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PODCAST

The Breakdown

A daily analysis of macroeconomics, bitcoin, geopolitics and big picture power shifts, hosted by Nathaniel Whittemore @nlw. The Breakdown is part of Blockworks. Subscribe to The Breakdown newsletter: https://the-breakdown.carrd.co/

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All Episodes

8:55

Kraken’s $15B Secret Raise and the Race to IPO

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/30

Fortune revealed that Kraken quietly raised $500 million at a $15 billion valuation—its first significant raise in over a decade—as the exchange eyes a 2026 IPO. Bloomberg followed up with reports of another potential $200–300 million round at a $20 billion valuation. We dig into what this means for Kraken’s future, the escalating scale of Tether’s $500 billion fundraise, growing scrutiny of crypto treasury companies, and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s farewell vision for a new era of crypto

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22:00

Friday Five: Tether’s $500B Play, SEC Opens the Door,...

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/27

In this week’s Friday Five, we dive into Tether’s jaw-dropping $500B valuation bid, the SEC’s surprise innovation exemption, bipartisan momentum on a market structure bill, Ethereum’s latest Wall Street narrative, and breaking news that even Vanguard is finally letting customers buy crypto ETFs. Plus, what Bitcoin’s bloody September tells us about the cycle ahead.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube:

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10:45

Agentic Payments and the Next Internet Economy

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/26

Coinbase and Cloudflare are pushing forward with X402, a new crypto-powered payments protocol for AI agents. Could agent-to-agent transactions reshape e-commerce and the web itself? Meanwhile, Tom Lee is pitching Ethereum as Wall Street’s neutral chain of choice—even as critics push back—and Michael Saylor doubles down on Bitcoin as the true foundation of digital capital markets.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube:

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10:42

Tether’s Half-Trillion Dollar Valuation

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/25

Tether is reportedly courting outside investors for the first time—at a staggering $500 billion valuation. In today’s Breakdown, NLW digs into Bloomberg’s report on Tether’s $15–20 billion fundraise, why Cantor Fitzgerald is leading the deal, and what this unprecedented move could mean for crypto, stablecoins, and global finance. Plus, updates on CZ’s venture fund and new SEC and CFTC regulatory initiatives.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch

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9:17

Bitcoin’s September Shakeout: $1.7B in Liquidations...

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/24

Bitcoin’s September rally finally stumbled, with a 3.5% drop triggering $1.7B in long liquidations—the biggest of the year. While traders were caught offside, on-chain data shows holders aren’t selling, ETF flows remain mixed, and big treasury buys continue. NLW breaks down why this reset matters, how leverage is shaping the market, and what it means as we head into Q4.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube:

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9:10

Senate Democrats Push for Bipartisan Role in Crypto...

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/23

On today’s Breakdown, NLW looks at the latest twists in the crypto market structure bill. A group of 12 Senate Democrats is pushing for true bipartisan authorship, raising the stakes as time runs short to move the legislation forward this year. We examine what their demands could mean for stablecoins, DeFi, and the overall momentum of U.S. crypto regulation. Plus, updates on Treasury’s next steps for the Genius Act, Greyscale’s new crypto index fund, and Bito’s IPO filing.Enjoying this content?

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21:09

The Five Most Important Stories in Crypto This Week

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/20

In this week’s Friday Five, NLW digs into why Bitcoin’s September performance is surprising markets, what the Fed’s anticlimactic rate cut means for the economy, and how new SEC approvals are reshaping the ETF landscape. He also breaks down Google and Coinbase’s new agent payment protocol for stablecoins, explores fresh token news from Base and MetaMask, and looks at the latest stablecoin and crypto policy moves in the US and UK.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast:

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11:46

Fed Cuts Rates Amid Rising Labor Market Risks

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/19

The Federal Reserve delivered its first rate cut since last November, reducing the target range to 4–4.25% as weakening labor data outweighed inflation concerns. Chair Powell framed the move as a “risk management cut” and an adjustment toward neutral, while politics loomed large with Trump-aligned voices pushing for deeper cuts. Markets and analysts were left uncertain about whether this is the start of an easing cycle or simply a preemptive move in a bifurcated economy driven by AI investment on

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10:38

Google’s New Agent Payments Protocol and What It...

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/18

Today on The Breakdown, NLW explores Google’s announcement of AP2, a new open-source payments standard that lets AI agents transact securely. Built with Coinbase and more than 60 partners, AP2 integrates with agent standards like MCP and A2A to enable shopping agents, verifiable purchase mandates, and potential blockchain rails. Is this the first real bridge between crypto and AI agents? Plus, updates on UK–US crypto policy coordination, the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and why ETF approvals could set

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10:45

Coinbase Considers Token Launch

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/17

On today’s Breakdown, NLW unpacks the Senate’s confirmation of Trump adviser Stephen Moran to the Fed and the fierce debate over central bank independence ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting. He then dives into Coinbase’s exploration of a native token for its Base network, what it could mean for decentralization, shareholder dynamics, and tokenization. Plus, Robinhood announces a new retail venture fund aimed at opening private markets to everyday investors.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to

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10:21

Checking In On Last Week’s Crypto IPOs

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/15

Gemini and Figure Markets both raised significant cash in their IPOs last week, but their subdued trading debuts highlighted a cooler speculative environment compared to Circle’s explosive June listing. NLW unpacks what these IPOs signal about crypto market appetite, Bitcoin’s September sluggishness ahead of the Fed’s rate decision, and why gold and equities could set the stage for Bitcoin’s next move. The episode also covers Tether’s launch of USAT, a U.S. domestic market stablecoin, and the

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19:12

Friday Five: SEC Turns Pro-Crypto, Tokenization Race...

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/13

This week’s Friday Five dives into the accelerating cryptoization of finance. SEC Chair Paul Atkins signaled a new era of pro-innovation policy, extending beyond crypto to AI and agentic trading. Senate Democrats introduced their own market structure framework, opening the door to bipartisan progress. Meanwhile, NASDAQ seeks approval for tokenized securities, and BlackRock is moving to tokenize ETFs, underscoring the tokenization race among financial giants. We also cover Gemini’s IPO debut on

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8:51

SEC Chair: "Crypto’s Time Has Come"

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/12

SEC Chair Paul Atkins says the Gensler era of regulation by enforcement is over, as the agency launches Project Crypto to bring clarity and push capital markets on chain. From tokenization and super apps to a wave of new partnerships and IPOs, crypto’s next phase looks set to be fundamentally American.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBreakdownBW Subscribe to the newsletter:

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11:48

Senate Democrats Unveil Competing Crypto Market...

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/11

Senate Democrats have introduced their own framework for crypto market structure, setting up negotiations with Republicans and potentially clearing the way for bipartisan legislation. The proposal gives the CFTC new powers, pushes for exchange registration under the Bank Secrecy Act, flags DeFi for potential oversight, and seeks to ban stablecoin interest. It also takes political aim at Trump-era crypto projects and calls for stronger ethics rules. With both parties now at the table, the next few

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11:46

Soft Jobs Report Clears the Way for Fed Cuts

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/10

August’s jobs report showed just 22,000 payrolls added, unemployment rising to 4.3%, and manufacturing losses continuing—making it the weakest labor market since 2016. With downward revisions and a looming payroll adjustment cutting nearly a million jobs from earlier counts, markets now see a Fed rate cut next week as all but certain. In today’s Breakdown, NLW explores what the numbers mean, the administration’s clash with the BLS, and whether cuts will be good or bad for risk assets.Enjoying this

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14:06

Stripe’s Tempo Chain and the Return of Enterprise...

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/09

Stripe has unveiled Tempo, a new blockchain built for high-throughput stablecoin payments, developed with Paradigm and backed by partners like Visa, Shopify, and Anthropic. The launch has set off a firestorm—Ethereum advocates bristle at yet another corporate L1, critics call it a VC chain, and skeptics question whether credible neutrality is even possible under Stripe’s leadership. Is Tempo the next Visa for stablecoins, or just the ghost of Libra reborn? Today’s Breakdown explores the clash

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17:25

The Five Most Important Stories in Crypto This Week

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/06

In this week’s Friday Five, the Fed announces a digital assets conference, the SEC and CFTC issue a rare joint crypto statement, and Trump family ventures shake up markets with new tokens and a Bitcoin mining play. Plus, prediction markets get the green light in the U.S., and NASDAQ tightens scrutiny on treasury crypto buys.Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBreakdownBW Subscribe to the newsletter:

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9:44

The Fed’s Big Stablecoin Shift

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/05

The Federal Reserve will host a payments innovation conference next month with stablecoins at the center—a major change for an institution that long kept crypto at arm’s length. At the same time, the Trump family’s American Bitcoin IPO turned into a frenzy on day one, and prediction market Polymarket is officially cleared to launch in the US. Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBreakdownBW Subscribe

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10:51

Exchanges Get the Green Light to Offer Crypto

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/04

The SEC and CFTC have issued long-awaited joint guidance clarifying that regulated exchanges can list spot crypto assets. This marks a turning point in U.S. crypto policy, resolving years of turf wars between the agencies and opening the door for both crypto-native and traditional exchanges like NYSE and NASDAQ to support spot trading. In today’s Breakdown, NLW explores what this means for mainstream adoption, the future of ETFs and treasury companies, and why this guidance represents a major step

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13:14

Bitcoin Seasonality Means A Messy September Set Up

The Breakdown ·

2025/09/03

Bitcoin just wrapped a volatile Labor Day weekend, with prices dropping 14% from August highs before bouncing slightly above $110K. Analysts debate whether the correction is over, with leverage rebuilding, sentiment turning jittery, and gold surging as a possible leading signal. We dig into Bitcoin’s historical September weakness, why Q3 often stalls out before a Q4 rally, and how whale rotations, global liquidity, and Washington’s packed crypto agenda are shaping the months ahead.Enjoying this

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1,988 results

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