CoinDesk Podcast Network

Bitcoin fell below $70,000 for the first time since August as a surging U.S. dollar hit its highest level since April 2025. More than $1.3 billion in crypto futures were liquidated in 24 hours. CoinDesk’s Uyen Truong hosts “CoinDesk Daily.”

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

CoinDesk's The Policy Protocol hosts Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti open on the breaking news that Jensen Huang is stepping down as CEO of Nvidia, and what it says about national security, export controls, and the concentration of power in a handful of U.S. tech companies. From there: the CFTC's order telling exchanges they generally can't block customers by state, and Matt Huang's “swarm riders” post.

Then the hosts are joined by Justin Slaughter, Senior Advisor at Paradigm, to make sense of the Democratic “blue wave” and what it means for crypto and tech.

Slaughter walks through the durability of Trump-era crypto rules, why he's pessimistic about new commissioners, and why his real funding fear isn't budget cuts but a rolling government shutdown.

The hosts name Stacey Cunningham as the Person of the Week.

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

-

00:00 Welcome to The Policy Protocol

00:33 Breaking: Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO

01:54 Do We Need a National AI Regulator?

02:28 Senate Tea: An AI Committee for Sherrod Brown?

02:53 Hot Topic: Can the CFTC Stop Exchanges From Blocking States?

05:48 Hot Topic: Swarm Riders and ‘Accountability Arbitrage’

08:44 Guest: Justin Slaughter of Paradigm

09:20 The Blue Wave: ‘Trump Giveth, Trump Taketh Away’

11:11 Export Controls and Nvidia's Reckoning

12:04 How Durable Is Trump-Era Crypto Guidance?

13:03 Sue and Settle & the Congressional Review Act

14:32 Pared-Down Commissions and the Funding Question

15:39 Why We Won't Get New Commissioners

17:31 The Real Funding Fear: A Government Shutdown

18:38 Can Crypto Legislation Survive a Democratic Senate?

19:25 ‘85% of CLARITY Is Fine’

20:38 Waters vs. Warren: ‘An Ocean of Difference’

21:07 Why Crypto's Fate Comes Down to Age

22:32 ‘Progress Occurs One Funeral at a Time’

23:28 Debrief: Crypto Goes Mainstream

24:09 Person of the Week: Stacey Cunningham

Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO effective immediately, sending shares down as much as 14% and dragging bitcoin miners-turned-AI data center firms Cipher, IREN, and Terawulf down 5% to 10%. CoinDesk’s Uyen Truong hosts “CoinDesk Daily.”

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

On Markets Outlook, Strive VP of Bitcoin Strategy Joe Burnett sits down with Ray Salmond to explain why he thinks Fed rate hikes don’t matter for bitcoin in the long run, even as crypto markets slide. He breaks down how AI pulled capital away from bitcoin, why easing liquidity before the 2028 halving could set up a strong 2027, the math behind his $11 million-per-coin call for 2036 and how Strive decides when to buy bitcoin.

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

-

Timecodes:

00:00 - Strive’s Joe Burnett Joins Markets Outlook

01:31 - A Macro Reality Check for Bitcoin

07:09 - Do Fed Rate Hikes Matter for Bitcoin?

09:09 - The 2028 Halving and Bitcoin’s ‘Perfect Storm’

11:37 - Did AI Break Bitcoin’s Four-Year Cycle?

15:08 - What’s Bitcoin’s Next Real Catalyst?

21:08 - The Path to $11M Bitcoin by 2036

26:14 - Why Strive Keeps Buying Bitcoin

29:18 - What Investors Miss About Bitcoin Treasury Companies

31:27 - Strive’s Approach to Custody

34:04 - How Much Bitcoin Belongs in a Portfolio?

Grayscale Head of Trading and Capital Markets Krista Lynch sits down with CoinDesk’s Jennifer Sanasie to explain how investors can now swap tokens for shares in 10 of Grayscale’s crypto ETPs without selling first. She breaks down how in-kind creation works, why it used to be limited to institutions, and how third-party facilitators are bringing the minimums down. Plus, what investors should know about custody and taxes, and what’s next for Grayscale, including staking.

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

-

Timecodes:

00:00 - Grayscale’s Krista Lynch Joins CoinDesk

00:54 - What Is In-Kind Investing?

03:10 - Why Swap Tokens for ETP Shares?

05:34 - Is an In-Kind Swap a Taxable Event?

07:05 - Custody After a Year of Hacks

08:19 - How to Get Started

10:04 - What’s Next: Lower Minimums and Staking