The Breakdown

Blockworks
  • 5.0 (3)
  • INVESTING
  • UPDATED TWICE WEEKLY

The Breakdown dives into the deepest topics in crypto, blockchain, and the macro forces shaping markets and power structures. Each episode breaks down complex ideas into clear, grounded analysis — separating signal from noise across crypto, finance, and geopolitics. Hosted by David Canellis, The Breakdown features explainers, interviews, and conversations with the people building, regulating, and challenging the financial system. A Blockworks podcast. Subscribe to The Breakdown newsletter: https://the-breakdown.carrd.co/

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    OpenAI Digs A Moat, Ethereum Foundation Loses Talent, And Polymarket’s UMA Problem | The Breakdown

    David unpacks the Ethereum Foundation exits, the Polymarket / UMA Oracle dispute mess revealed by the WSJ, and OpenAI's push to sell guaranteed compute on 1–3 year commits. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:23) ETH Foundation Departures (17:00) Polymarket Dispute Judges (27:11) OpenAI Guaranteed Compute FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW SPONSORS Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    36 min
  2. The Messy State of Crypto Governance with Jito Foundation's Nick Almond | The Breakdown

    3 DAYS AGO

    The Messy State of Crypto Governance with Jito Foundation's Nick Almond | The Breakdown

    Nick Almond of the Jito Foundation joins David to walk through why DAO governance is a mess, what “pragmatic decentralization” looks like in practice, and how the CLARITY Act will reshape governance going forward. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:22) Why Governance Matters (03:43) Token Voting (05:12) Delegates and Multisigs (08:56) Nexo Ad (09:30) Sub-DAOs and Specialization (11:33) Governance Tokens Origins (15:47) Pragmatic Decentralization (18:22) Cosmetic Votes and Value (20:37) Nexo Ad (21:35) Arbitrum Governance (25:59) Regulation and CLARITY (29:11) Bitcoin Governance Lessons (34:03) Meta Governance and Agility (36:48) Tokens as Equity Future (39:41) Closing Thoughts FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW › Nick Almond — https://x.com/DrNickA › Jito Foundation — https://x.com/jito_sol SPONSORS › NEXO Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    42 min

  3. 6 DAYS AGO

    The $70B AI IPO, Claude Cracks a Lost Wallet, and CLARITY Advances | The Breakdown

    Hyperliquid enabled early exposure to the biggest AI IPO of the year. Claude helped recover a Bitcoin wallet locked for 11 years. And CLARITY made it through markup. David runs through all three. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:05 Cerebras 12:42 Claude Rescues Wallet 19:17 CLARITY Markup Update FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    26 min
  4. Bhutan Times the Top, CLARITY Hits Markup, and the Onchain Pokemon Card Boom | The Breakdown

    13 MAY

    Bhutan Times the Top, CLARITY Hits Markup, and the Onchain Pokemon Card Boom | The Breakdown

    Bhutan timed the Bitcoin top almost perfectly. The CLARITY Act may only let 10–20 chains qualify as “decentralized.” And onchain Pokémon cards are popping off. David runs through all three. TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:31) Bhutan Sells (06:37) Nexo Ad (07:12) Bhutan Sells (Cont.) (14:39) CLARITY Markup (15:40) Nexo Ad (16:31) CLARITY Markup (Cont.) (25:30) Onchain Pokemon Card Boom FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW SPONSORS › NEXO Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    33 min
  5. Bored Apes Rally, Canton Raises at $2B and Saylor Raps the Bears | The Breakdown

    11 MAY

    Bored Apes Rally, Canton Raises at $2B and Saylor Raps the Bears | The Breakdown

    David covers three Monday stories: the NFT mini-revival (Bored Apes doubled in a month), Canton raising $300M at a $2B valuation, and Saylor's AI rap video defending Strategy from “Ponzi” accusations. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:15) Are NFTs Back? (07:24) Nexo Ad (07:59) Are NFTs Back? (Cont.) (12:06) Canton (16:52) Nexo Ad (17:46) Canton (Cont.) (23:27) Strategy Rap FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW SPONSORS › NEXO Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    32 min
  6. Coinbase Down Again, HIP-4 vs Polymarket, and Dueling Big Tech Crypto Partnerships | The Breakdown

    8 MAY

    Coinbase Down Again, HIP-4 vs Polymarket, and Dueling Big Tech Crypto Partnerships | The Breakdown

    David covers three Friday stories: Coinbase's hours-long outage on the back of an AWS cooling failure, the data on whether prediction markets are actually beating memecoins, and the dueling Solana + Google Cloud / AWS + Coinbase + Stripe agentic commerce announcements. TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:23) Coinbase AWS Outage (07:20) Nexo Ad (07:55) Prediction Markets, Memecoins, and HIP-4 (15:58) Nexo Ad (16:51) Prediction Markets, Memecoins, and HIP-4 (Cont.) (19:15) Agentic Commerce Meta FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW SPONSORS › NEXO Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    29 min
  7. Coinbase's AI Layoffs, a16z's $2.2B Fund, and Strategy's $12.5B Loss | The Breakdown

    6 MAY

    Coinbase's AI Layoffs, a16z's $2.2B Fund, and Strategy's $12.5B Loss | The Breakdown

    David covers three Wednesday stories: Coinbase laying off 14% of staff, a16z Crypto raising $2.2 billion, and Strategy losing $12.5 billion as CEO Phong Le floats selling bitcoin. We also unpack the AI-first layoff narrative, the potential return of the infra supercycle ($6B+ raised across crypto VCs in 2026), and why a Cambrian explosion of DATs and ETFs might absorb whatever Saylor has to offload. Enjoy! -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:17) Coinbase Layoffs (07:15) Nexo Ad (07:50) Coinbase Layoffs (Cont.) (10:30) a16z Crypto Fund 5 (15:17) Nexo Ad (16:09) a16z Crypto Fund 5 (Cont.) (22:30) Strategy Losses FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW SPONSORS › NEXO Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    32 min
  8. Clavicular x Polymarket, the CLARITY Act, and What MegaETH Tells Us About Retail | The Breakdown

    4 MAY

    Clavicular x Polymarket, the CLARITY Act, and What MegaETH Tells Us About Retail | The Breakdown

    David runs through three Monday morning stories: the viral Clavicular clip with Polymarket’s CMO, the CLARITY Act’s compromise on stablecoin yield, and MegaETH’s adoption numbers a week into its points campaign. TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:06) Clavicular and Polymarket CMO (09:20) Nexo Ad (09:57) CLARITY Act Update (15:03) Nexo Ad (15:54) MegaETH Performance FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW SPONSORS › NEXO Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges. Get started at http://nexo.com/breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

    25 min
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About

The Breakdown dives into the deepest topics in crypto, blockchain, and the macro forces shaping markets and power structures. Each episode breaks down complex ideas into clear, grounded analysis — separating signal from noise across crypto, finance, and geopolitics. Hosted by David Canellis, The Breakdown features explainers, interviews, and conversations with the people building, regulating, and challenging the financial system. A Blockworks podcast. Subscribe to The Breakdown newsletter: https://the-breakdown.carrd.co/

Information

  • Channel
    Blockworks
  • Creator
    Blockworks
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    2k
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    The Breakdown

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