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Why the First US Crypto Bank Is a Big Deal
Kraken became the first crypto exchange to win a U.S. banking license this week. Here’s why that matters.

Kraken became the first crypto exchange to win a U.S. banking license this week. Here’s why that matters.
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This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.
On this edition of The Breakdown weekly recap, NLW looks at:
- DEXetition – Uniswap’s battle with SushiSwap heats up as the former dropped the UNI governance token in what some likened to a crypto stimulus check
- The Fed has no clothes – After another FOMC meeting of “nothing new,” the mirage of Federal Reserve omnipotence is fading
- TikTok and WeChat banned from U.S. app stores – Is it just a negotiating technique? Whatever the case, people are not happy
- Kraken becomes a bank – What it means now that Kraken has been approved for a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution charter
This week on The Breakdown:
Monday | The Business of Geopolitical Competition
Tuesday | The Decade of the Living Dead: How Zombie Companies Are Robbing Tomorrow’s Economy
Wednesday | Governments vs. Networks: The Battle for the Soul of Finance
Thursday | Monetary Policy Is Finished and Macro Debates Are Boring, Feat. Raoul Pal
Friday | ‘I Didn’t Buy It to Sell It. Ever.’ MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor on His $425M Bitcoin Bet
For more episodes and free early access before our regular daily releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.
Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.
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.
