The days of being able to think about crypto as totally separate from public markets feel

very, very numbered. In fact, if anything, I think it might be right to view crypto networks

as a different alternative type of public market that will interact sometimes uncomfortably

with traditional public markets. I don't want to overstate this because obviously there's so much that goes on in

crypto that still really is a private market tech startup type of world. But still, it feels like

the real huge chasm between public markets and this private space is closing by the day.

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 Crypto.com, nexo.io, and elliptic, and produced and distributed by CoinDesk.

What's going on, guys? It is Thursday, October 15th, and today we are talking about where

Bitcoin and crypto meet the public markets. First, however, let's do the brief.

First up on the brief, it is Thursday, which means we have new jobless

claims, and they were on the rise this week. They were the highest since August. Initial claims

rose to 898,000, which, like I said, was the highest since late August, and this is obviously

holding above the pre-pandemic high of 695,000.

We had seen a steady decline from the peak of about 7 million claims in March until about

a month and a half ago, two months ago, and now it's just been sideways.

That said, continuing claims are down from around 11 million to 10 million, and that's good news, right?

Well, yes and no. The yes is that it's obviously in the right direction. The no is that some portion of those

represent people who have simply exhausted the maximum duration of benefits payments through state

programs. Some of those folks are

now collecting through a federal program that's providing an extra 13 weeks. The number on that

...