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Blockworks

A daily analysis of macroeconomics, bitcoin, geopolitics and big picture power shifts, hosted by Nathaniel Whittemore @nlw. The Breakdown is part of Blockworks.

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The Breakdown

Coinbase and Cloudflare are pushing forward with X402, a new crypto-powered payments protocol for AI agents. Could agent-to-agent transactions reshape e-commerce and the web itself? Meanwhile, Tom Lee is pitching Ethereum as Wall Street’s neutral chain of choice—even as critics push back—and Michael Saylor doubles down on Bitcoin as the true foundation of digital capital markets.

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Agentic Payments and the Next Internet Economy

Tether is reportedly courting outside investors for the first time—at a staggering $500 billion valuation. In today’s Breakdown, NLW digs into Bloomberg’s report on Tether’s $15–20 billion fundraise, why Cantor Fitzgerald is leading the deal, and what this unprecedented move could mean for crypto, stablecoins, and global finance. Plus, updates on CZ’s venture fund and new SEC and CFTC regulatory initiatives.

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Tether’s Half-Trillion Dollar Valuation

Bitcoin’s September rally finally stumbled, with a 3.5% drop triggering $1.7B in long liquidations—the biggest of the year. While traders were caught offside, on-chain data shows holders aren’t selling, ETF flows remain mixed, and big treasury buys continue. NLW breaks down why this reset matters, how leverage is shaping the market, and what it means as we head into Q4.

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Bitcoin’s September Shakeout: $1.7B in Liquidations Sets Stage for Q4

On today’s Breakdown, NLW looks at the latest twists in the crypto market structure bill. A group of 12 Senate Democrats is pushing for true bipartisan authorship, raising the stakes as time runs short to move the legislation forward this year. We examine what their demands could mean for stablecoins, DeFi, and the overall momentum of U.S. crypto regulation. Plus, updates on Treasury’s next steps for the Genius Act, Greyscale’s new crypto index fund, and Bito’s IPO filing.

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Senate Democrats Push for Bipartisan Role in Crypto Market Structure Bill

In this week’s Friday Five, NLW digs into why Bitcoin’s September performance is surprising markets, what the Fed’s anticlimactic rate cut means for the economy, and how new SEC approvals are reshaping the ETF landscape. He also breaks down Google and Coinbase’s new agent payment protocol for stablecoins, explores fresh token news from Base and MetaMask, and looks at the latest stablecoin and crypto policy moves in the US and UK.

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The Five Most Important Stories in Crypto This Week

The Federal Reserve delivered its first rate cut since last November, reducing the target range to 4–4.25% as weakening labor data outweighed inflation concerns. Chair Powell framed the move as a “risk management cut” and an adjustment toward neutral, while politics loomed large with Trump-aligned voices pushing for deeper cuts. Markets and analysts were left uncertain about whether this is the start of an easing cycle or simply a preemptive move in a bifurcated economy driven by AI investment on one side and labor market softness on the other.

Fed Cuts Rates Amid Rising Labor Market Risks

Today on The Breakdown, NLW explores Google’s announcement of AP2, a new open-source payments standard that lets AI agents transact securely. Built with Coinbase and more than 60 partners, AP2 integrates with agent standards like MCP and A2A to enable shopping agents, verifiable purchase mandates, and potential blockchain rails. Is this the first real bridge between crypto and AI agents? Plus, updates on UK–US crypto policy coordination, the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and why ETF approvals could set up an end-of-year rally.

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Google’s New Agent Payments Protocol and What It Means for Crypto

On today’s Breakdown, NLW unpacks the Senate’s confirmation of Trump adviser Stephen Moran to the Fed and the fierce debate over central bank independence ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting. He then dives into Coinbase’s exploration of a native token for its Base network, what it could mean for decentralization, shareholder dynamics, and tokenization. Plus, Robinhood announces a new retail venture fund aimed at opening private markets to everyday investors.

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Coinbase Considers Token Launch

Gemini and Figure Markets both raised significant cash in their IPOs last week, but their subdued trading debuts highlighted a cooler speculative environment compared to Circle’s explosive June listing. NLW unpacks what these IPOs signal about crypto market appetite, Bitcoin’s September sluggishness ahead of the Fed’s rate decision, and why gold and equities could set the stage for Bitcoin’s next move. The episode also covers Tether’s launch of USAT, a U.S. domestic market stablecoin, and the evolving battle for stablecoin dominance, plus the growing but increasingly muddled wave of corporate crypto treasury companies.

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Checking In On Last Week’s Crypto IPOs

This week’s Friday Five dives into the accelerating cryptoization of finance. SEC Chair Paul Atkins signaled a new era of pro-innovation policy, extending beyond crypto to AI and agentic trading. Senate Democrats introduced their own market structure framework, opening the door to bipartisan progress. Meanwhile, NASDAQ seeks approval for tokenized securities, and BlackRock is moving to tokenize ETFs, underscoring the tokenization race among financial giants. We also cover Gemini’s IPO debut on NASDAQ and what it signals about investor appetite, plus the Fed’s looming rate cuts as weak jobs data clashes with sticky inflation.

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Friday Five: SEC Turns Pro-Crypto, Tokenization Race Heats Up, Gemini IPO

Stripe has unveiled Tempo, a new blockchain built for high-throughput stablecoin payments, developed with Paradigm and backed by partners like Visa, Shopify, and Anthropic. The launch has set off a firestorm—Ethereum advocates bristle at yet another corporate L1, critics call it a VC chain, and skeptics question whether credible neutrality is even possible under Stripe’s leadership. Is Tempo the next Visa for stablecoins, or just the ghost of Libra reborn? Today’s Breakdown explores the clash between decentralization ideals and the pragmatic rise of enterprise blockchains.

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Stripe’s Tempo Chain and the Return of Enterprise Blockchains

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