Author: CoinDesk

Validation. Psychology. FOMO. NLW looks at why today’s price achievement marks a turning point in bitcoin’s history. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com and Nexo.io.

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 

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As traditional financial institutions line up to get into bitcoin, a debate on whether it can stay permissionless and censorship resistant.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com and Nexo.io.

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

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MassMutual’s $100M BTC investment has the potential to open a massive new investment category, according to analysts.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com and Nexo.io.

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.

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As conventional wisdom grows that central banks can go more deeply into debt than previously thought, one economist asks, how much is too much?

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

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.

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Banks are moving into crypto and crypto companies are trying to become banks, so how does it all play out? 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

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.

This week on The Breakdown:

Monday | China’s Latest Digital Currency Trial Is Its Most Important Yet 

Tuesday | A De Facto Bitcoin ETF? MicroStrategy Is Raising $400M to Buy More BTC 

Wednesday | The Most Important Trends and People Shaping Crypto 2020, With Ryan Selkis 

Thursday | SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on a Bitcoin ETF, Custody Rules and What’s Next for the SEC 

Friday | Why a Massive 169-Year-Old Insurance Company Just Bought $100M in Bitcoin

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MassMutual becomes the latest announced institutional buyer of bitcoin, and this one could be even more significant in terms of precedent. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

Today on the Brief:

• FDA panel recommends Pfizer vaccine approval as initial jobless claims soar
• Antitrust lawsuit calls for Facebook breakup
• Crypto-friendly CFTC chairman to resign at the beginning of the year

Our main discussion: Why MassMutual bought $100 million in bitcoin and why it matters.

In this episode, NLW looks at recent news that MassMutual had purchased $100 million in bitcoin for its general account, as well as made a $5 million minority investment in $2.3 billion asset manager NYDIG, which helped facilitate the bitcoin purchase. He discusses why insurance company purchases are different than other institutional buyers like MicroStrategy, and why this might be the beginning of a more significant industry trend.

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The SEC commissioner explains why the SEC’s approach has been “too slow and too ambiguous” and why she’s optimistic for 2021. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

Hester Peirce is a commissioner at the Securities Exchange Commission, sworn in for her second term in August. 

Sometimes referred to as “Crypto Mom,” Peirce has been a fierce advocate for the industry in a regulatory context that hasn’t always been on her side. 

In this conversation, she and NLW discuss:

• Why the SEC’s approach on crypto has been too slow and too ambiguous
• Why it matters that FinHub is becoming a standalone office
• The prospect for a regulatory “safe harbor” for crypto
• What the SEC thinks of the OCC’s crypto custody guidance
• The prospect for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund

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The Messari CEO goes over the highlights of his just-released annual “Crypto Theses” report. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

What were the most important trends? Who were the most important people? Was it the year of Bitcoin Macro, the year of DeFi or both? 

Ryan Selkis is the founder and CEO of Messari. Each year he puts together a massive “Crypto Theses” report that looks at the year that was and the year to come. 

On this episode, he and NLW discuss the highlights of Selkis’ 2020 report, including: 

• The top 10 people in crypto 2020 
• The bifurcation of bitcoin and ethereum 
• How DeFi was and wasn’t like ICOs in 2017
• Why regulatory battles loom 

Find our guest online:

Twitter: @twobitidiot

Website: messari.io

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Michael Saylor announced plans to offer convertible bonds with the express intent to buy BTC. The community reacts. 

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

Today on the Brief:

• BBVA set to offer crypto trading and custody
• Wells Fargo discusses bitcoin in recent investor memo
• Square launches Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative with $10 million 

Our main discussion: Michael Saylor is back at it. 

The CEO of MicroStrategy and Giga Chad himself announced MicroStrategy would be offering $400 million in convertible bonds with the intent to purchase more bitcoin. 

On this episode, NLW looks at the community’s reaction, including the comparison of MSTR stock to a BTC exchange-traded fund. He also discusses Saylor’s recent comments about censorship resistance as a reminder of the (potentially) divergent values of bitcoin retail HODLers and institutional investors.

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More money, more participants, more participating banks and merchants – a look inside the latest DC/EP trial in Suzhou.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Nexo.io and this week’s special product launch LVL.co.

Today on the Brief:

• COVID-19 vs. Stimulus 
• Small hedge funds outperform large brethren 
• Equities now worth 115% of global GDP 

Our main discussion: Why the newest trial of China’s central bank digital currency is its most important trial yet. 

In this episode, NLW discusses:

• The significance of the “Double 12” shopping festival 
• How the participant merchants have changed
• Comparison of the size of the lottery
• Changes in public interest
• Why it matters to the crypto industry

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