BREAKDOWN: Is Bitcoin Freedom Money or a Tool for Sanctions Evaders?
CoinDesk Podcast Network
CoinDesk
4.8 • 689 Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2022
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ukraine’s resistance has seen more than $30 million in direct crypto donations.
This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Arculus, FTX US and Cointelli.
On today’s episode, NLW looks at the contrasting public images of crypto regarding the Ukraine-Russia war. On the one hand, the Ukrainian resistance has raised more than $30 million from more than 26,000 crypto donations while traditional fundraising platforms block similar efforts. On the other, some politicians and media are raising the specter of bitcoin and crypto as a way for Russian leaders to minimize the impact of sanctions. Which perspective on crypto is more correct as this generational conflict unfolds?
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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Obligated” by Daniele Musto. Image credit: Cigdem Hizkan/Getty Images News, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We need to be tempered in how strongly we draw any conclusions right now. |
| 0:04.4 | Things are moving fast. There's lots of potential explanations for almost everything that we're |
| 0:08.5 | seeing, and to assert that it is one thing or another is generally going to be an act of narrative |
| 0:13.8 | making more than real clarity. But whatever the case, it's not nothing, and it's important. |
| 0:20.3 | Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW. |
| 0:24.3 | It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world. |
| 0:30.2 | The breakdown is sponsored by nexo.io, Arculus, and FTX, and produced and distributed by CoinDesk. |
| 0:38.0 | What's going on, guys? It is Tuesday, March 1st. Welcome to a new month. And today we are talking about |
| 0:44.4 | whether crypto is freedom money or a tool for sanctions evasion. Now, before we get into that, |
| 0:50.5 | if you are enjoying the breakdown, please go subscribe to it, give it five stars, |
| 0:54.8 | give it a review, or if you want to dig deeper into the conversation, come join us on the |
| 0:59.4 | Breakers Discord. You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.combe slash breakdown pod. |
| 1:04.8 | Also, a disclosure, as always, in addition to them being a sponsor of the show, I also work with |
| 1:10.5 | FTX. Finally, I'm excited to welcome a sponsor of the show, I also work with FTX. |
| 1:11.2 | Finally, I'm excited to welcome a sponsor for this week, and guys, it is that time of year, tax time. |
| 1:18.6 | Coinelli is here to make crypto tax reporting stress-free for both individuals and accountants. |
| 1:23.9 | Designed by CPAs, CoinTellie supports hundreds of crypto platforms and provides accurate calculations so you don't pay any extra on your taxes. |
| 1:32.0 | Cointelli also charges no added fees for up to 100,000 transactions and offers 24-7 customer support from tax advisors. |
| 1:40.5 | Check them out at coineteli.com. That's coin T-E-L-L-I dot com. And I want to say thanks again to |
| 1:47.0 | CoinTeli for sponsoring the show and for helping people in what can be an extremely stressful |
| 1:52.3 | moment. All right, now to today's show, and we're picking up kind of where we left off yesterday. |
| 1:58.0 | Obviously, we have been discussing the huge economic implications of everything happening |
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