CoinDesk Podcast Network

We just had a historic 14% difficulty adjustment, weather-driven hash rate curtailments, and the groundbreaking Bitcoin-backed bond from Ledn.

Get your tickets to OPNEXT 2026 before prices increase! Join us on April 16 in NYC for technical discussions, investor talks, and intimate conversation with the brightest minds in Bitcoin.

Matt from CoinShares, Kaan from Luxor, and Jay from Lygos join us to talk about the massive 14.7% Bitcoin difficulty adjustment and the impact of the recent Arctic blast on North American miners. We dive deep into Luxor's 21-month mining analysis, showing why hedging has outperformed spot mining since the 2024 halving. Finally, we discuss Ledn's historic Triple B-rated Bitcoin-backed bond and how institutional investors are beginning to view Bitcoin as high-quality collateral compared to traditional assets.

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Notes:

• Bitcoin difficulty spikes +14.73

• Hashprice drops to all-time low of $30/PH/day.

• ERCOT uneconomic hours rose over 900%.

• Ledn bond rated Triple B- by S&P Global.

• Hedging outperformed spot mining in 2025

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

02:56 Bombshell difficulty adjustment!!!

20:08 Ledn's $188M Bitcoin-Backed Bond Securitization

31:03 Nakamoto acquires Bitcoin Conference & UTXO Mgmt

38:24 Datacenter cry corner/culture corner

👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner!

CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world.

Anthony Scaramucci and Joy Pathak discuss how decentralized exchanges and 24/7 liquidity are revolutionizing market transparency and risk management, positioning crypto as a more resilient alternative to traditional finance.

Skybridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, and The Wizard of Soho, Joy Pathak joined CoinDesk Live from Consensus Hong Kong. Pathak, a former bond trader who once managed a $40 billion portfolio at CalPERS, explains why leverage didn't die after the recent market crash—it simply moved into a new, more transparent era. He breaks down how the rise of decentralized exchanges like Hyperliquid and Aevo has handed institutional-grade tools to retail traders, creating an environment where every multi-billion dollar position is visible to the entire world in real-time.

Scaramucci argues that while some Wall Street "fuddy-duddies" fear volatility, crypto’s 24/7 liquidity actually makes it a safer market than traditional finance. By comparing the ability to hedge an exogenous risk on a Sunday night to the "trapped" nature of closed bond markets, Scaramucci and Pathak illustrate why the "horseless carriage" of blockchain is destined to outrun legacy systems.

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This episode was hosted live by Jennifer Sanasie and Will Foxley at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, presented by Hex Trust.

Hex Trust CPO Giorgia Pellizzari explores Bitcoin’s evolution into a yield-bearing asset, the strategic launch of wrapped XRP, and the path to scaling RWA tokenization.

Giorgia Pellizzari, Chief Product Officer at Hex Trust joined CoinDesk Live at Consensus Hong Kong to provide a deep dive into the institutional shifts defining the digital asset landscape. Looking back at 2025 as the "Year of bitcoin," she explains how the launch of new primitives like the Babylon protocol transformed bitcoin from a "lazy asset" into a productive, yield-bearing instrument for institutions.

The conversation highlights Hex Trust's issuance of wrapped XRP (wXRP). Pellizzari details how this regulated 1:1 backed asset is bridging the gap between the XRP Ledger and high-velocity DeFi ecosystems like Solana, Ethereum, and Optimism. 

Pellizzari also offers a look at the future of Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization, citing the DTCC’s move to tokenize hundreds of billions of dollars as a massive structural catalyst. She argues that while infrastructure is ready, the missing piece remains secondary market liquidity and regulatory comfort.

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This episode was hosted live by Jennifer Sanasie and Will Foxley at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, presented by Hex Trust.

At Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Joseph Lubin detailed MetaMask’s evolution into a "personal neobank," a user-centric platform merging DeFi and traditional finance through features like tokenized equities via Ondo Finance, prediction markets, and debit cards.

Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin joined CoinDesk Live from Consensus Hong Kong to discuss the evolution of Metamask. Lubin explained how MetaMask is transitioning from a wallet into a "personal” neobank—a fully featured financial services platform that users own and control directly from their devices. He detailed the integration of institutional-grade features, including tokenized equities through Ondo Finance, prediction markets, and debit cards, all aimed at bridging the gap between decentralized finance and the traditional financial world.

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This episode was hosted live by Jennifer Sanasie and Bonnie Chang at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, presented by Hex Trust.

Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, breaks down why we’re still in a crypto winter, the truth about central bank gold buying, and why Bitcoin’s revenue problem doesn’t matter… yet. We dive into the Kevin Warsh Fed era, quantum risks, and the rise of AI agents.

Get your tickets to OPNEXT 2026 before prices increase! Join us on April 16 in NYC for technical discussions, investor talks, and intimate conversation with the brightest minds in Bitcoin.

Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, joins us to talk about the current state of the crypto winter and when the bottom is finally in. We explore the digital gold narrative, explaining why central bank buying—not debasement—drove gold’s recent surge. Matt details the institutional vs. retail divide, the impact of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, and the looming debate over Bitcoin’s security budget. Plus, we tackle the quantum discount and how AI agents could 1000x on-chain activity.

Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com

Notes:

* Altcoins like Sui and Aptos fell 70%+ in 2025.

* Institutions might end the winter by Q2 2026.

* BTC volatility capped at 50-60% drawdowns.

* Gold price surge driven by central bank buys.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

03:22 Is it still "crypto winter"?

04:34 Why January?

06:36 Market segments

08:31 Gold

10:54 Central banks & Bitcoin

12:56 Causes of the crash

14:52 Kevin Warsh

16:58 Fed hawks become doves

17:34 Quantum... oh so scary!

19:59 Bitcoin Core

21:44 Revenue

24:37 Beyond "digital gold" narrative

26:44 AI

👉CleanSpark, America's Bitcoin Miner!

CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK) is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We own a portfolio of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world.