Some worried that no matter what the intention, the group might still represent a subtle but real centralization threat.

Many were blasé about the whole thing, saying it's fine if it gets some good PR, but ultimately it's irrelevant for the functioning of the protocol.

Interestingly, though, the most common reaction was a strong agreement with Michael Saylor about the need for more organization.

The line that came up and resonated

over and over and over was his argument that we can be decentralized without being

disorganized. It seems clear to me that many are recognizing just how loud the chorus of

environmental critics is growing. 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.

The breakdown is sponsored by nexor.io and bitstamp and produced and distributed by CoinDes.

What's going on, guys? It is Thursday, June 17th, and today we're discussing everything we

learned about the Bitcoin Mining Council on Michael Saylor's Twitter spaces last night.

First, however, let's do an update on yesterday's FOMC meeting.

Effectively, it was exactly as we expected. In the short term,

the Federal Reserve is making no changes. Rates will remain near zero. Bond purchases will be

$120 billion monthly. However, the Fed did signal that rate increases were going to come earlier than

expected. Jay Powell officially retired his

were not even talking about, talking about raising rates term. In fact, he said, you can think of this

meeting as the talking about talking about meeting, if you like. Officials now expect to raise

rates in 2023, when previously they had expected to keep rates near zero all the way through

2023. What's more, Powell gave some latitude on the transitory inflation concept, saying,

quote, as the reopening continues, shifts in demand can be large and rapid, and bottlenecks,

hiring difficulties and other constraints, could continue to limit how quickly supply can adjust,

...