Podcast: Institutional Money Drives Bitcoin Higher, China Grapples with Energy Crisis

Get your macro fix with Blockworks’ own Mike Ippolito and co-host, Mark Yusko.

by Brianna Beckford /
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In the weekly roundup episode of Blockworks’ podcast “On the Margin,” Mike and Mark spend a lot of time on Bitcoin’s recent run above $55,000. They take a look at open interest and the rolling 1 month basis on Bitcoin futures on CME compared to other offshore exchanges like Deribit and Huobi, and what that says about institutional flows. They also take a look at Bitcoin’s price action compared to previous cycles in 2013 and 2017, and the recent resumption of the seasonality trend and divergence from equities.

Later in their talk, they dive deep into food prices, rising energy prices and depleted coal reserves in China and India, and what that says about the current state of geopolitics.

They also cover:

  • Bitcoin’s price action compared to previous 2013 and 2017 cycles
  • Recent resumption of the seasonality trend and divergence from equities
  • George Soros’ family office and crypto
  • The FDIC reportedly taking a look at stablecoin deposits

Watch the full episode below! 👇

“On the Margin” is a two-part show. Once a week, Mike interviews industry experts, and then at the end of the week he is joined by co-host Mark Yusko where they break down the top crypto and macro stories. Episodes go live every Wednesday and Saturday morning.

Subscribe to “On the Margin” today on Apple or Spotify, or watch episodes on YouTube.

Are you a UK or EU reader that cant get enough investor-focused content on digital assets?Join us in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. Buy it now.

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Compute demand is two-sided, the precondition for any hedging market. Producers (neoclouds and independent data centers) fear their inventory clears below cost. Consumers (inference platforms and the agentic application layer) fear compute will get more expensive. The common read holds that nonfungibility keeps both off any general exchange, since a buyer wants a named SKU in a named region rather than a basket, so the trade stays bilateral and the only exchange users are dealers hedging their book. That describes launch conditions, but understates how commodity markets form. Canonical benchmarks get made through trading, and reservations standardize as the curve deepens. The dealer-intermediated structure is not the end state, it is the seed of one.

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