Episodes
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Join Nick and Simon as they preview the election in the final hours before voting, discuss Bitcoin’s strength challenging news highs and the impact of more MicroStrategy buying.
Bitcoin fails to break through to a new all-time high.Bitcoin is showing strength with ETF flows, open interest and dominance all approaching highs.Solana continues to stand up as Ethereum struggles.
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Join Matt and Nick as they break down payments giant Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin company. They also talk about Goatseus Maximum (GOAT), Truth Terminal, certain Solana metrics hitting all-time highs, and more.
Key Takeaways
The crypto market slid last week as all eyes remain on the U.S. presidential election. Solana (SOL) was one of the few exceptions to record a weekly gain. Stripe's acquisition of stablecoin company Bridge will be looked back on as one of the highlights of 2024. Not only does it help legitimise the crypto industry, it should help accelerate stablecoin growth.Kraken announced Ink, an Ethereum L2 built on Optimism’s OP Stack. It is expected to go live in early 2025.Among the other altcoin updates covered: growth in Solana’s metrics and Maker’s disappointing rebrand. -
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Join Matt and Nick as they discuss Bitcoin's recent surge and Stripe's alleged $1.1B acquisition of stablecoin company Bridge. They also cover a16z's annual report on the state of crypto, the disappointing launch of World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and more.
Key Takeaways
Bitcoin (BTC) hit a three-month high of $69,400 and BTC dominance climbed to its highest level since March 2021 of 58.5%. This latest rally comes as several other traditional assets are posting all-time highs.Payments giant Stripe reportedly acquired stablecoin company Bridge in a $1.1B deal. If true, the acquisition would be the largest in the crypto industry’s history and should fuel further stablecoin growth.a16z crypto published its annual report on the state of crypto, highlighting stablecoin adoption, rising levels of onchain activity, and more.Among the altcoin updates covered: Arbitrum lost its long-held lead as the top Ethereum L2 by total value locked (TVL) and World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token sale disappoints despite its affiliation with Donald Trump and his three sons. -
Join Nick and Simon as they cover Trump-linked World Liberty Financial's massive token sale, Uniswap dropping its Ethereum L2, Unichain, memecoin promoter Murad Mahmudov getting doxxed after his viral ‘memecoin supercycle' presentation and a new crypto game attracts attention from web2 gamers.
Donald Trump’s affiliated cryptocurrency, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), will hold a token sale this week to raise $300M at a valuation of $1.5B.Uniswap, the largest DeFi application, announced Ethereum L2 called Unichain.‘Off The Grid’ debuted to strong interest on the Epic Games Store, making it one of the most successful first-day launches of a crypto game.Memecoin promoter Murad Mahmudov has risen to fame after his viral ‘memecoin supercycle’ presentation, causing onchain sleuths to dox his wallets.
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Join Matt and Nick as they discuss the latest developments in the crypto market, Bitcoin’s resilience amid market uncertainty, Swift pushing further into crypto, the ongoing legal battle between the SEC and Ripple Labs, and more. They also discuss one of the biggest insider secrets after a week to forget for EigenLayer (EIGEN) and Celestia (TIA).
Key Takeaways
Crypto encountered increased volatility as uncertainty in the Middle East rose. The market has since rebounded but is ultimately still trading rangebound, with Bitcoin (BTC) now in its eighth straight month between $54K and $72K.ANZ became Australia’s first bank to join Project Guardian, an initiative steered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Watch out for Chainlink’s SmartCon later this month, where other banks and financial institutions may share announcements.Sui (SUI) continues to grow strongly in terms of total value locked (TVL) as more market participants look to take advantage of incentives. It’s clear that Sui has been one of the strongest-performing blockchains of 2024.Celestia (TIA) and EigenLayer (EIGEN) were involved in controversy after awareness spread of people selling their staking rewards, despite them having locked tokens. While TIA and EIGEN were arguably singled out, given this has been happening for years, it what ultimately a good thing that this news surfaced.Among the other altcoin updates covered: Bitwise’s spot XRP ETF application and Sui’s native Ethereum bridge. -
Join Matt and Nick as they discuss how Bitcoin put in its strongest September in over a decade. They also cover U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ first comments about blockchain; crypto announcements from Visa and PayPal; altcoins; and more.
Key Takeaways
Bitcoin (BTC) put in its strongest September in over a decade. We now enter Q4, which is BTC’s best quarter based on past performance.BNY Mellon, the world’s largest custody bank, received approval from the U.S. SEC to custody the spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. It was also granted an exemption from SAB 121, essentially making it commercially viable for BNY Mellon to start offering crypto custody services.U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said she wants the country to “remain dominant” in blockchain and other emerging technologies. While it is somewhat encouraging to see Harris finally mentioning crypto, we still lack any clear details about her crypto policies would be if she wins November’s election.PayPal and Visa each announced their latest crypto offering, a promising sign for adoption.While FTX distributions are likely to start in Q4, the process will likely extend into 2025. This story is not as bullish as many are making it out to be.Among the altcoin updates covered: Celestia’s $100M funding round, EigenLayer’s EIGEN token becomes transferable, and Ethena’s new stablecoin tied to BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. -
Join Matt and Nick as they break down Token2049 and Solana Breakpoint 2024, two of the largest crypto conferences of the year. They also discuss the latest with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the upcoming crypto project associated with Donald Trump and the Trump family.
Key Takeaways
The U.S. central bank cut rates for the first time in more than three years. Further cuts are expected by year-end and throughout 2025, ideal conditions for risk-on assets such as crypto.Donald Trump and other Trump family members shared limited information about World Liberty Financial and its WLFI token.Token2049 was likely the largest crypto conference to date. Key themes included DePIN and Crypto x AI.Solana Breakpoint was an overwhelming success. It featured Firedancer development updates, multiple project announcements, and more. Next year’s will be in Abu Dhabi from December 11–13.Among the altcoin updates covered: USDC stablecoin arrives on Sui and Maker officially rebrands to Sky. -
Join Matt and Nick as they break down Trump’s new crypto project, World Liberty Financial, and Japan’s largest energy company expanding into Bitcoin mining. They also discuss certain altcoin updates related to Solana, EigenLayer, Ethereum Name Service, and more.
Key Takeaways
Crypto prices have rebounded, led by BTC. Notably, the ETH/BTC pair hit its lowest level since April 2021.World Liberty Financial, the upcoming DeFi project tied to the Trump family, is gearing up for launch. More details to come this week when Donald Trump appears on an X Space.A subcommittee of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee gathered for a 90-minute hearing devoted to DeFi for the first time. More crypto hearings will take place before the end of the month.Japan continues to adopt crypto and blockchain technology, with recent news highlighted by the country’s largest energy company announcing that it had started mining BTC with excess energy.Coinbase’s launch of cbBTC, a wrapped BTC token, may spur additional growth in the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.Among the altcoin updates covered: Solana Breakpoint 2024; Chainlink SmartCon 2024; EIGEN stakedrop; and ENS integrating into PayPal and Venmo. -
Join Matt and Nick as they break down the crypto market sell-off, the state of crypto regulations in the U.S., Wells Fargo’s potential Bitcoin ETF push, and more. They also discuss certain altcoin updates including Arbitrum Stylus and Polygon’s token migration.
Key Takeaways
The crypto market slid amid weakness in stock markets, with ETH temporarily hitting a year-to-date low under $2,200.Last week’s Bitcoin ETF flows totalled -$706M. Net outflows have now occurred for eight straight trading days.Wells Fargo reportedly plans to start actively pitching the spot Bitcoin ETFs to certain clients as of this month. Access to these ETFs should only keep improving over the coming months and years.Qatar announced a comprehensive framework for regulating crypto in a bid to attract global businesses.There are seven altcoin-specific conferences in the next seven weeks: Solana Breakpoint, Cardano Summit, Chainlink SmartCon, Ripple Swell, Stellar Meridian 2024, Cosmoverse, and Avalanche Summit LATAM.Among the altcoin updates covered: Arbitrum Stylus, MATIC to POL token migration, and Ripple USD (RLUSD). -
Join Matt and Nick as they break down August’s market performance, stablecoin supply hitting all-time highs, and the market outlook for September. They also discuss certain altcoins updates including outages for the TON blockchain and MakerDAO’s rebrand.
August was a rough month for crypto—led by BTC (-8.7%), ETH (-22.3%) and SOL (-21.1%)—while major U.S. stock indices managed to record their fourth straight monthly gain.Seasonality indicates that it will be more of the same in September, given it has historically been one of BTC’s worst months.Stablecoin supply hit all-time highs, indicating increased demand to use blockchains.Among the altcoin updates covered: TON struggles with network performance and MakerDAO rebrands to Sky.
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Join Matt and Nick as they cover the Federal Reserve's plan to cut rates, the arrest of Telegram’s co-founder and what it means for TON, Marathon becoming a new buyer of Bitcoin (BTC), and more.
Key Takeaways
Crypto rallied after the U.S. central bank all but confirmed it’d cut rates in September. It remains unclear whether the cuts will be 25 basis points or 50 basis points.Telegram’s co-founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was reportedly arrested by French authorities, crashing the price of TON. While Telegram has not been involved in TON for a few years, the market still treats TON as if it is Telegram’s cryptocurrency. This is unlikely to change any time soon. Therefore, events related to Durov may affect price in the short term.September will feature a number of key events, including the first presidential debate between Trump and Harris (Sep. 10) and the Fed’s rate cut (Sep. 18).Among the altcoin updates covered: Solana ETF application setback and ARB staking vote goes live. -
Join Matt and Nick as they break down crypto’s chaotic week. They also discuss Ethereum vs Solana, the Ethereum ETFs, the SEC vs Ripple Labs court ruling, and more.
Key Takeaways
The market bounced strongly off last week’s lows of less than $50,000 for BTC. For now, it appears the technical reasons for the flash crash have passed.Kamala Harris overtook Donald Trump in U.S. election prediction markets for the first time. This likely contributed to last week’s sell-off, given that a would-be Trump win would likely bolster risk assets.Solana is catching Ethereum across a number of key adoption metrics. There is a strong argument that both can do well in the long term.Among the altcoin updates covered: XRP soars after SEC vs Ripple Labs judgment and Arbitrum to be used by Franklin Templeton. -
Join Matt and Nick as they break down why Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market have sold off heavily, exploring potential reasons such as growing recessionary fears, changing election odds, and the strengthening Japanese yen.
Crypto prices have tumbled amid broader selling of risk-off assets caused by several reasons.These reasons include growing fears of a U.S. recession, a tightening of the election race, and heightened uncertainty surrounding Japan’s economy.Among the altcoin updates covered: Avalanche used by the Californian DMV and Lido’s institutional offering.
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Join Matt and Nick as they cover Donald Trump’s speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, the launch of the Ethereum ETF launch in the U.S., and plenty more in what was one of the most important weeks for crypto so far this year.
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BTC and SOL continued climbing while ETH underperformed yet again. Notably, this price action unfolded despite stock markets around the world putting in another week to forget.The spot Ethereum ETFs went live in the U.S. and has $342M of net outflows after three days of trading. This was mainly due to holders selling Grayscale’s ETHE, which was expected. Once ETHE outflows subside, assessing the level of demand for these ETFs will get easier.U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said that, if elected, his administration would make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” and “keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future.” He also promised to remove SEC Chair Gary Gensler.Trump headlined a particularly eventful Bitcoin 2024 conference, which featured several announcements, including Senator Cynthia Lummis introducing a bill for the U.S. to buy one million BTC.Among the altcoin updates covered: Jito’s expansion into Solana restaking and Aave’s push to drive more value to the AAVE token. -
Join Matt and Nick as they break down the strong bounceback in crypto prices after a week that involved BlackRock CEO Larry Fink touting Bitcoin, Trump naming a pro-crypto vice presidential nominee, and more. They also preview a week that is likely to feature the launch of spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S. and presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at the world’s largest Bitcoin conference.
BTC, ETH and SOL all hit their highest prices in at least five weeks. Notably, this coincided with stock markets suffering one of their worst weeks of the year.BlackRock CEO Larry Fink shared his bull case for BTC. Given his power and influence, it’s hard to understate how significant it is to now have Fink flying the flag for Bitcoin.The spot Ethereum ETFs are widely expected to launch this week in the U.S. Don’t expect ‘the Grayscale factor’ to be as relevant as when the Bitcoin ETFs launched in January.It is extremely difficult to predict the initial level of demand for these ETFs. However, it does feel as though the market is not pricing in a rather tempered launch. If this is true, the ETFs would have to seriously flop in order for ETH’s price to fall.The Mt. Gox trustees started sending BTC to exchanges, who will then distribute it to individual creditors. Within the next few months, expect the vast majority of these redistributions to have been completed.U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump will speak at Bitcoin 2024, the world’s largest conference on all things Bitcoin.Among the altcoin updates covered: Polygon’s upcoming token migration and Grayscale’s decentralised AI fund.
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Join Matt and Nick as they discuss why crypto prices rallied after Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. They also break down Germany’s heavy selling of nearly 50,000 Bitcoin; upcoming cash payments to some FTX creditors; Ethereum ETFs; altcoin updates; and more.
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Cryptocurrency prices rallied after the attempted assassination of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. In the hours after this event, Trump’s odds of winning November’s election jumped from 60% to 70%, according to Polymarket.Speaking of Trump, last week he was confirmed as a speaker at Bitcoin’s largest annual conference, Bitcoin 2024. His 30-minute speech is scheduled for 2pm CT (7pm UTC) on July 27. This event will likely generate plenty of mainstream attention for crypto.The German government seemingly finished selling its stash of nearly 50,000 BTC it seized in late January. While it’s unknown how much BTC was actually sold—and how much is left to be sold—the market will likely stop caring about this story.Certain FTX creditors are set to receive $12B–$16B later this year. While this will create some short-term buy pressure, it’s unrealistic to expect all of this to go straight back into the crypto market.Among the altcoin updates covered: Solana’s progress on ‘Firedancer’ client and Starknet’s proposal to add a staking functionality to STRK. -
Join Matt and Nick as they discuss the crypto market sell-off; Mt. Gox starting to redistribute Bitcoin; Germany selling more Bitcoin; Circle becoming the first compliant stablecoin issuer in the EU; Ethereum ETFs; key altcoins updates; and more.
Key Takeaways
Defunct exchange Mt. Gox started redistributing a portion of the ~142,000 BTC it owes creditors. The deadline for its rehabilitation creditor repayments is Oct. 31, 2024.German and U.S. authorities continued to move BTC to exchanges, presumably to sell. It is unclear how much they intend to sell and over what time frame. Long term, these sales are meaningless.The spot Ethereum ETFs are still tracking to launch in July. While estimates of the combined net inflows of these ETFs vary greatly, the long-term effect is undoubtedly positive for ETH.USDC stablecoin issuer Circle became the first compliant stablecoin issuer under the EU’s new crypto laws.Among the altcoin updates covered: Solana’s sliding stablecoin transfers; Polkdaot’s exorbitant marketing costs; and Bittensor’s blockchain issues. -
Join Matt and Nick as they discuss the state of the market; Ethereum and Solana ETF updates; the SEC suing Consensys; the MegaETH funding round; altcoin updates; and more.
Key Takeaways
Mt. Gox will start incrementally distributing its ~142,000 BTC to creditors this month. While some BTC will be instantly sold by recipients, the amount of sell pressure will likely not be as large as some may expect.Spot Ethereum ETFs are expected to go live slightly later than most expected. Still highly likely they launch in July.The SEC sued Consensys, alleging that it violated federal securities laws because some of its offerings are brokers of ‘crypto-asset securities’. In the lawsuit, the SEC alleged that Lido (LDO) and Rocket Pool (RPL) were securities, causing a sell-off.Among the altcoin updates covered: BLAST valuation opens at less than market expectations and Solana introduces blockchain links, or blinks. -
Join Matt and Nick as they discuss the SEC closing its investigation into the initial sales of ETH; Germany selling its large Bitcoin holdings; altcoin updates; and more.
Key Takeaways
Prices have continued falling amid market conditions with very few new buyers. These types of pullbacks are consistent with all past crypto bull markets, and we still expect prices to be much higher by year-end.Consensys said the SEC "would not bring charges alleging that sales of ETH are securities transactions." A significant concession by the SEC, potentially reflecting a shift in positioning towards crypto.The German government has been selling some of its BTC holdings. It still owns slightly less than 47,000 BTC (≈$2.9B). If the sales continue, it may drive BTC’s price lower in the short term. Long term, these sales are meaningless.Among the altcoin updates covered: LayerZero’s controversial token launch, Lens’ migration to ZKsync, and Jupiter’s proposed token supply decrease. -
Matt breaks down why cryptocurrency prices slid after the U.S. central bank’s big update. He also covers how Donald Trump and Joe Biden are warming to crypto; MicroStrategy’s latest capital raise; Bitcoin ETFs in Australia; and altcoin updates.
Key Takeaways
Cryptocurrency prices after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it now anticipates just one rate cut in 2024, down from the three cuts estimated in March.Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden continue to up their engagement with the crypto industry, a promising development given both have historically opposed crypto. However, time will tell whether it lead to any favourable outcomes after November’s election.Australia’s largest stock exchange, the ASX, approved its first spot Bitcoin ETF. This milestone should bring greater credibility to Bitcoin and crypto more broadly.Among the altcoin updates covered: Lido’s involvement with Symbiotic and Mellow Finance, and Polygon and Arbitrum announce well-funded growth initiatives. - Show more
