The Breakdown

Updated: 20 Jul 2025 • 1914 episodes
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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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For this Long Read Sunday, NLW hands the mic to AI to read three of Byron Gilliam’s standout essays from the Breakdown newsletter. First, “Crypto’s Competitive Advantage” draws a bold parallel between 19th-century U.S. capital markets and the wild world of meme coin ICOs—arguing that pump.fun may be the Erie Railroad o

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NLW returns with a jam-packed Friday Five (or Friday 500) to break down the biggest crypto week of the summer. The Genius and Clarity Acts both pass the House with overwhelming bipartisan support—marking the first major crypto legislation on its way to becoming law. Trump floats a retirement-focused crypto investment E

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NLW breaks down the dramatic twists of Crypto Week on Capitol Hill, where GOP infighting brought legislative progress to a near halt. From Trump’s Oval Office intervention to the 7-hour procedural vote—the longest in House history—he unpacks the fragile deal to move the anti-CBDC bill forward. Also in this episode: the

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Crypto Week got off to a rocky start in Washington as internal GOP conflict—driven by fierce opposition to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)—blocked a key procedural vote. NLW breaks down how the House Freedom Caucus derailed the crypto agenda over concerns about the Genius Act and its perceived lack of anti-CBDC

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Crypto analysts are calling it early: this isn’t just another speculative bull market. In today’s episode, NLW breaks down why institutions, not retail, are driving the current rally, and what makes this cycle categorically different. From Bernstein’s $200K Bitcoin target to Wintermute’s data on diverging investor beha

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Bitcoin starts the week by smashing through $120,000, triggering a wave of excitement on crypto Twitter and in traditional finance alike. NLW breaks down the immaculate vibes, the record ETF inflows, and how institutional capital is finally moving with urgency. Meanwhile, Washington launches its most ambitious legislat

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