Bloomberg Crypto

You might not have heard of Twitch, but it’s one of the most popular places on the internet. Millions of people every day use the app to watch their favorite live streams do everything from play videogames to solving math problems in real-time.

Videogames are still the biggest category of live streams people tune into on Twitch, and the biggest games - like Grand Theft Auto and Fortnite - still dominate time spent on the platform. Recently however, there’s been a new addition to the top ten: gambling. Gambling, is the seventh most popular content category on Twitch. And it’s not just any gambling. It’s Crypto Gambling. Many streamers are paid handsomely by casinos to take part in this activity. But what about those who actually pay to play? And where is all this coming from?

Bloomberg video game reporter Cecilia D’Anstasio joins this episode to talk about the toll of this growing trend.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Miners are on the move again, forever chasing that combination of abundant electricity for relatively low prices. This time, they’re heading north of the Arctic Circle. Sweden and Norway are home to some of the most abundant energy sources in the world: geothermal, wind, and hydro electricity.

These countries have increasingly become attractive to Bitcoin miners. But the combination of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with rising inflation and environmental factors like drought, are curbing the availability of cheap electricity in these Nordic regions. Miners in some of these areas could even be regulated out of the market.

Bloomberg Editor Lars Paulsson joins this episode to discuss what’s happening in the region.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been one year since El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender. In September 2021, the Central American nation forged its own path as the first in the world to make the crypto currency an official part of their economy. According to tweets and statements from President Nayib Bukele the government has bought more than 2,000 BTC so far.

So what’s the problem? Well, many of those purchases were at or near market highs. Price declines mean that, at least on paper, El Salvador has lost more than half the value of those purchases so far. And surveys of both consumers and businesses show most people in the country just aren’t using Bitcoin. Nonetheless, President Nayib Bukele and government officials are adamant that the nation’s strategy has expanded financial services to a larger segment of the population and encouraged tourism.

What’s the real story of Bitcoin in El Salvador? Bloomberg reporter Mike McDonald joins this episode for more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Put a whole bunch of crypto transactions into a blender and lock them up in black box - what do you get? Something metaphorically similar to the experience of using a decentralized app called Tornado Cash. The currency mixer app allows users to move cryptocurrency around anonymously. But federal regulators say cyber criminals used the service for money laundering purposes. Tornado Cash was recently sanctioned by the U.S.Department of Treasury.

Privacy is a key objective of many crypto proponents. And it’s one of the features that makes the asset class attractive to some investors. If this principle can’t be guaranteed, some say crypto’s utility becomes questionable.

Bloomberg reporter Emily Nicolle joins this episode to discuss whether or not a decentralized service can truly be regulated, the issue of crypto privacy and the implications of sanctions on Tornado Cash and De–Fi in general.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, ‘The Merge’ happened. After years of anticipation, multiple false starts and delays, the biggest ever software upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain is complete.
And now the question is: what’s next? What are the other major milestones for the future of Ethereum’s ecosystem and the Ether token itself?

In this episode, you’ll hear from Bloomberg reporter Olga Kharif and from Dave Liedtka, senior editor for crypto.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.