Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.

It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world.

What's going on, guys? It is Wednesday, August 9th, and today we are talking about what to make of the Fed's new

crypto policies. Before we get into that, however, if you are enjoying the breakdown, please go subscribe

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bit.ly slash breakdown pod. Well, friends, yesterday was a very interesting day in crypto. As I said,

we had some big news from the Fed, which we are going to dig into deeply, but we have to start on the

financial side of things. Yesterday was hot fire in the markets, let's be clear. Bitcoin rose sharply

by 3% to briefly reach over 30,000 before moderating into the evening. Ethereum enjoyed a similar,

if slightly smaller bump of 2.4%, peaking at around 1870, and for both major cryptos,

this move represented filling in the trough of the previous weeks and regaining levels from last month. This is the highest Bitcoin has been since July 24th. Now, of course,

what's even more interesting to ask than what price Bitcoin was is why it was pumping.

Last week, as you know, was a big week for macro, with multiple events causing tailwinds

for interest rate sensitivesensitive markets.

Fitch downgraded the U.S. government, implying higher long-term rates for U.S. treasuries, as a new slim but real risk of default gets priced in.

Over in Japan, after a confusing policy adjustment, the Bank of Japan settled into its new

yield curve control target range.

The BOJ allowed 10-year Japanese government bonds to close last week

above 0.5% for the first time since 2014. Finally, on Friday, a strong jobs report showed a

slightly reduced unemployment rate and robust wage growth despite the headline number of new jobs

coming in below expectations. At the end of last week, the longest term U.S. government bond,

...