what people have posited 
• Why the early indications suggest the Biden administration is more open to crypto than what the Trump administration ended up being 
• Why it matters that two crypto companies today announced major board members and executives from the regulator world 

Specifically, NLW looks at Brian Brooks and Chris Giancarlo’s trajectory in both the regulatory sphere and crypto and what their new private sector engagements might mean.

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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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Instead, the weekend’s rapid price action had its roots in over-leveraged traders.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

In 20 minutes on Saturday night, bitcoin’s price fell by more than 12%. Crypto Twitter raced to explain it as the byproduct of hashrate crashes after Chinese miners went offline, a suspicious report about the U.S. Treasury Department going after crypto money launders, and/or an upcoming ban in Turkey on using cryptos as currency. 

NLW argues that all of those explanations are hogwash and that the crash had much more to do with leverage in the system than any fancy narrative.

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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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A reading of Nic Carter’s latest painstaking response to the New York Times’ recent hit job.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

On this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads Nic Carter’s “On Bitcoin, the Gray Lady Embraces Climate Lysenkoism,” a rebuttal of the New York Times’ recent piece on bitcoin energy consumption he says is riddled with false data and debunked sources. 

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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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A look at the news that flew under the radar this week.

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

On this edition of the “Weekly Recap,” NLW looks at three key themes:

• The continued institutionalization of bitcoin (and, increasingly, ethereum as well) 
• Warning signs of market mania in DOGE and NFT prices
• Global intrigue around bitcoin and central bank digital currencies

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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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After a 9,392% run-up over the last three months, is there something about DOGE beyond the meme?

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

Dogecoin is on a tear. And it’s causing many mainstream media outlets to call “bubble.” On this episode, NLW breaks down DOGE as:

• Valueless memecoin
• Internet culture incarnate
• Dada-esque protest to a broken system 

Much wow. 

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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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A shifting global balance of power is causing a rethink in the U.S.’ relationship with cryptocurrency. 

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.

On today’s “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at an underreported story from earlier this week. There are increasingly loud whispers that officials across several agencies, including Treasury, National Security and Defense, are growing concerned with China’s digital currency efforts. 

NLW looks at:

• Why CBDCs are about power, not digital efficiency 
• Why Facebook’s libra was the starting gun
• China’s possible objectives 
• Why the U.S. tone on a digital dollar is changing 
• How Gary Gensler as SEC Chair could portend a broader attitude shift for the U.S. vis a vis digital currencies

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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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