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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.

 (KevinAlexanderGeorge/iStock via Getty Images Plus)
 (KevinAlexanderGeorge/iStock via Getty Images Plus)

Kraken became the first crypto exchange to win a U.S. banking license this week. Here’s why that matters.

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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.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.comBitstamp 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.

Nathaniel Whittemore