Markets Hold Their Breath in Wyoming

The Breakdown

Blockworks

Investing, Business

4.8 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Markets turned their attention to Jackson Hole for Jerome Powell’s final speech as Fed Chair, while crypto and AI narratives kept investors on edge. NLW unpacks how Powell’s tone could shift rate cut expectations, the signals from Wyoming’s new state stablecoin, and why the crypto lobby is racing to lock in legislation before midterms. A slow summer week on the surface, but one filled with clues about where the next big fights will emerge. Brought to you by: Grayscale offers more than 20 different crypto investment products. Explore the full suite at grayscale.com. Invest in your share of the future. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal. To learn more, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Grayscale.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.grayscale.com//?utm_source=blockworks&utm_medium=paid-other&utm_campaign=brand&utm_id=&utm_term=&utm_content=audio-thebreakdown)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBreakdownBW Subscribe to the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8 Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownBW

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.
0:09.3	It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world.
0:18.3	What's going on, guys? It is Friday, August 22nd, and that means it's time for the Friday 5. Before we get into that, however, if you are enjoying the breakdown, please go subscribe to it, give it a rating, give it a review, or if you want to dive deeper into the conversation, come join us on the breakers discord. You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.ly slash breakdown pod. All right, friends, back with another Friday five, and finally we have kind of a slow summer week,
0:41.3	at least when it comes to immediate news.
0:43.8	As you'll hear, there were a lot of things going on that have, I think, bigger, long-term
0:48.7	narrative type implications, but there wasn't a lot of big breaking news to cling on to.
0:54.1	It felt much more ultimately
0:55.6	like kind of a late summer week. In fact, if anything, I've been watching the markets throughout
1:00.6	this week, both from the crypto perspective and the AI perspective, and I think it is a very good
1:05.8	time to take a step back, touch some grass, enjoy the last couple weeks. If you're in the U.S., go get yourself
1:11.8	some Labor Day, and come back in a little bit when things get a little bit more resolved.
1:16.8	Feels very up in the air and antsy right now for no particular reason other than anxiety being
1:22.6	manifest across the market. In any case, we break all of that down on today's show, so let's dive in.
1:29.5	Good morning, everybody, and happy Jackson Hole Day to those who celebrate. This is the Super Bowl
1:36.2	of Financial Markets. Jerome Powell going to give a speech, and we're going to deeply analyze his
1:42.5	tone. If he sneezes it in the wrong direction,
1:44.6	which way he coughs and every single gesture that he makes, it's Pal-day. Are you celebrating?
1:52.2	How are you celebrating? I should say, how are you celebrating? Because I know you're celebrating.
1:55.1	Yeah, I mean, listen, it's interesting because it is actually a useful device to go back and sort
2:00.7	of see how each of these
2:02.9	speeches has captured kind of the moment. They do really provide an interesting indicator of
2:08.5	where things were. What's different about this time, obviously, is that this is the last one for him.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Blockworks, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Blockworks and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.