BREAKDOWN: Why Today's Crypto Exchange Leaders Are Powerful, but Not Inevitable
As crypto asks why prices shot down, the power and influence of exchanges are at the center of the conversation.
ABOUT
After settling in to the $10,000 price level, BTC suddenly and rapidly dipped more than 5% in an hour on Wednesday. As the market discusses possible explanations, some floated the unexpected simultaneous downtime of Binance and Coinbase as a causal factor.
In this episode of The Breakdown, we discuss the power exchanges wield - both in terms of market liquidity as well as the ability to shape news cycles. The good news is that new funding for insurgent exchanges suggest that power today is not inevitable.
Lastly, we discuss the latest in central bank digital currencies, with Sweden launching an e-krona pilot; a former head of China’s national bank saying Coronavirus could accelerate efforts; and a new member of the Libra Association.
HOST
CoinDesk is the world leader in news, prices and information on bitcoin and other digital currencies.
We cover news and analysis on the trends, price movements, technologies, companies and people in the bitcoin and digital currency world.

EPISODES
BITCOIN SEASON 2: Why The 2025 Bitcoin Bull Run Failed Us
Was the 2025 Bitcoin top a failure? We analyze why $126k felt underwhelming, compare BTC returns against Gold and the...
Dec 5, 2025
The Growing Dominance of Crypto KOLs
Exploring the rise of crypto KOLs with Celo Co-Founder Rene Reinsberg and 'Binance Blockchain 100' Award Winner Leon....
Dec 5, 2025
THE MINING POD: ABTC Investor Unlock, IREN’s $3.6B Capital Raise, Greenidge’s Fire and Land Sale
On today’s news roundup, the gang covers the American Bitcoin investor unlock that sunk the ABTC share price this wee...
Dec 5, 2025
The Blockspace Pod: The Conspiracy Was True: Operation Chokepoint 2.0
A new House report confirms the Biden Administration's coordinated, extralegal "Operation Chokepoint 2.0" to debank t...
Dec 3, 2025

The Mining Pod
Feb 10, 2025

CoinDesk Podcast Network
The top stories and best shows in the blockchain world, delivered daily from the team at CoinDesk.
Dec 20, 2023

Markets Outlook
Tune in as CoinDesk runs down action in the crypto market and some of the most important recent industry development.
Dec 19, 2023

Unchained
Unchained, your no hype resource for all things crypto by former Forbes senior editor Laura Shin, author of The Cryptopians.
Dec 18, 2023
