Janet Yellen’s Shifting Tone on Crypto

In a speech last week, the Treasury secretary discussed Satoshi and called Bitcoin's technology transformative.

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This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Arculus and FTX US.

At the beginning of her tenure as Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen gave a number of indications that she was going to be a tough partner for crypto. In a speech last week, the industry got a glimpse of how much her tone had shifted. NLW explores how much this shift has to do with the Biden administration’s Executive Order on crypto as well as the possibility that it reflects a new understanding stemming from engaging with crypto in the context of sanctions on Russia.

“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “I Don't Know How To Explain It” by Aaron Sprinkle. Image credit: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg via Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

HOST

Nathaniel Whittemore

NLW is an independent strategy and communications consultant for leading crypto companies as well as host of The Breakdown – the fastest-growing podcast in crypto. Whittemore has been a VC with Learn Capital, was on the founding team of Change.org, and founded a program design center at his alma mater Northwestern University that helped inspire the largest donation in the school’s history.