The Five Most Important Stories in Crypto This Week

The Breakdown

Blockworks

Investing, Business

4.8 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 9 August 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week’s Friday Five is packed with U.S. government moves that signal crypto policy has shifted from rhetoric to action. NLW and Scott break down the SEC’s surprising guidance that puts liquid staking outside securities law, Hester Peirce’s call to enshrine financial privacy in the digital age, and the Tornado Cash verdict’s implications for developers. They also cover Trump’s executive orders opening 401(k)s to Bitcoin and other private assets, targeting bank discrimination, and appointing a crypto-friendly Fed governor—all part of a broader trend toward tangible pro-crypto measures. 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

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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.
0:18.4	What's going on, guys? It is Friday, August 8th, 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, another very active week, especially by summer standards.
0:39.9	This week we're talking about a lot of U.S. government actions, and I think action is the
0:45.1	watchword for the moment.
0:46.8	As I discussed at the end of the show with Scott, we've moved from a phase of just pretty
0:50.7	words to actually trying to get things done, and that is a very appealing
0:55.0	shift. But there's a lot to talk about, so without any further ado, let's dive in.
1:00.5	It's been another one of those not quiet summer weeks that we have gotten used to here
1:06.9	in 2025, a lot happening. I would argue some of the biggest stories that we've had yet,
1:11.6	but of course, we'll forget about them by Saturday. Man, wow, a lot going on here. I guess we can jump
1:19.1	right in. Listen, we'll do the most boring thing first, which is Bitcoin has entered a bullish
1:23.5	cooldown phase. So, like, apparently now that're at $116,000 and chilling with Bitcoin,
1:28.8	that's bad. But we have Ethereum looking like it might jump through 4,000. It's August, man.
1:36.1	This is supposed to be the worst month of the entire year. And here we are at $116,000 Bitcoin.
1:41.2	Yeah. Listen, I love a good narrative architecture, and bullish cool down is actually a great
1:46.4	phrase.
1:47.2	Like, the funny thing about it is that I actually think it's a useful descriptor.
1:52.2	Like, that actually says pretty well, I think, what's going on.
1:56.0	Basically, the foot has come off the gas for a variety of reasons.
1:59.5	There's plenty of factors going on
2:01.0	around and outside the asset that make it sort of pause. But bullish cool down, I think,
	...

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