Share this article

Mirage Recovery: What ‘Record’ GDP Growth Tells Us About the Economy

The Department of Commerce’s new report shows 33.1% annualized GDP growth in Q3, but does this really tell us much about the state of the economy?

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:25 a.m. Published Oct 29, 2020, 7:00 p.m.
Breakdown 10.29

The Department of Commerce’s new report shows 33.1% annualized GDP growth in Q3, but does this really tell us much about the state of the economy?

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.comNexo.io and Elliptic.

Today on the Brief:

  • FTX launches equities trading
  • Avanti gets Wyoming bank charter
  • France locks down and ECB intimates new stimulus

Our main discussion: GDP growth report

The Department of Commerce released its Q3 GDP numbers. Touted as record growth, this is actually a much more complicated story. In this episode, NLW breaks down what the numbers tell us and what they don’t, and why we should be more focused on understanding long-term consumer behavior shifts than short-term numbers.

See also: The ‘Everything Crash’ Is Coming? Markets Go Risk-Off as European Stocks See Worst Day in 5 Months

For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time 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.

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

Farcaster Switches to Wallet-First Strategy to Grow Its Social App

friends, social

The protocol still consists of casts, follows, reactions, identities and wallets, and third-party clients are free to emphasize whichever components they want.

What to know:

  • Farcaster is shifting its focus from social media to its in-app wallet and trading features to drive user engagement.
  • Cofounder Dan Romero acknowledged the lack of sustainable growth in their social-first strategy over the past 4.5 years.
  • The wallet's trading tools have shown the strongest product-market fit, leading to a strategic pivot towards financial use cases.