The Macro Battle That Will Shape Crypto Markets This Year

A Fed shift from QE to QT and a political battle over austerity and inflation.

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This episode is sponsored by Nexo, Abra and FTX US.

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Last week, the December FOMC meeting minutes revealed that not only was the U.S. Federal Reserve expecting at least three rate hikes in 2022, it is actively considering “balance sheet normalization” (read: quantitative tightening). In today’s episode, NLW looks at how the markets are internalizing this new information, and why it’s setting up to be one of the most significant influences on markets this year.

“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, Michele Musso, and Adrian Blust, 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 “Time” by OBOY. Image credit: DNY59/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.