CoinDesk Podcast Network

Everyone and their grandmother waited to disclose AI deals during quarterly earnings, with IREN, Hut 8, and Cipher Digital announcing new tenants and massive expansion plans.

Welcome back to The Blockspace Podcast! Charlie and Colin cover a flurry of deals and quarterly earnings in the bitcoin miner-AI space. We break down IREN’s roadmap to 5 GW and their new Nvidia partnership, Hut 8’s $9.8B contract with an undisclosed hyperscaler, and Cipher Digital coming out with its 3rd AI data center deal but with undisclosed details. We also sit down with Lygos’ co-founder Francis Corvino to address the news that Strategy may sell bitcoin in the future and review Luxor’s April hashrate lookback series with Kaan Farahani. Plus, quarterly results from $IREN, $HUT, $WULF, $CORZ, and $CIFR.

👉CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success.

👉Luxor, Blockspace's preferred mining pool. Start hashing today with Luxor!

👉Lygos Finance, Borrow against your Bitcoin, without compromising on custody.

Taylor Lindman, chief counsel of the SEC Crypto Task Force, joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026 in Miami to outline the agency's two-bucket approach to crypto regulation, why the CLARITY Act will "supercharge" the SEC, and the open questions around tokenized securities. Plus, the chief counsel's personal crypto origin story: buying Bitcoin in Korea in 2013 and learning self-custody after his exchange went bust.

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Timecodes:

00:00 SEC Crypto Chief Counsel Taylor Lindman Joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026

01:07 The Two Buckets at the SEC Crypto Task Force

01:50 Future-Proofing Crypto Regulation: From Staff to Rulemaking

03:08 How the CLARITY Act Will "Supercharge" the SEC

04:22 First Bitcoin in 2013: and the Bankrupt Exchange

05:46 Why SEC Staff Need Hands-On Crypto Experience

06:40 Tokenization After the $4.2B Bullish-Equiniti Deal

07:07 Native, Synthetic, and Security Entitlement Tokens Explained

08:57 The "Cold Start Problem" for Tokenized Securities

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026 in Miami to make the case for an ethics provision banning members of Congress and senior administration officials from issuing or promoting cryptocurrencies — calling it "against the Constitution." Plus, why she's optimistic on market structure before midterms, why Democrats are the "party of the future" on crypto, and her new prediction markets bill with Sen. McCormick.

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Timecodes:

00:00 Sen. Gillibrand Joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026

00:27 Crypto Market Structure Before Midterms?

01:16 The Ethics Provision: "Against the Constitution"

03:21 70% of Voters Want Officials Out of Crypto

04:40 Tension Around the President's Crypto Involvement

05:43 The Clarity Act and the Alsobrooks-Tillis Compromise

06:07 Banks, GENIUS Act Rulemaking, and the Comment Phase

07:18 "Democrats Are the Party of the Future"

09:49 AI, Jobs, and Rebuilding the Education System

MLB legend and A-Rod Corp CEO Alex Rodriguez joined CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026 in Miami for a wide-ranging conversation on resilience, business, and crypto. He opened up about the PED suspension that he says cost him the Hall of Fame, explained why retired athletes start in the basement of the "Tower of Business," and argued tokenization should put blue-chip assets within reach of everyone — not just the 1%. Plus, why you can't fake the funk in 2026.

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Timecodes:

00:00 Alex Rodriguez Joins CoinDesk Live at Consensus 2026

00:44 Managing Failure: "Fail 70% of the Time, You Go to the Hall of Fame"

01:59 The PED Suspension: "It Cost Me the Hall of Fame"

05:57 "You Can't Fake the Funk": Authenticity and Accountability

06:48 Advice to Young Athletes

08:18 A-Rod on Crypto in His Portfolio

08:56 Tokenization, Stadium Funding, and Lightning-Speed Money

Will we get Clarity by July 4th?

White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt told Consensus Miami that the administration is targeting July 4 — the nation's 250th birthday — for passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The timeline requires Senate markup this month and four floor weeks in June. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.