Empire (Blockworks)

In this episode of Empire, Li Jin from Variant Fund and Ben Leventhal from Blackbird and co-founder of Resy, cover the intersection of the consumer market and crypto. They delve into the history of consumer startups, the limitations of traditional businesses in the dining industry, and the potential of crypto to transform ownership. Ben discusses Blackbird and how it addresses issues in the restaurant industry by establishing better connection and understanding between restaurants and customers. To close out Li touches on her vision for consumer crypto leading into 2024. Thanks for tuning in!  - - Follow Li: https://twitter.com/ljin18 Follow Ben: https://twitter.com/benleventhal Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - Planning to grant token awards for your team? Toku makes implementing global token compensation and incentive awards simple. With Toku, you get unmatched legal and tax support to grant and administer your global team’s tokens. Toku navigates it across the lifecycle — from easy to use token grant award templates through tracking vesting to managing tax withholdings. Make it simple today, at https://www.toku.com/empire - - Timestamps: (00:00) End of Times for Consumer Apps (05:58) Consumer Crypto's Advantage (17:22) Identity Rails for Restaurants (21:23) Balancing Blockchain & Consumer Rights (27:45) Complexity of Building On Web3 (30:00) Toku ad (31:16) Variant Fund Approach to Consumer Crypto (36:23) Why Use Crypto? (41:54) FLY Token & Progressive Ownership (46:44) Mitigating Attack Vectors (50:21) Consumer Crypto in 2024 - - Resources Blackbird Docs https://www.blackbird.xyz/flypaper Li Jin Barrier to Mainstream Adoption https://variant.fund/articles/barrier-to-mainstream-crypto-adoption-is-product-market-fit/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, the Hivemind team discuss Trump’s tariffs and Liberation Day, the shifting global power dynamics, and whether the outlook for crypto has changed. We also dig into the right time for projects to launch tokens, Circle preparing to IPO, and more. Enjoy!. -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire Follow Ceteris: https://x.com/ceterispar1bus Follow Jose: https://x.com/ZeMariaMacedo Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman Follow Duncan: https://x.com/FloodCapital Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4jYEkBx Subscribe on Apple: https://bit.ly/3ECSmJ3 Subscribe on Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hzy9lH Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Jose's Haircut (2:10) Tariffs & Liberation Day (9:33) US Manufacturing and Shifting Global Power (19:05) Tariff & DOGE Game Theory (22:42) Outlook for Crypto (26:01) Investment in Robotics and AI (27:42) Crypto Market Overview & Opportunities (32:19) Creatine and Health Discussions (34:33) Token Launch Timing Debate (41:30) Price Action & Market Volatility (47:08) Circle IPO and Coinbase -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Today's episode dives deep into the world of crypto conferences, exploring their evolving role in the industry. Santi unpacks his recent EthCC Brussels experience, while Jason unearths the rise of side events at crypto conferences. They debate the true value of these gatherings for networking, deal-making, and industry progress. The conversation also touches on market dynamics, VC scandals, and future predictions, providing a comprehensive view of the current state of the crypto ecosystem. Resources GasApp https://x.com/gasappteam https://x.com/nikitabier - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Sei Labs believes the EVM is here to stay. By providing the fastest time to finality of any chain, thousands of transactions per second and full backwards compatibility with the EVM, Ethereum developers can try out a brand new design space for their applications. Try out sei v2 devnet - visit the new sei.io to find out more. - - Polygon Labs is developing the next generation of open source zero-knowledge tech to aggregate crypto liquidity and user bases with the AggLayer. To support the aggregated future, the Polygon Community Grants Program was launched with 1 billion tokens — all for Polygon builders. Season One of the community grants program is live now, and features 35 million in MATIC to support the next generation of Polygon projects! Join the aggregated future today by applying at https://polygon.technology/grants - - Timestamps: (00:00) Surviving Brussels (06:24) Conference Dynamics (14:56) Social Incentive Layer  (25:01) Funny YouTube Comments & Fear of Sharks (28:47) Germany BTC Selling (32:07) Sei Ad (33:04) Polygon Ad (34:13) NVIDIA vs Coinbase Stock (38:29) Eclipse Adviser Token Debacle (44:56) Where are we in the Cycle  - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, Drew, co-founder of Karak, discusses the evolution of crypto security from DeFi insurance to restaking. He explains Karak's multi-chain support and diverse collateral types. The conversation also covers the challenges of DeFi insurance, the potential of restaking to lower security costs for projects, and the importance of creating sustainable yield sources. Drew also shares insights on Karak's development philosophy, the risks associated with restaking, and his vision for the future of crypto risk management. Thanks for tuning in! - - Follow Drew: https://x.com/Dewpey Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Sei Labs believes the EVM is here to stay. By providing the fastest time to finality of any chain, thousands of transactions per second and full backwards compatibility with the EVM, Ethereum developers can try out a brand new design space for their applications. Try out sei v2 devnet - visit the new sei.io to find out more. - - Polygon Labs is developing the next generation of open source zero-knowledge tech to aggregate crypto liquidity and user bases with the AggLayer. To support the aggregated future, the Polygon Community Grants Program was launched with 1 billion tokens — all for Polygon builders. Season One of the community grants program is live now, and features 35 million in MATIC to support the next generation of Polygon projects! Join the aggregated future today by applying at https://polygon.technology/grants - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:23) Insurance Security in Crypto (12:32) Onchain Insurance Bull Case (22:09) Karak Restaking PMF (26:24) Risks of Restaking (31:02) Size of the Restaking Market (41:04) Sei Ad (42:02) Polygon Ad (43:12) Free Market Restaking (49:17) DSS Curation & Risks (55:17) Karak Traction (01:11:14) Measuring Karak Success - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we discuss the shock Trump Tariffs that spooked markets. We deep dive into will tariffs lead to a recession, what's next for markets, should you buy the dip or look for shorts & more. Enjoy! -- Go follow the new 1000x feed to keep up to date with all new episodes! Spotify: https://blckwrks.co/3WADHnL Apple: https://blckwrks.co/4aEt5u0 -- Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Join the 1000x Telegram: https://t.me/+fz-2f0cwC6o0MWNh -- SKALE is the next evolution in Layer 1 blockchains with a gas-free invisible user experience, instant finality, high speed, and robust security. SKALE is built different as it allows for limitless scalability and has already saved its 50 Million users over $11 Billion in gas fees. SKALE is high-performance and cost-effective, making it ideal for compute-intensive applications like AI, gaming, and consumer-facing dApps. Learn more at skale.space and stay up to date with the gas-free invisible blockchain on X at @skalenetwork -- Marinade Labs develops staking technologies that strengthen Solana. In 2021, our protocol was the first to bring liquid staking to the network; today, our sophisticated, high-performance staking delegation platform brings billions in liquidity and security to the SOL market. We have solutions for both DeFi and TradFi, including liquid and native staking, as well as direct enterprise integrations. Our best-in-market features include user downside protection (through protected staking rewards) and optimized delegation (via our automated auction marketplace). Cryptoasset investors worldwide, from individual traders to global institutions, use Marinade to earn rewards on their SOL treasuries and holdings. We are headquartered in New York, with offices in the European Union, including Prague. To learn more about Marinade, visit marinade.finance. -- Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at www.Ledger.com -- Mantle is evolving into the premier on-chain financial hub, supercharging the ecosystem that bridges blockchain with banking. The 2025 roadmap introduces three transformative products: - Enhanced Index Fund (launching Q1) offering optimized crypto exposure to BTC, ETH, SOL and USD with built-in yield optimization - targeting $1B AUM - Mantle Banking for seamless financial services - MantleX for AI-powered innovation Backed by a $4.5B treasury, Mantle is building the future of on-chain finance – accessible for everyone. Learn more: https://x.com/Mantle_Official/status/1882017058680086805 -- AO Mainnet is LIVE! Experience the future of decentralized computing: infinite parallel processing, secure TEE-powered computations, and LLMs in smart contracts. Built on Arweave, AO's modular design shatters scalability limits. 100% of tokens are distributed to Arweave holders and bridge depositors, with a fixed supply and halving. Explore AO today: https://ao.arweave.dev -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:19) Happy Liquidation Day (10:10) Ad Skale & Marinade (11:41) Will Tariffs Cause A Recession? (22:27) Is ETH Heading Lower? (26:06) Ad Skale & Marinade (27:38) What's Next For Markets? (35:18) Ads (Ledger, Mantle, Areweave) (37:44) When Do You Buy The Dip -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed

In this episode Jason is joined by Robert Breedlove. Robert is one of the most esteemed Bitcoin philosophers with a focus on exploring Freedom, Sovereignty, Philosophy, History, Economics and Bitcoin from first principles. When Robert isn't writing his captivating essays, he hosts the YouTube series 'What is Money?' featuring some of the top names in Technology, Finance & Bitcoin including previous guests Michael Saylor, Jeff Booth & Robert Kiyosaki. We couldn't be more excited to welcome Robert Breedlove to Empire who explores Inflation vs Deflation, the effects of central banking on society, what the world would look like on a Bitcoin Standard and Robert's Bitcoin outlook for the rest of 2021. With such a deep understanding over a variety of topics, this episode is not to be missed! ––– LUKKA Lukka Prime is crypto asset pricing data aligned to accounting standards like GAAP and IFRS. Lukka Prime Pricing Data is the pricing source used by S&P Dow Jones Indices’ for their new cryptocurrency indices. Lukka Prime is the world’s first fair market value pricing source for crypto assets and the best option for all post-trade reporting needs. Visit lukka.tech/empire to learn more. ––– EXODUS Download the app today at http://exodus.com/empire and iOS users can buy up to $500 in Bitcoin for just $1 for a limited time. ––– Get unparalleled access to the greatest minds in macro at Blockworks’ three day, executive summit in Bretton Woods. August 11 - 13. Apply to attend today! https://blockworks.co/events/brettonwoods/ ––– Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!

On this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup Jason and Santiago catch up on the latest with Bitcoin's changing narrative, Canada and America's moves against banking freedom, BlockFi & the SEC and more. Discussing their observations and thoughts on the developments in the space, they cover everything from DeFi acquisitions to social tokens. Follow Jason Yanowitz: @JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: @santiagoroel Follow Blockworks: @Blockworks_ -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed. -- Empire's Weekly Roundup is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M

In this episode, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, discusses the future of money. He explains how stablecoins are transforming global finance by increasing the velocity of money transfers and reducing friction in transactions. Allaire shares insights on the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies, Circle's journey to become a publicly traded company, and his vision for a more efficient and accessible financial system. Thanks for tuning in! - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Anoma is the universal intent machine, introducing a new era of applications where you define the outcomes you want. Anoma’s intent-centric architecture provides a universal operating system for building intent-centric apps compatible with any blockchain. Anoma vastly improves blockchain UX, enables novel applications, and promotes a more human-centric future for decentralized technology. Follow Anoma at x.com/anoma and signup for the newsletter at anoma.net - - re.al is the permissionless L2 for tokenized RWAs built on Arbitrum Orbit and the first L2 to return chain and protocol fees back to users, in reETH, ensuring they benefit from ecosystem growth. re.al has just launched a fully-transparent rewards (points) program returning 10% of $RWA supply to early users. Not investment advice or product solicitation and not aimed at US persons. https://re.al/rewards/airdrop/O4UNU - - Renaud Partners has built the most elite network of native crypto marketers globally. They create custom, expert teams to support founders with transformative strategy work. If you’re a founder or a VC looking for support for your teams, head on over to RenaudPartners.com or give their co-founder Geoff a follow on x at https://x.com/ReoffGenaud - - Timestamps: (01:53) The US Dollar Architecture  (17:24) Regulatory Efforts for Stablecoin Money (21:41) Transitioning Money to Stablecoins (28:59) CBDC Endgame (51:36) Anoma ad (52:38) Re.al Ad (53:37) Invisible North Ad (54:34) Impact of Transparency in Financial Systems (58:18) Value of Decentralized Systems (01:02:11) Impact of Interest Rates  (01:07:19) Stablecoin Innovation - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, David Kalk of Reflexive Capital and Jeff Park of Bitwise explore the critical role of psychology in crypto trading. They argue that mastering one's emotions and biases is the key to outperforming in the highly volatile and reflexive crypto markets. They unpack the limitations of traditional venture approaches, the potential for liquid strategies, and why psychological resilience may be the most valuable edge in today's crypto landscape. They share their perspectives on managing trading psychology, adapting to market regimes, and the future of institutional crypto investing. - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkalk/ Follow Jeff: https://x.com/dgt10011 Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - The 6th edition of Meridian, a web3 conference hosted by the Stellar Development Foundation is happening in London, England October 15-17, 2024. Learn more and get your early-bird priced tickets now at meridian.stellar.org by using the code BLOCKWORKSPOD. - - Avalanche is a smart contracts platform that scales infinitely and regularly finalizes transactions in less than one second. Its novel consensus protocol, Subnet infrastructure, and HyperSDK toolkit enable Web3 developers to easily launch powerful, custom blockchain solutions. Build anything you want, any way you want, on the eco-friendly blockchain designed for Web3 devs. Start building today at https://www.avax.network/ - - Harpie sets the standard in on-chain security, actively monitoring and safeguarding your crypto wallet against theft in real time. It detects, blocks, and recovers stolen assets from risky transactions before they execute, shielding you from even the most advanced hacks and scams. Harpie is free to use and compatible with all Ethereum, Base, Polygon, and Arbitrum wallets. Protect your crypto today at harpie.io. - - Renaud Partners has built the most elite network of native crypto marketers globally. They create custom, expert teams to support founders with transformative strategy work. If you’re a founder or a VC looking for support for your teams, head on over to RenaudPartners.com or give their co-founder Geoff a follow on x at https://x.com/ReoffGenaud - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:58) David & Jeff Intros (06:03) Crypto's Liquid Inefficient Market (25:07) LP Priorities (29:24) Liquid vs Private Markets (31:57) Value of Psychological Edge (44:29) Stellar Ad (45:17) Invisible North Ad (46:12) Avalanche Ad (47:09) Harpie Ad (48:01) Navigating Market Environment (01:03:37) Managing Emotions in Markets (01:12:29) Is Crypto Worth it? - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, Santi, Jason, and special guest Pranav debate if we are we truly in a new crypto cycle. They analyze the uneven market recovery, with Solana and meme coins outperforming while other assets struggle. The conversation explores potential hidden leverage, the impact of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, and strategies for navigating market uncertainty. They also discuss the evolving dApp ecosystem and make predictions about future dominant crypto assets, all while questioning whether the current market represents a genuine new cycle or merely a false start. You don't want to miss this episode! Resources https://x.com/ceterispar1bus/status/1820837865875497188 - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Anoma is the universal intent machine, introducing a new era of applications where you define the outcomes you want. Anoma’s intent-centric architecture provides a universal operating system for building intent-centric apps compatible with any blockchain. Anoma vastly improves blockchain UX, enables novel applications, and promotes a more human-centric future for decentralized technology. Follow Anoma at x.com/anoma and signup for the newsletter at anoma.net - - Avalanche is a smart contracts platform that scales infinitely and regularly finalizes transactions in less than one second. Its novel consensus protocol, Subnet infrastructure, and HyperSDK toolkit enable Web3 developers to easily launch powerful, custom blockchain solutions. Build anything you want, any way you want, on the eco-friendly blockchain designed for Web3 devs. Start building today at https://www.avax.network/ - - re.al is the permissionless L2 for tokenized RWAs built on Arbitrum Orbit and the first L2 to return chain and protocol fees back to users, in reETH, ensuring they benefit from ecosystem growth. re.al has just launched a fully-transparent rewards (points) program returning 10% of $RWA supply to early users. Not investment advice or product solicitation and not aimed at US persons. https://re.al/rewards/airdrop/O4UNU - - Step into MyPrize—the online multiplayer casino that lets you battle your friends and play alongside creators. On MyPrize, you're invited to get rowdy and share every victory and defeat with your pals. Because we know the only thing more fun than beating the house is beating your friends. Get started with $20 free when you deposit or purchase of $10 or more: https://myprize.com/invite/Empire - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:28) What's Outperforming? (15:43) Impact of Token Unlocks (27:52) Scaling into Trades (37:18) Anoma Ad (38:19) Re.al Ad (39:18) MyPrize Ad (39:54) Ava Labs Ad (40:52) Value of Cash (49:04) Trading Presidential Election (57:25) Why is Jump Selling? (01:06:10) Cycle outlook - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Gm! This week Avery Ching joins the show to discuss the Aptos 2.0 roadmap. We deep dive into the current vs end state of crypto, building a high performance L1, the rise of AI, misconceptions about Aptos & more. Enjoy! -- Follow Avery: https://x.com/AveryChing Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts -- Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at www.Ledger.com -- Mantle is evolving into the premier on-chain financial hub, supercharging the ecosystem that bridges blockchain with banking. The 2025 roadmap introduces three transformative products: - Enhanced Index Fund (launching Q1) offering optimized crypto exposure to BTC, ETH, SOL and USD with built-in yield optimization - targeting $1B AUM - Mantle Banking for seamless financial services - MantleX for AI-powered innovation Backed by a $4.5B treasury, Mantle is building the future of on-chain finance – accessible for everyone. Learn more: https://x.com/Mantle_Official/status/1882017058680086805 -- (00:00) Introduction (00:26) The Future Of Aptos (07:39) Building Products In Crypto (11:09) Designing A High Performance L1 (15:10) The Move VM (18:52) Crypto's Narrative Cycle (21:43) Building For Institutions vs Crypto Natives (25:14) Ads (Ledger & Mantle) (26:53) The Aptos Roadmap (34:00) The Growth Of Solana (36:17) Crypto's Ultimate End State (39:22) The Rise Of AI (42:03) Misconceptions About Aptos (44:38) Getting Started On Aptos -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Jason’s traveling this week so we’ve dropped today’s Bell Curve episode in its place! In today's episode, we discuss if protocols should distribute revenue to token holders. This debate was sparked by a Lido proposal for a token revenue share mechanism that now has all of Crypto Twitter debating the merits of revenue distribution, buyback and burn vs dividends, protocol treasuries and more. Tokenomics is a theme you can no longer ignore. We also discuss roadblocks at Stacks (a Bitcoin scaling solution), the viability of Bitcoin's blockspace for arbitrary use cases and Tether's new BTC buying program. - - This episode is brought to you by Valora. Valora is the easiest way to send, swap, collect, and grow your crypto on the Celo blockchain. Download the app and start exploring dapps like JumpTask today at valoraapp.com/empire. Sign up and use the code ‘HelloValora’ to get a 20% bonus after completing your first task in JumpTask!  - - Resources Lido revenue share proposal https://research.lido.fi/t/proposal-introducing-ldo-staking/4636 Hasu's Lido response https://research.lido.fi/t/proposal-introducing-ldo-staking/4636/25?u=hasu Alex's SNX thread https://twitter.com/thiccythot_/status/1659278056035348485 0xResearch hosted by Dan and Sam https://spoti.fi/3NlP1hA https://apple.co/3SNhUEt - - Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Sam: https://twitter.com/swmartin19 Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneil Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9 Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's Empire Debates episode Santi, Tommy, and Ryan discuss overlooked aspects in this bear market including the importance of nuance in analyzing projects, the potential for decentralized storage despite current low demand, and how poor regulation and lack of clarity opened the door for bad actors like FTX. They then cover why jurisdictional competition will shape the future of crypto and capital formation. Despite crypto Twitter sentiment seeming very negative, the team remains optimistic in identifying quality investments throughout the crypto space.  Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Tommy, and Zach may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed. - - Follow Tommy: https://twitter.com/Shaughnessy119 Follow Ryan: https://twitter.com/kukulabanze Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - Planning to grant token awards for your team? Toku makes implementing global token compensation and incentive awards simple. With Toku, you get unmatched legal and tax support to grant and administer your global team’s tokens. Toku navigates it across the lifecycle — from easy to use token grant award templates through tracking vesting to managing tax withholdings.    Make it simple today, at https://www.toku.com/empire - - Timestamps: (00:00) What is Overlooked? (14:46) Managing Portfolios After FTX (20:08) Attractiveness of Alt L1 Investments (31:45) Toku Ad (33:00) What Needs to be Decentralized? (45:22) Recovering From Valuation Crashes (50:22) Treasury Funds and VC Activism (54:33) VCs Selecting Jurisdictions (01:02:54) Future of Capital Formation (01:07:45) Rapid Fire Questions - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Tommy, and Zach may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, we dive deep into MegaETH. Namik and Shuyao discuss their unique approach of centralized sequencing and decentralized validation, their commitment to Ethereum, and their vision for enabling truly innovative Web3 applications. They explain the technical aspects of their solution, including extreme node specialization and hardware requirements. The conversation also touches on ecosystem building, the challenges of the current crypto landscape, and the urgent need for meaningful adoption of blockspace. Thanks for tuning in! - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Shuyao: https://x.com/hotpot_dao Follow Namik: https://x.com/NamikMuduroglu Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7ww Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - The 6th edition of Meridian, a web3 conference hosted by the Stellar Development Foundation is happening in London, England October 15-17, 2024. Learn more and get your early-bird priced tickets now at meridian.stellar.org by using the code BLOCKWORKSPOD. - - Harpie sets the standard in on-chain security, actively monitoring and safeguarding your crypto wallet against theft in real time. It detects, blocks, and recovers stolen assets from risky transactions before they execute, shielding you from even the most advanced hacks and scams. Harpie is free to use and compatible with all Ethereum, Base, Polygon, and Arbitrum wallets. Protect your crypto today at harpie.io. - - Timestamps: (02:11) Origin Story of MegaEth (07:43) What Needs to Be Decentralized? (16:47) Hardware Specialization (29:30) Stellar Ad (30:20) Cronos Ad (31:15) Polygon Ad (31:52) Harpie Ad (32:45) Building an App Ecosystem (47:34) L2 Exodus of Ethereum (53:09) Roadmap - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode we unpack why Kraken is building a Layer 2, Ink. Andrew and Hilmar, dive into why companies are rushing to launch their own chains. We unpack the technical decisions behind launching an L2, and debate who actually needs their own chain, and explore predictions that hundreds of new L2s will launch in the coming months. The conversation really explores if crypto and financial products might depend on custom chain infrastructure. Thanks for tuning in! - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Andrew: https://x.com/ak47ink Follow Hilmar: https://x.com/hilmarxo Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7ww Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Explore the SKALE Ecosystem at skale.space/ecosystem and stay up to date with the gas-free blockchain on X at @skalenetwork - - The self-custody wallet that's built for swapping. Created for a multi-chain world by the most trusted team in DeFi. Available on Chrome, iOS, and Android. https://blckwrks.co/UniswapWallet - - Supra Containers are secured by Supra’s L1 nodes and get access to Supra’s 500k TPS throughput, sub-second consensus latency, and all their built-in services like oracle price feeds and onchain randomness without any overhead. Supra is also MultiVM compatible so you can easily deploy your EVM, Move, and SVM smart contracts here. Get all the freedom, control, and tools you need to build super dApps and bring the world onchain. To learn more, visit www.supra.com/blockworks - - $cmETH, a Mantle native liquid restaking token, will launch together with Season 2: Methamorphosis, allowing users to easily participate in restaking, and earn $COOK rewards in addition to other yields. $COOK, the governance token of mETH Protocol, will allow holders to play a pivotal role in directing the strategic future of mETH Protocol. Learn more: https://x.com/mETHProtocol - - Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at Ledger.com - - Timestamps: 00:00 intro 04:04 Why an L2? 16:37 Launching an L2 20:50 Why Optimism? 31:00 Value of Service Providers 39:05 Skale Ad 39:45 Supra Ad 40:41 Mantle Ad 41:32 Uniswao Ad 42:04 Ledger Ad 42:47 Building the App Layer 49:34 Who Needs an L2? 59:35 Bitcoin Renaissance? 01:05:07 5 Year Onchain Outlook - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Happy new year! This week, we discuss the current state of the market as we head into 2025. We deep dive into crypto's AI trade, the alt L1 narrative, trading trending markets vs technical analysis, what to expect in 2025 & much more. Enjoy! -- Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Join the 1000x Telegram: https://t.me/+fz-2f0cwC6o0MWNh -- Definitive is a multichain trading platform used by top funds, DAOs and pro traders. Get the best trade execution for every token on every chain, with your order routed to every liquidity pool. Maximize your gains with automated TWAPs and Limit orders. For our 1000x listeners - get no fees on your first $100K in trading volume: blockworks.definitive.fi -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (0:38) The AI Crypto Trade (7:22) Definitive Ad (8:15) The Setup Into 2025 (17:53) The L1 Trade (25:42) Trading Trends vs TA -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed

Gm! This week we're joined by David Bailey for a discussion on the current state of the Bitcoin market. We deep dive into David's background building one of the largest Bitcoin media & events companies in the world, working with the Trump campaign, the 2025 corporate Bitcoin strategy, the outlook for a strategic reserve & so much more. Enjoy! -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow David: https://x.com/DavidFBailey Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- GEODNET’s native token, GEOD, can be easily mined with a GEODNET Satellite Miner, presenting a unique opportunity to generate passive income. By setting up a GEODNET base station, you can join this groundbreaking Web3 ecosystem that is powering the future of AI and robotics. Join the revolution today and learn more at https://geodnet.com. -- Unichain is a fast, decentralized L2 that’s built to be the home for DeFi and liquidity across chains. To stay updated on news including the upcoming launch of Unichain, visit www.Unichain.org or follow @Unichain on X. -- Petra Earn was designed to make DeFi more accessible for everyone—from seasoned pros to DeFi beginners. Manage your balance, claim rewards and deposit directly from the app. By supplying USDT to Aries lending pools, users have the potential to earn a higher yield compared to some traditional methods. Not financial advice. Participating in Defi carries risks. To learn more visit petra.app/earn -- Get up to speed on the biggest stories in crypto each week. In five minutes. Get the Bitwise Weekly CIO Memo delivered directly to your inbox at bitwiseinvestments.com/ciomemo/empire -- AO Mainnet is LIVE! Experience the future of decentralized computing: infinite parallel processing, secure TEE-powered computations, and LLMs in smart contracts. Built on Arweave, AO's modular design shatters scalability limits. 100% of tokens are distributed to Arweave holders and bridge depositors, with a fixed supply and halving. Explore AO today: https://ao.arweave.dev -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:57) David's Origin Story (14:17) Sponsors (Geodnet & Uniswap) (15:13) The Bitcoin Conference (25:41) The Trump Bitcoin Journey (35:16) Sponsors (Geodnet & Uniswap) (36:54) The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (42:24) Strategic Reserve vs Stockpile (46:47) The Crypto Council (49:28) Sponsors (Aptos, Bitwise, Arweave) (51:48) Hyperbitcoinization (55:06) The Bitcoin Strategy (01:13:54) The Four Year Cycle (01:17:06) David’s Opinion On Crypto (01:26:12) The Path To $1 Million Bitcoin -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Nevin Freeman, Co-Founder & CEO of Reserve. Nevin set out to create Reserve as a way to protect individuals from currency destroying hyperinflation, providing access to a stable currency and financial services. Jason & Nevin discuss how having access to a stable currency is a human right, challenges of creating a stablecoin, hyperinflation, developments in the cryptocurrency industry & much more. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. Find out more about them at https://www.paraswap.io/

On today's episode of Empire Jason Yanowitz is joined by Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly Cap and Avichal Garg of Electric Capital. Both are strong voices in the space when it comes to tokenization, metaverse, and multichain futures. With their unique perspectives, Haseeb and Avichal debate the merits of the crypto as cities philosophy, the future of Crypto, what a multichain world will look like & more. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M

Gm! This week we're back with another weekly roundup. We discuss why the markets look bearish short term, but bullish in the long run, does the U.S need a strategic crypto reserve, Sui's announcement with World Liberty Financial, the Ethereum foundation's Silviculture Society strategy & more. Enjoy! -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- SKALE is the next evolution in Layer 1 blockchains with a gas-free invisible user experience, instant finality, high speed, and robust security. SKALE is built different as it allows for limitless scalability and has already saved its 50 Million users over $11 Billion in gas fees. SKALE is high-performance and cost-effective, making it ideal for compute-intensive applications like AI, gaming, and consumer-facing dApps. Learn more at skale.space and stay up to date with the gas-free invisible blockchain on X at @skalenetwork -- ZKsync is the pioneering zero-knowledge technology powering the next generation of builders with limitless scale. Secured by math and designed for native interoperability, ZKsync enables an elastic, ever-expanding network of customizable chains. Deeply rooted in its mission to advance personal freedom for all, the ZKsync technology makes digital self-ownership universally available. To learn more about ZKsync, visit http://www.zksync.io -- Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at www.Ledger.com -- Mantle is evolving into the premier on-chain financial hub, supercharging the ecosystem that bridges blockchain with banking. The 2025 roadmap introduces three transformative products: - Enhanced Index Fund (launching Q1) offering optimized crypto exposure to BTC, ETH, SOL and USD with built-in yield optimization - targeting $1B AUM - Mantle Banking for seamless financial services - MantleX for AI-powered innovation Backed by a $4.5B treasury, Mantle is building the future of on-chain finance – accessible for everyone. Learn more: https://x.com/Mantle_Official/status/1882017058680086805 -- AO Mainnet is LIVE! Experience the future of decentralized computing: infinite parallel processing, secure TEE-powered computations, and LLMs in smart contracts. Built on Arweave, AO's modular design shatters scalability limits. 100% of tokens are distributed to Arweave holders and bridge depositors, with a fixed supply and halving. Explore AO today: https://ao.arweave.dev -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (3:02) The Trump Playbook: Short Term Bearish, Long Term Bullish (11:26) Ads (Skale, ZKSync) (13:10) Should The U.S Create A Strategic Crypto Reserve? (29:34) Ads (Skale, ZKSync) (31:17) Stablecoin Regulation In D.C (36:11) Sui’s World Liberty Financial Announcement (45:16) Ads (Ledger, Mantle, Arweave) (47:37) The Ethereum Foundation Silviculture Society (56:11) Top Stories Of The Week -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode Binance CEO Richard Teng joins Jason and Santi to dive behind the scenes of the world's largest crypto exchange. Richard reveals the untold story of how CZ recruited him, shares what it was like taking over during the $4.3B regulatory settlement, and explains how Binance maintains its aggressive edge while becoming the most regulated crypto exchange globally. They then explore their stringent listing process, geographic expansion strategy, views on DeFi vs CeFi, and what US politics means for crypto's next chapter. Thanks for tuning in! - - Help us shape the future of Empire. Fill out our audience survey and give us your thoughts: https://empire-31ed59.beehiiv.com/forms/01a0ba12-61d0-4a12-a6c6-8bbcdb3b0060 Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Richard: https://x.com/_richardteng Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - GEODNET’s native token, GEOD, can be easily mined with a GEODNET Satellite Miner, presenting a unique opportunity to generate passive income. By setting up a GEODNET base station, you can join this groundbreaking Web3 ecosystem that is powering the future of AI and robotics. Join the revolution today and learn more at https://geodnet.com. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:06) Recruited by CZ & Binance CEO Role (11:54) Binance Listing Process (16:33) Binance Product Line (23:25) Centralized vs Decentralized Balance (29:57) Geographic Priorities (37:53) GeodNet Ad (38:53) Evolution of Crypto Exchanges - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

1000x livestreams are your chance to get Avi and Jonah to answer your crypto market questions in real time! This episode we discuss how to trade crypto's current market regime, Fed rate cuts, the BTC to alt rotation, is ETH the XRP of this cycle & much more. Enjoy! -- Follow Avi: https://x.com/AviFelman   Follow Jonah: https://x.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://x.com/1000xPod Join the 1000x Telegram: https://t.me/+fz-2f0cwC6o0MWNh -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (2:45) Active vs Passive Trading (8:45) Fed Rate Cuts (18:47) Bitcoin To Alt Rotation (29:41) Surviving As A Trader (34:12) Finding Trades In Crypto (43:28) DeFi Renaissance (48:30) ETH Is The XRP Of This Cycle -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Erik Voorhees, the founder of Shapeshift and OG of the crypto industry (joining in 2011). Erik believes crypto can change the world, and this episode explores his thesis on Bitcoin's future, on-chain maximalism, DAO structures and crypto's path to adoption. Highlights include: - What is the best form of money - Bitcoin's tail emission risk - How DeFi will outperform CeFi - Will all financial transactions be on-chain? - The likely path to adoption - Why DAO failures are a sign of innovation - Thoughts on regulation - The future of centralized exchanges - Why Thorchain is a gamechanger - - Follow Erik: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out http://paraswap.io/empire ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices and lowest slippage. Disclaimer: 0 fees are limited to 3 weeks or first 500k. - - Attend DAS, crypto and macro’s favorite institutional conference: http://digitalassetsummit.co/ Use code EMPIRE250 to get $250 off tickets (Only available this week!) -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- (00:00) Introduction (01:32) Moving Beyond Bitcoin  (03:50) Bitcoin Is The Best Form of Money (05:34) Bitcoin's Declining Block Subsidy (11:13) Woke Culture vs Bitcoin Maximalism  (12:50) The Bifurcation of CeFi and DeFi (16:18) Limits to DeFi's Growth  (22:50) Why Users Will Want To Use DeFi (26:50) A Short and Long Term Vision of the World (28:48) Paraswap Ad (29:56) The Path to Adoption (35:38) Is The Worst Behind Us? (37:22) Erik's Current Focus (38:38) DAO Structures and Experimentation (46:08) A DAOs Most Important Use Case (49:30) Iterative Regulation  (55:54) Centralized Exchanges (57:05) Thorchain's Use Case  (58:48) Advice To New People In the Space -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi discuss SBF's interview with The New York Times and his attempt to avoid all liability. We then discuss BlockFi's bankruptcy, Uniswap's new NFT marketplace, Apple banning NFT transfers on Coinbase, Bitcoin's colossal problem and more! This is the one weekly podcast you won't want to miss. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (05:00) SBF Played Us (17:00) BlockFi Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (27:00) Permissionless Tickets Are On Sale! (28:40) Uniswap Launches An NFT Marketplace (36:48) Coinbase Takes On Apple (41:38) Bitcoin Miners In More Pain (46:30) Is Bitcoin In Trouble? (53:27) Tech Layoffs & A Focus On Unit Economics (57:55) Casa Adds Ethereum Support (1:02:33) Crypto Media, Book Recs & Closing Thoughts - - Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Vox SBF interview https://bit.ly/3AZa7O4 BlockFi/FTX/Alameda recursive loan tweet https://twitter.com/ayko2718/status/1597432454070956032 Coinbase tweet on Apple https://twitter.com/CoinbaseWallet/status/1598354819735031809 The River of Doubt https://www.candicemillard.com/river-of-doubt.html - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Episode recorded on February 22nd. On today's episode of Empire Jason & Santiago are joined by Jim Bianco, Founder of Bianco Research, for a conversation on the broader markets, as well as crypto. Jim shares his macro framework for 2022 discussing Fed rate hikes, Biden's inflation problem, recessionary warnings in the bond market, crypto's correlation to traditional markets, DeFi vs CeFi Stablecoin TVL, the complexities of protocol bridging & how the financial system is ready for a new wave of innovation in the form of DeFi. -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Jake Brukhman, the founder and CEO of CoinFund, to explore the concept of crypto as a public good. We discuss: -- How crypto is a public good, and why that's important -- How public goods can monetize and accrue value -- How crypto will democratize public goods funding Tune in for these answers and more! - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (02:23) Defining Crypto's Value Proposition (07:17) Private vs Public vs Common Goods (13:59) Can Public Goods Accrue Value? (28:41) The Tragedy Of The Commons  (32:35) What Crypto Skeptics Get Wrong (38:32) Why Users Will Want Decentralized Networks (41:50) A New Business Model To Fund Public Goods (50:03) Rapid Fire Questions - - Follow Jake: https://twitter.com/jbrukh  Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw -- The Network State by Balaji https://thenetworkstate.com/ -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode of Empire Santi and Jason are joined by Blockworks Senior Reporters Casey Wagner and Ben Strack to analyze the historic first approvals of Bitcoin spot ETFs. They discuss the early winners among top asset managers, with BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale seeing significant early trading volumes. We also unpack the unfolding fee war between issuers as they slash prices to as low as 0.15% to stay competitive. We also dive into Coinbase's role as custodian for 9 of the 11 approved ETFs and discuss why their stock price surprisingly dropped. Stay tuned for all of this and much more! - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Casey: https://twitter.com/caseywagnerr Follow Ben: https://twitter.com/strack_ben Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Send your crypto to your PayPal account, swap it for PYUSD, and use it to checkout at millions of stores. Pay how you want by getting started at: https://blckwrks.co/PYUSD - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Resources Bitwise Survey https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.bitwiseinvestments.com/Research/The-Bitwise-VettaFi-2023-Benchmark-Survey.pdf - - Timestamps: (01:24) ETF Approval History (10:04) The Fee Battles & ETF Customers (15:10) Grayscale Pivoting GBTC (19:18) Flow and AUM Predictions (24:09) DAS 2024 (25:24) PayPal Ad (26:22) ETH ETF Outlook (29:08) Coinbase Stock Pullback (31:24) SEC Prosecution Impact (36:59) Circle IPO - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Gm! This week, we discuss how to trade the current market regime as the alt roulette wheel spins. While Bitcoin consolidates just below $100k, we deep dive into the return of dino coins, trading in the trenches, how to play crypto's trickle down wealth effect, the impact of Microstrategy & much more. Enjoy! -- Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Join the 1000x Telegram: https://t.me/+fz-2f0cwC6o0MWNh -- Definitive is a multichain trading platform used by top funds, DAOs and pro traders. Get the best trade execution for every token on every chain, with your order routed to every liquidity pool. Maximize your gains with automated TWAPs and Limit orders. For our 1000x listeners - get no fees on your first $100K in trading volume: blockworks.definitive.fi -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (5:03) Dealing With P&L Bias (7:50) Are We Ranging? (13:54) Definitive Ad (14:47) Retail Is Back (24:52) Trading The Trenches (27:41) Crypto's Wealth Effect (32:44) Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (47:50) SOL/ETH (49:19) NFTs (50:57) Microstrategy -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santi discuss the most anticipated event in crypto's history: the merge. It finally happened. How does the successful transition to PoS change ETH's narrative? Where will the market's attention shift next? How important is the ESG-friendly narrative? We also explore the Cosmos & multichain thesis, liquid staking derivative yields, the Doodle raise controversy and more! -- (00:00) Introduction (00:20) Happy Merge Day (12:06) Liquid Staking Derivatives (19:12) Cosmos & the Multichain Thesis (31:08) Core Ad (32:36) New Coinbase Politics Feature & DAS (38:12) Doodles Raise Controversy & NFT speculation (49:18) Figma Acquired by Adobe, Do Kwon & Book Recs - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: Travis Kling, Empire podcast https://spoti.fi/3qFbgV9 Fred Wilson's blog on Ethereum flows https://avc.com/2022/08/the-merge/ LSDs are up only tweet https://twitter.com/mhonkasalo/status/1570060055789146114 Brian Armstrong's tweet on Coinbase's new politician feature https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1570133078022160384 Fixed Rate Lending Unlock, Bell Curve podcast https://spoti.fi/3Dugefd Building Market Microstructure for NFTs https://bit.ly/3Sp54Nd -- Core, from Ava Labs, is more than just a wallet. It’s a free, non-custodial browser extension that gives Avalanche users a more seamless and secure Web3 experience. Download Core today at https://www.core.app/ -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, Santi joins the Bell Curve podcast to discuss how to solve crypto's core issues. We deep dive into market conditions, stablecoins, how long-term allocators are accumulating Bitcoin & more. Enjoy! -- Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism -- Grab your tickets to Permissionless IV. Use code EMPIRE10 for 10% off: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iv -- Resources Solana Dashboard: https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/solana?dashboard=sol-overview App Revenue by Chain: https://x.com/_ryanrconnor/status/1912944523459846580 Life on K2-18b? https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39jj9vkr34o -- SKALE is the next evolution in Layer 1 blockchains with a gas-free invisible user experience, instant finality, high speed, and robust security. SKALE is built different as it allows for limitless scalability and has already saved its 50 Million users over $11 Billion in gas fees. SKALE is high-performance and cost-effective, making it ideal for compute-intensive applications like AI, gaming, and consumer-facing dApps. Learn more at https://skale.space and stay up to date with the gas-free invisible blockchain on X at @skalenetwork -- Marinade Labs develops staking technologies that strengthen Solana. In 2021, our protocol was the first to bring liquid staking to the network; today, our sophisticated, high-performance staking delegation platform brings billions in liquidity and security to the SOL market. We have solutions for both DeFi and TradFi, including liquid and native staking, as well as direct enterprise integrations. Cryptoasset investors worldwide, from individual traders to global institutions, use Marinade to earn rewards on their SOL treasuries and holdings. To learn more about Marinade, visit marinade.finance. -- Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at www.Ledger.com -- WalletConnect is the onchain connectivity network . If you’ve connected to a Web3 app, you’ve seen WalletConnect. It’s everywhere—an icon of trust in crypto, as recognizable as Visa at checkout. The numbers speak for themselves: Over 220 million connections and 35 million users worldwide use WalletConnect to power their Web3 experience. @WalletConnect on X and Telegram or visit https://WalletConnect.Network -- AO Mainnet is LIVE! Experience the future of decentralized computing: infinite parallel processing, secure TEE-powered computations, and LLMs in smart contracts. Built on Arweave, AO's modular design shatters scalability limits. 100% of tokens are distributed to Arweave holders and bridge depositors, with a fixed supply and halving. Explore AO today: https://ao.arweave.dev -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (05:56) How Can Crypto Founders Weather the Storm? (15:54) Ads (Skale, Marinade) (17:26) Will A Potential Private Market Bubble Impact Tokenization? (21:32) Long Term Bitcoin Holders Are Accumulating (25:00) Getting Exposure to Stablecoin Growth (34:58) Ads (Skale, Marinade) (36:30) How Sticky is Stablecoin Issuance For L1s? (42:09) Why Are L1s Valued the Way They Are? (47:40) Ads (Ledger, WalletConnect, Arweave) (49:57) Crypto's Data and Transparency Problem (1:03:49) Life on K2-18b? -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

On today's episode Jason is joined by Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO at Marathon Digital Holdings. Together they explore the world of Bitcoin mining, They dig into the current state of Bitcoin mining, including the competitive landscape, access to capital and equipment, and energy costs. They discuss how miners provide grid stabilization services to utilities by controlling electricity demand and the dynamics around Bitcoin's 4-year cycles, and how the industry will likely consolidate given tightening profit margins. Hear all of this and much more! - - Follow Fred: https://twitter.com/fgthiel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - Harpie is the most advanced on-chain security solution for monitoring and protecting your crypto wallet from theft in real time. Harpie detects, blocks, and recovers compromised assets from malicious transactions before they execute, and is the only security tool to also protect users from off-chain signature attacks like the recent Ledger Connect Kit exploit. Secure your wallet for free at harpie.io. - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Timestamps: (00:00) State of Bitcoin Mining (16:00) The Business of Mining (25:24) Geopolitical and Macro Risks on Power Rates (27:42) Importance of Self Power Generation (33:18) Arbitrum Ad (34:05) Harpie Ad (35:20) How do you Navigate the Complexities of Utilities (41:19) Corporations Acquiring Bitcoin (47:38) State of Bitcoin Hashrate (51:49) Prevalance of Leverage in Mining (59:02) Growth of Bitcoin Mining - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, dives deep into the world of Layer 3 blockchains and their potential to revolutionize Ethereum scaling. The discussion covers the benefits of building on Arbitrum's customizable L3 stack, including reduced onboarding costs and improved data availability. Steven also explores the importance of fraud proofs in ensuring the security of L2 and L3 chains, as well as Arbitrum's community-sourced approach to blockchain development. The conversation touches on the future of DeFi, the role of composability and network effects, and the potential for L3s to abstract away the complexity of the blockchain stack for end-users. Stay tuned for all of this and much more! - - Follow Steven: https://twitter.com/sgoldfed Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space for the EVM to support high fidelity defi, consumer facing applications, and more generally allow crypto to scale to the masses. If you are interested in participating in Monad's journey, follow: https://twitter.com/monad_xyz and join: https://discord.gg/monad - - SKALE is a modular, AppChain network that offers zero gas fee transactions and instant finality. Tailored for ease of development and onboarding, SKALE's configurable EVM chains enable next-gen use cases in gaming, AI, DePin, and others. With over 20,000,000 users having saved over $6 Billion on gas fees, SKALE is the blockchain for mass adoption. Bridge to SKALE at portal.skale.space and stay up to date with the gasless blockchain at @skalenetwork - - Marinade is the leading Solana staking service that spreads your stake across 100+ top validators, distributes MEV rewards, and provides automatic downside protection with new Protected Staking Rewards. Choose to liquid stake for mSOL for use in DeFi, or delegate your stake through Marinade Native, which gives you full custody of your SOL and no smart contract risk. Max performance for you, max performance for Solana. https://blckwrks.co/Marinade - - Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:52 L2 State of the Union 08:07 L2 vs L3 14:00 User Acquisition Methodology 18:30 Value Accrual of L3s m 24:20 App Chain vs L3 28:46 Not Using Eth Security 36:33 Fraud Proofs 38:21 Arbitrum Ad 49:09 Monad Ad 50:07 SKALE AD 51:24 Higher Throughput Chains 58:31 Why did Coinbase pick OP 01:03:55 End Game of L3s 01:08:06 Why Not Just L1s? 01:14:57 Crypto Network Effects - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, Kain Warwick, the founder of Infinex, shares his lessons learned from building in crypto. He delves into the founder's dilemma of balancing innovation with simplicity, discussing the pitfalls of overcomplicating projects and the importance of iterative development. Kain also shares his experiences with token launches, incentive design, and regulatory challenges. To close out, Kain emphasizes the crucial role of empirical evidence in guiding decision-making and the need for founders to adapt to the ever-evolving crypto landscape. Thanks for tuning in! - - Follow Kain: https://x.com/kaiynne Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (00:36) Kain's OG Background (11:23) Founding in Crypto (22:04) Building in Crosschain DeFi (31:09) Managing Sybil Attacks (49:09) Private vs Liquid Tokens (01:01:17) Points Programs (01:05:14) Lessons Learned from Synthetix - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, we are joined by Steven Goldfeder and Harry Kalodner to discuss all things Arbitrum. We start with Coinbase's decision to leverage the OP Stack, where the "modular vision" falls apart and Arbitrum's core vision. We then ask about Arbitrum's token strategy, which leads to a unique conversation around decentralized sequencers and MEV. Steven and Harry explain the design philosophy of Abritrum and how innovations like Styles (Rust is coming to Arbitrum) will onboard the next million developers! Note: This episode was recorded prior to the ARB token and Orbit L3 announcement - - Follow Steven: https://twitter.com/sgoldfed Follow Harry: https://twitter.com/hkalodner Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources Arbitrum https://arbitrum.io/ https://twitter.com/arbitrum - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Michelle Bailhe Fradin, Partner at Sequoia for a wide ranging discussion on venture capital in crypto. Michelle shares her thoughts on the fat protocol thesis, how infrastructure development is necessary for application growth, changing business models during a bear market and what the biggest opportunities for growth are in this environment. To hear all of this and more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow Michelle: https://twitter.com/michellebailhe Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at circle.com/transparency that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:05) Ask Not Wen Moon–Ask Why Moon (04:34) The Fat Protocol Thesis (12:58) The Myth of The Infrastructure Phase (16:57) Where Is Sequoia Seeing Opportunity In Crypto? (18:53) The State of Crypto VC Funding (23:10) Circle Ad (24:52) What Metrics Do VC's Track In Crypto? (33:29) How Business Models Change In A Bear Market (36:12) Rethinking Crypto Business Models (38:19) How Active Is Sequoia In Governance? (39:52) Michelle's Thesis On DAOs (48:02) How The VC Landscape Is Changing (53:33) Opportunities Outside of Crypto - - Referenced In The Show:  Ask Not Wen Moon–Ask Why Moon: https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/ask-not-wen-moon-ask-why-moon/  Fat Protocols https://www.usv.com/writing/2016/08/fat-protocols/  The Myth of The Infrastructure Phase: https://www.usv.com/writing/2018/10/the-myth-of-the-infrastructure-phase/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Vance Spencer and Michael Anderson, co-founders of Framework Ventures, join Jason on today’s episode of “Empire.” The founders have grown Framework’s assets under management from $14 million to over $1.4 billion in just three years. The co-founders share their thoughts on the layer-2 scaling thesis and why every project will eventually fork their own layer-2. Vance and Michael believe the shift to layer-2s is inevitable — it’s the endgame in maximizing token value. They then dive into staking and staking derivatives and why the Ethereum merge will bring about the birth of a new industry. This might be the most alpha ever dropped in one podcast — don’t miss it! - - Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe To Our Podcast: apple.co/3srZf7M or sptfy.com/8bQc -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. -- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:21) Yuga Labs debacle and scaling solutions (07:40) Application-specific L2s (09:07) Are L2 tokens parasitic to L1 tokens? (11:27)The multichain future (15:58) $10B hack prediction (17:57) Lido and Staking (23:27) Is The ETH Merge Priced In? (27:41) How To Outperform ETH (30:24) Fundamental Analysis (32:54) Institutional strategies and the ETH flippening (38:56) Paraswap Ad (40:05) Bearish AMMs, Bullish PFOF (45:14) Are we just recreating TradFi? (47:22) Revisiting the OG DeFi protocols (50:50) Tokenomics (55:14) Investing in GameFi (1:04:58) Enterprise blockchains (1:09:54) Super DAOs (1:11:54) 2022 Outlook -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

The Hivemind team dives into crypto's hottest narratives heading into 2025. They kick off with their expectations of Bitcoin heading into January and debate the odds of Trump's strategic reserve move. The team then unpacks the emerging AI agent ecosystem, debating whether platform tokens like Virtuals will outperform individual agents, before concluding an analysis of the merits of early-stage investing through platforms like Echo and Legion versus staying liquid in the current market cycle. Thanks for tuning in! Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Ceteris: https://twitter.com/ceterispar1bus Follow Jose: https://x.com/ZeMariaMacedo Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman Follow Jason: https://x.com/3xliquidated Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (2:22) Crypto's EOY Outlook (19:27) Solana's Outlook & Competing App Chains (28:51) 2025 Markets Report (37:58) The Return of Fundamentals (40:28) AI Agent Meta (54:38) What's Next for AI Agents? (1:02:30) Liquid vs Venture - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Colleen Sullivan is a founder at CMT — but before that, she spent her summers fighting for space in the pit in Chicago. We talked about how those experiences informed her career, and what her legal experience has taught her about the landscape today. ––– LUKKA Minimize your crypto taxes and maximize your refund with Lukka Essentials. Dozens of exchange APIs and hundreds of mapped file formats makes it easy to upload your transaction history. With no limits on exchanges or transaction count, file your 2020 taxes for just $19.95 whether you have 10 transactions or 1 million. Go to http://tax.lukka.tech/empire to sign up and generate 2020 tax forms today. ––– EXODUS Download the app today at http://exodus.com/empire and iOS users can buy up to $500 in Bitcoin for just $1 for a limited time. ––– Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!

Anil is the Chief Operating Officer at Delphi Digital, and joins us to talk about DeFi, crypto gaming, and how he got so bullish on NFTs. ––– LUKKA Lukka Prime is crypto asset pricing data aligned to accounting standards like GAAP and IFRS. Lukka Prime Pricing Data is the pricing source used by S&P Dow Jones Indices’ for their new cryptocurrency indices. Lukka Prime is the world’s first fair market value pricing source for crypto assets and the best option for all post-trade reporting needs. Visit lukka.tech/empire to learn more. ––– EXODUS Download the app today at http://exodus.com/empire and iOS users can buy up to $500 in Bitcoin for just $1 for a limited time. ––– Get unparalleled access to the greatest minds in macro at Blockworks’ three day, executive summit in Bretton Woods. August 11 - 13. Apply to attend today! https://blockworks.co/brettonwoods/empire --- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!

In today’s episode of Empire, we discuss how crypto startups are running out of cash. Will more companies quietly shut down, and how will the survivors navigate the market? One group of people can strongly impact this outcome: Crypto VCs. We explore what decisions these VCs are facing, if they'll be able to raise funds from LPs, their hardest challenges and more! This is a short episode that's packed with insights. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:57) Nike x Tiffany collab (10:38) Celsius lacks leadership (12:45) Private companies will quietly shut down (15:53) How VCs operate (22:12) Blockworks Research Ad (27:45) Challenges of running a crypto VC fund (32:55) Fundraising terms matter (34:23) Lessons learned from past cycles - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources Bell Curve podcast http://bit.ly/3HVuKi1 LVMH story https://www.ft.com/content/c79eccfc-fca1-11e9-a354-36acbbb0d9b6 - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode of Empire Jason and Santi dive into the latest crypto news, including the FASB fair value ruling for Bitcoin, the Ledger exploit, and the controversy around Rainbow's new points system. They debate the pros and cons of new yield generating protocols like Manta and BLAST, make 2024 predictions about the proliferation of L2 platforms with native yield, and discuss whether investing in early DeFi protocols still makes sense. Tune in for all this and much more! - - Northstake simplifies the way institutional investors own a stake in Web3 by offering regulatory-compliant staking products. By ensuring institutional investors can participate in the burgeoning crypto market while adhering to the necessary legal and regulatory requirements. To learn how Northstake is bridging the gap between crypto and institutions go to: https://www.northstake.dk/tokenized-eth-staking - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE20 to get 20% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Timestamps (00:02) Introduction (06:26) FASB Confirms 'Fair Value' Approach (14:37) Ledger Connect Kit Exploit (31:27) Point System Hate (41:38) Layer0 Launch Video (45:26) 2024 Predictions (55:06) Are OG DeFi Protocols Investments? - - Resources Layer0 Research Report & Video https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/layer-zero-v2-the-decoupling-of-security-and-execution https://x.com/LayerZero_Labs/status/1735317463032893946 Ledger Exploit https://blockworks.co/news/ledger-statement-on-phishing-hack - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Sreeram Kannan and Calvin Liu explain how EigenLayer creates a market for decentralized trust to enable permissionless infrastructure innovation. We explore EigenLayer's core use cases, slashing mechanics, economic incentives, re-staking risks and more. EigenLayer might be the most underrated project in Ethereum right now. Tune in to find out why! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:08) EigenLayer 101 (18:04) Liquid vs Native Staking (24:24) Why Calvin Joined EigenLayer (28:51) Core Use Cases (49:50) Improper Slashing Risk (1:00:00) EigenLayer’s Flywheel and Business Model (1:05:45) Systemic Risks: Overleveraging Staked ETH - - Follow Sreeram:https://twitter.com/sreeramkannan Follow Calvin: https://twitter.com/cjliu49 Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources EigenLayer https://www.eigenlayer.com/ EigenLayer's Twitter https://twitter.com/eigenlayer - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santiago are joined by Andrew Steinwold Managing Partner at Sfermion & John Crain CEO of SuperRare Labs. Andrew & John saw the potential of NFTs years before most in 2018, just after Crypto Kitties broke the Ethereum blockchain. We decided to invite them to Empire to discuss the explosive growth in NFTs throughout 2020/21, how the industry has developed since their introduction around 2018 and what is the future for the NFT market. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. Find out more about them at https://www.paraswap.io/ -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show!

In this episode of Empire, Santi is joined by Zack Skelly and Aurora Harshner to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the Web3 talent market. How should employees and companies think about token compensation? Is compensation transparency an opportunity or a liability? How can we bring more talent to crypto? And what should you think about when joining a Web3 company? Tune in for these answers and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (04:23) Crypto's Talent Pool (13:40) What Positions Are Companies Hiring? (22:05) Hiring Anons, DAOs & The Future of Work (29:06) Circle Ad (30:48) Opportunities & Challenges Of Token Compensation (51:53) Back Channeling and References (58:07) Recruiting Tactics (1:03:36) How Do You Convey Culture? - - Follow Zack: https://twitter.com/zorkary Follow Aurora: https://twitter.com/aharshner Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Aurora's website https://www.auroraharshner.com/ Dragonfly's Job Board https://jobs.dragonfly.xyz/jobs Dragonfly's Medium https://medium.com/dragonfly-research - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Follow 1000x On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/45htDli Follow 1000x On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3Kz0Bpw Follow 1000x On YouTube: https://bit.ly/3DNc5C6 -- On today's episode of 1000x, Avi & Jonah discuss the recent Bitcoin sell-off, perfecting a trading strategy to avoid periods of volatility & key principles for a successful trading strategy. We then dive deep into crypto's latest hype & potential "perfect use case"... Friend.tech. Arguing that you need to be paying attention, Avi & Jonah weight in on the bull vs bear case for the social media platform. To hear all this & more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:48) Bitcoin Tumbles To $26,000 (09:13) Finding A Trading Process (17:28) Defining Value In Crypto (23:01) A Debate On Friend.tech (36:17) The Financialization Of Friend.tech -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Join Santi and guests Rebeca Rettig and Jake Chervinsky in today's special Policy Series episode as they discuss the landmark Ripple case and its monumental impact. Explore the implications for future legislation, token sales practices, decentralization & governance, and get updates on MiCA & EU regulations.  - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:24) Landmark Ripple Case (14:00) Verdict Impact on Industry Financing (19:08) What's Next for Ripple Case? (24:35) Influence on Future Legislation (28:36) Token Sales in Practice (38:31) Decentralization & Governance (48:57) Digital Asset Market Structure Proposal (56:25) Updates on MiCA & EU (01:01:18) Call Your Representatives (01:09:02) Futures Curve (01:15:07) Recession Risk - - Follow Rebecca: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRettig1 Follow Jake: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - This episode is brought to you by Chainalysis.  Chainalysis is the blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, web3 companies, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies. Our data powers investigation, compliance, and business intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases.  For more information, visit www.Chainalysis.com/empire. - - Resources   Crypto Usecases thevaluedrop.io  The Blockchain Association https://theblockchainassociation.org/ https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn - -  Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode of Empire Jason is joined by Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck, a firm overseeing $76.4 billion in assets, and Martin Leinweber, a digital asset strategist at Market Vector Indexes. They dive into conversation ranging from the macroeconomic climate to the prospects of a Bitcoin ETF approval. They dissect how MarketVector aims to capture crypto native value through Ethereum staking rewards and other on-chain metrics, the demand for these products from institutions, and how MarketVector creates investible crypto products for institutions to get exposure.  - - Follow Jan van Eck: https://twitter.com/JanvanEck3 Follow Martin Leinweber: https://twitter.com/mleinweber2 Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - Planning to grant token awards for your team? Toku makes implementing global token compensation and incentive awards simple. With Toku, you get unmatched legal and tax support to grant and administer your global team’s tokens. Toku navigates it across the lifecycle — from easy to use token grant award templates through tracking vesting to managing tax withholdings. Make it simple today, at https://www.toku.com/empire - - Timestamps: (00:00) Macro Sentiment Check (07:51) Budget Deficit Concern: Overblown? (14:15) The van Eck Origin Story (18:31) The 60-40 Portfolio (22:23) Bitcoin ETF Likelihood in 2023 vs 2024 (28:11) Toku Ad (29:25) MarketVector Changing Data and Indices (40:46) Demand for Onchain Yield (45:19) Corporate Strategy Focus on Crypto (48:48) Identifying Tokens with Economic Traction (53:15) Central Banks Buying BTC - - Resources - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Marty Bent of Great American Mining and Harry Sudock of GRIID. Marty & Harry are focused on using stranded or otherwise wasted energy to mine Bitcoin whilst reducing flaring, methane and carbon emissions whilst doing so. Marty & Harry discuss the multi billion dollar opportunity in Bitcoin mining, the energy arbitrage opportunity, how the energy grid actually operates, the energy consumption debate and the Lightning Network. -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

In today's episode Jason and Santi are joined by Solana Labs founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko and Ben Sparango, the Head of Strategic Business Development. The duo has returned to discuss Solana's progress beyond the FTX fallout. They dive into Solana's priorities around scaling, fees, and alignment incentives between builders and validators. Anatoly elaborates on the network effects of open-sourcing core technology like the SVM, while Ben highlights mobile adoption and NFTs as driving new crypto demand. They debate the trajectory for permissionless finance to run mainstream markets on Solana, and whether the Saga phone can make a dent in Apple and Google's distribution monopolies. We hope you enjoy! - - Follow Anatoly: https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - Harpie is the most advanced on-chain security solution for monitoring and protecting your crypto wallet from theft in real time. Harpie detects, blocks, and recovers compromised assets from malicious transactions before they execute, and is the only security tool to also protect users from off-chain signature attacks like the recent Ledger Connect Kit exploit. Secure your wallet for free at harpie.io. - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Timestamps (02:00) The Solana Recovery Post SBF (10:30) Priorities for Solana Development (22:14) The Next Gen L1 Case for Builders (24:56) Economics of the SVM (34:17) State of Solana Fee Market (48:18) Inflation & Staking Dynamics (51:17) DAS 2024 (52:32) Arbitrum Ad (53:18) Harpie Ad (54:32) Open Source & Security Approach (01:02:02) Governance & Alignment (01:12:25) The Value of Permisionless Systems (01:19:04) Saga Mobile Strategy & Potential (01:25:14) Remaining Moonshot Ideas - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santiago are joined by two crypto market experts, Jonah Van Bourg & Genia Mikhalchenko, to discuss the anatomy of a trade. An asset's price is derived from supply and demand, but who provides this liquidity, how are trades executed and what parties are involved? Tune in to find out & check out the highlights below! - The role of market makers - Why liquidity is the lifeblood of trading - How liquidity providers performed in the recent market crash - Why trade size matters and the risks of front running - The 3 most important things when evaluating an exchange - Understanding counterparty risks - How much leverage is left in the system - Consolidation is coming - Will legacy financial institutions compete with crypto-native service providers - - Follow Genia: https://twitter.com/Genia_xx Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources Cumberland website https://cumberland.io/ BitMEX website https://www.bitmex.com/ -- (00:00) Introduction (01:36) How Market Makers Work (08:42) Operating An Exchange In a Bear Market (11:10) The Risk of Front Running (15:47) Understanding Counterparty Risk (18:50) Balancing Retail & Institutional Liquidity (25:50) How Much Leverage Is Left In the System? (32:40) The Relationship Between DeFi and Centralized Services (37:43) Biggest Opportunities, On and Off Chain (40:40) Consolidation Is Coming (43:06) Are Legacy Financial Institutions A Threat to Crypto Service Providers? (46:32) Rapid Fire Questions -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode we are joined by One River and Coinbase Asset Management CEO Eric Peters to unpack how institutions are thinking about crypto this cycle. Eric breaks down why infrastructure providers like Coinbase are positioned to be the biggest winners, how tokenized equities could transform global market access, and what the institutional capital cycle means for Bitcoin, ETH, and Solana. Eric also breaks down why we're at the beginning of a complete reboot of financial architecture and how to navigate this from a portfolio perspective. Thanks for tuning in! - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Eric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesericpeters/ Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7ww Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Explore the SKALE Ecosystem at skale.space/ecosystem and stay up to date with the gas-free blockchain on X at @skalenetwork - - It's time for an on chain Binance to emerge. Magic Eden is getting into token trading and their vision is to become on chain Binance and then much more as the entire world ends up moving on chain - - The self-custody wallet that's built for swapping. Created for a multi-chain world by the most trusted team in DeFi. Available on Chrome, iOS, and Android. https://blckwrks.co/UniswapWallet - - $cmETH, a Mantle native liquid restaking token, will launch together with Season 2: Methamorphosis, allowing users to easily participate in restaking, and earn $COOK rewards in addition to other yields. $COOK, the governance token of mETH Protocol, will allow holders to play a pivotal role in directing the strategic future of mETH Protocol. Learn more: https://x.com/mETHProtocol - - Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at Ledger.com - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:50) Impact of Election (16:27) Global Macro Outlook (29:42) Crypto's Secular Trend  (42:31) Skale Ad (43:11) Magic Eden Ad (43:55) Uniswap Ad (44:27) Mantle Ad (45:21) Ledger Ad (46:04) Impact of Institutional Adoption (49:11) Bull and Bear Cases for BTC (54:11) Eth & Sol Outlook (01:01:50) The Cycle Trade (01:08:11) Corporates Buying BTC - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, host Santi dives into the world of Web3 gaming with Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Immutable - an Ethereum gaming protocol enabling true digital asset ownership for gamers. Robbie explains how Immutable allows game developers to build Web3 mechanics into their titles. They also explore the intersection of blockchains and games, Ethereum's role, and the need for scalable solutions as adoption grows. To close out Robbie discusses the challenges and future landscape of Web3 gaming, including excitement around new collaborations and partnerships primed to redefine the space. We hope you enjoy! - - Follow Robbie: https://twitter.com/0xferg Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE20 to get 20% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (01:59) Immutable Origin Story (17:07) Selecting the Base Layer (25:18) State of Crypto Gaming (32:02) Crypto Gaming Outlook (36:42) Scalability of Web3 Games (42:22) The Bear Case of Crypto Gaming (44:44) GTM & What's Next for Immutable (50:22) Challenges of Web2 Gaming - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santi discuss MakerDAO's end game. Maker is often called the backbone of DeFi and will have to choose if the protocol embraces regulation or maximizes decentralization. We explore Rune's recent proposal, Maker's two options and why we are bullish. We also discuss Michael Saylor's tax evasion lawsuit, the release of Arbitrum Nitro, the governance timelock debate and a new Aave proposal. -- (00:00) Introduction (02:36) Michael Saylor accused of tax fraud (08:30) Maker DAO’s End Game & Crypto’s Potential Compromise (21:06) Core Ad (22:33) Crypto's Potential Compromise Cont. (29:01) Compound Bug and the Governance Timelock Debate (35:58) Arbitrum Nitro Launch (41:23) Aave ETH Lending Proposal & Merge Craziness (44:30) DeFi Will Lead the Way In the Next Bull - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: Rune's post on "free float" DAI https://bit.ly/3RskrDL Jason's tweet announcing he's now a MakerDAO delegate https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1564310872423645184 Sam Martin's tweet on Arbitrum vs Optimism usage https://twitter.com/swmartin19/status/1565339068069584901 -- Core, from Ava Labs, is more than just a wallet. It’s a free, non-custodial browser extension that gives Avalanche users a more seamless and secure Web3 experience. Download Core today at https://www.core.app/ -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today’s episode of Empire, we bring on Mike and Mark from On The Margin to discuss our 2023 crypto thesis. We debate predictions on the Wallet Wars, ETH vs Bitcoin, the rise of insurance, app-specific vertical integration, the adoption of CBDCs, Coinbase vs DEXs, MEV as a business model and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:14) Crypto’s 2022 Wrapped (11:52) The Bottom is in for Crypto, not for Equities (19:35) Kings of Spot & NFT Trading Will Lose Market Share (22:44) Stablecoins, DeFi’s Resurgence and Permissioned Protocols (28:02) Regulators are Coming, and the CBDC debate (33:23) MEV will be the Business Model for DeFi & Exchanges (42:05) No Industry Takes Off Without Insurance (48:48) A Market Bottom & the Value of Memes (52:36) ETH vs Bitcoin (spicy) (1:03:34) Miner Capitulation, Wallet Wars & Gaming (1:11:31) Vertical Integration, Privacy and Payments (1:17:51) The Rise of Professional Guilds - - Follow Mark: https://twitter.com/MarkYusko Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Empire links Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod On The Margin links Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3YGtdml Subscribe on Apple: https://bit.ly/3BUZXhK Subscribe on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3hHY1m4 Follow OTM: https://twitter.com/OnTheMarginPod Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today’s episode of Empire, we discuss the upcoming Shanghai upgrade and Lido's liquid staking monopoly. What will happen to stake rates once withdrawals are enabled? Will LSD providers steal market share from Lido? We also discuss Genesis' terrible GBTC trade, why we're feeling optimistic, FTX recovering $5B, Japan's most popular blockchain and how people still underestimate the power of BD in crypto (e.g. the Avalanche AWS partnership)! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:21) Crypto Conferences & the January Effect (09:30) Genesis’ Terrible Risk/Reward Trade (20:08) FTX Finds $5B of Assets (24:38) SBF’s Substack Post (28:56) Why We're Still Feeling Optimistic (37:21) How the Shanghai Upgrade will Impact ETH staking rates (44:16) When to Sell (a Crypto Funds Perspective) (48:16) Has Lido Won the LSD Battle? (52:53) Avalanche Partners With AWS (1:01:07) Japan’s Most Popular Blockchain (1:03:39) Coinbase and Blockchain.com Layoffs (1:05:00) On-Chain US Treasuries (Ondo Finance) (1:07:25) Book Recommendations - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources Thinking in Probabilities (Byron newsletter) https://blockworks.co/newsletter/issue/30211866 SBF's Substack https://sambf.substack.com/ Ryan Watkins tweet https://twitter.com/RyanWatkins_/status/1612872737134870528 Astar https://astar.network/starmap/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Yawn Rong, co-founder of STEPN. STEPN is a widely successful Web3 application where users are paid to move (walk, jog or sprint). Yes, that may sound slightly dubious but tell that to the 1.7M+ active users STEPN garnered in only six months after launch. Tune in to find out why STEPN was so successful and how STEPN plans to be the onboarding ecosystem of Web3! Highlights include: - STEPN's pivot to Web2 - How STEPN's two token system works - Why Yawn believes STEPN will avoid Axie's fate - How STEPN will expand across chains via Realms - Why STEPN isn't adopting other exercise types - Mechanics to retain users - STEPN's focus on offline networks - How to prevent users from gaming STEPN - Potential partnerships - Yawn's learnings from building in Web3 - - Follow Yawn: https://twitter.com/yawn_rong Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Core, from Ava Labs, is more than just a wallet. It’s a free, non-custodial browser extension that gives Avalanche users a more seamless and secure Web3 experience. Download Core today at https://www.core.app/ -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- (00:00) Introduction (03:39) STEPN's Pivot to Embrace Web2 (08:50) STEPN Overview & The Two Token System (13:12) Avoiding Axie Infinity's Fate (15:48) A Response to the Ponzi Accusation (21:59) The Competition (23:59) Expanding Chains With Realms (26:26) How To Scale (29:33) CORE (31:02) User Retention In a Bear Market (34:29) How To Prevent People From Gaming The System (41:29) Will STEPN support other exercise types (43:52) Strategy to be the billboard of Web3 (45:39) Building offline networks (47:58) Onboarding Users (50:44) User Behaviour (55:27) Partnering With Insurance Companies (57:09) Learnings From Building In Web3 (1:01:05) Holding Conviction During a Bear -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire Jason is joined by Blockworks Co-Founder Mike Ippolito for a very special episode. Six months after identifying the '7 biggest crypto trends', Mike returns to Empire to share his predictions for the crypto industry throughout 2022. Will Bitcoin surprise everyone with a major bull run in the new year? How large will DAOs become? Could a crypto company buy a bank?! Listen to find out. Today's 7 biggest crypto trends: https://youtu.be/JjrQiNKN5U0 -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. Find out more about them at https://www.paraswap.io/ -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!

In this episode, Santi and Jason discuss their respective journey’s as founders and investors. They also unpack the growing success of DePIN and payments systems on Solana, and their respective future outlooks. Additionally, they think through portfolio construction in a world dominated by AI. Finally, they close out the episode by breaking down BitGo’s new stablecoin model. Thanks for tuning in! Resources Why Air Rights Are Trading on Crypto Rails: https://apple.co/3TUp9hA How Crypto Fixes the Internet Monopoly: https://apple.co/3XmqRsD Why GPS Needs Crypto to Evolve: https://apple.co/4eODzHR Blockworks Disclosures: https://blockworks.co/financial-disclosures - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7ww Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Anoma is the universal intent machine, introducing a new era of applications where you define the outcomes you want. Anoma’s intent-centric architecture provides a universal operating system for building intent-centric apps compatible with any blockchain. Anoma vastly improves blockchain UX, enables novel applications, and promotes a more human-centric future for decentralized technology. Follow Anoma at x.com/anoma and sign up for the newsletter at anoma.net –  Supra Containers are secured by Supra’s L1 nodes and get access to Supra’s 500k TPS throughput, sub-second consensus latency, and all their built-in services like oracle price feeds and onchain randomness without any overhead. Supra is also MultiVM compatible so you can easily deploy your EVM, Move, and SVM smart contracts here. Get all the freedom, control, and tools you need to build super dApps and bring the world onchain. To learn more, visit www.supra.com/blockworks - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:25) Founding and Growing Blockworks (12:54) Founders vs Investors (23:14) Santi at Oktoberfest (26:53) The Secondary Watch Market (29:18) Permissionless III's Speaker Lineup (34:13) Anoma ad (35:15) Supra Ad (36:13) DePIN and Payments on Solana (44:45) Does Bitcoin Work as a Safe Haven Asset? (52:38) Thinking Through Portfolio Construction (01:04:35) BitGo Announces USDS Stablecoin - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guest

In today's episode of Empire's Roundup, the long-awaited return of Santi and Jason discussing the latest in crypto, DeFi, and more has finally landed. They refresh some predictions around ETH for 2022 and discuss the Optimism airdrop, the BAYC Instagram hack, Osmosis's canonical bridge vote, and announcements from funds and initiatives alike. You won't want to miss this! -- BitMEX is back and better than ever. Sign up for BitmEX's new Spot Exchange for a chance to win a piece of $500,000 in BTC (new users). Learn more about them at https://www.bitmex.com/ -- Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M -- Timestamps: (00:00)・Introduction (01:50)・The Permissionless conference (03:05)・Optimism's airdrop & implications (20:06)・Predictions for an Ethereum and P2E Summer (23:56)・BAYC Instagram hack (29:08)・Is it the NFT top? (35:55)・Be a crypto user (38:35)・A proliferation of algo stablecoins (44:30)・BTC as the global reserve layer of the world (47:02)・Osmosis votes in Axelar as the canonical bridge (49:05)・Fidelity's 401K BTC announcement (50:52)・Dragonfly launches a $650M crypto fund (52:18)・Current favorite shows and podcasts

Today we are joined by Josh Bown (Astria) and Ben Fisch (Espresso Systems) to discuss the role of shared sequencers in the modular future. Josh and Ben explain the risks of centralized sequencers, why rollups will use a shared sequencer and the core tradeoffs. What is the value proposition of a shared sequencer? How will MEV be allocated between rollups and sequencers? Why haven't rollups already decentralized their sequencer? We discuss these questions and more in this epic conversation! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (04:27) The Role of a Sequencer (11:24) The Risks of Centralized Sequencers (20:13) Using the L1 as the Sequencer (23:12) Why Use a Shared Sequencer? (34:56) Quicknode (36:43) Kwenta (37:40) The Tradeoffs (40:35) Who will be the Sequencers? (45:23) The AWS Analogy (50:27) Economic Capture and Allocation Challenges (58:28) How Block Times Impact Shared Sequencing (01:01:12) Competition (01:05:04) Restaking Risk and Timelines - - Follow Josh: https://twitter.com/Jskybowen Follow Ben: https://twitter.com/benafisch Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - This episode is brought to you by Quicknode. QuickNode is an end-to-end blockchain developer platform that makes building Web3 apps easy. Go to QuickNode.com and use code Empire for a free month on their feature-packed Build Plan! - - This episode is brought to you by Kwenta, the premier derivatives trading platform on Optimism that offers deep liquidity, low fees and up to 50x leverage across 24+ assets. Go to Kwenta.io and start trading today! - - Resources Espresso Systems https://www.espressosys.com/ https://twitter.com/EspressoSys Astria https://www.astria.org/ https://twitter.com/AstriaOrg - -  Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Colleen Sullivan and Peter Johnson join us to discuss their predictions for 2023. We cover the future of NFTs, gaming, trading infrastructure, stablecoins, regulation, AppChains and more! This episode is packed with insights from two top VCs in crypto - you won't want to miss it. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:04) Why Choose Optimism (04:22) Stablecoin Volumes Will Surpass Visa Volumes (11:59) Brands, NFTs and Polygon's Lead (25:31) Gaming Studios Will Integrate NFTs (29:48) The Financialization of NFTs (38:08) Gaming Interoperability (42:42) The Unbundling of NFT Marketplaces (49:38) Changes to Market Trading Infrastructure (51:35) DeFi Regulation, Macro and Bitcoin’s Narrative (1:10:42) The Separation of Brokerage, Custody and Settlement (1:14:40) 2023’s Prevailing Narrative (1:19:17) The AppChain Thesis & IRL Yields in Crypto (1:22:47) Steady Adoption & Strong Beliefs - - Follow Colleen: https://twitter.com/colleenklein Follow Peter: https://twitter.com/TheChicagoVC Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources What to Expect for NFTs and Digital Goods in 2023 https://blockworks.co/news/digital-goods-nfts-2023 What to Expect From Web3 Gaming in 2023 https://blockworks.co/news/web3-gaming-2023 What to Expect for Ethereum and Blockchain Infrastructure in 2023 https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-blockchain-infrastructure-2023 Tokengated Commerce https://www.notboring.co/p/tokengated-commerce Financial Times (Alan Howard) https://www.ft.com/content/e89061dd-634e-4024-b74a-5a102d4eb552 - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, the Hivemind team dives deep into the phenomenon of AI memecoins, unpacking the meteoric rise of GOAT and its implications. They then explore Solana's dominance in the current cycle and what it means for the ecosystem. The conversation shifts to macro concerns as they discuss Paul Tudor Jones and Druckenmiller's warnings about the US fiscal situation. Finally, they analyze Stripe's major $1.1B acquisition of Bridge and its implications for stablecoin adoption. Thanks for tuning in! - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Ceteris: https://twitter.com/ceterispar1bus Follow Jose: https://x.com/ZeMariaMacedo Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman Follow Duncan: https://x.com/FloodCapital Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (1:17) GOAT AI Meta (8:18) AI vs Memecoin (24:45) Who is Winning this Cycle? (29:52) US Fiscal Situation (39:58) Kraken L2 & Optimism Superchains (41:40) Strip Spends $1.1b on Bridge - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, the Hivemind team discuss the macro uncertainty impacting markets, the future of meme coins, and a deep dive into Hyperliquid and its valuation. We also dig into the bull case of Celestia, Ethena’s new L1, the new era of programming, and more. Enjoy!. -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire Follow Ceteris: https://x.com/ceterispar1bus Follow Jose: https://x.com/ZeMariaMacedo Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman Follow Duncan: https://x.com/FloodCapital Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4jYEkBx Subscribe on Apple: https://bit.ly/3ECSmJ3 Subscribe on Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hzy9lH Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (1:50) Market Overview and Bitcoin's Position (4:15) Macro Trends and Economic Uncertainty (10:21) Crypto Market Sentiment and Predictions (14:32) The Future of Meme Coins (19:33) Hyperliquid Deep Dive (32:22) Understanding Celestia's Role in Blockchain (40:11) Comparing Celestia to Ethereum (44:10) Ethena's New L1: Converge (54:33) Vibe Coding: The New Era of Programming (1:04:04) Delphi's AI and Crypto Accelerator -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Arthur_0x, the founder of Defiance Capital, joins us to discuss the fallout from FTX's collapse. Arthur is a DeFi OG with a unique perspective on market dynamics and ecosystem-wide liquidations. His fund was directly impacted by the 3AC meltdown, giving Arthur a front-row seat to the complexities of liquidations and contagion. We discuss Alameda's outsized contagion risk, why this might be the most complex liquidation in history, the damage to the Solana ecosystem, private vs public markets and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:02) The Unintended Consequences Of Authority (05:37) Due Diligence In A Bull Market (08:18) What Was Great About FTX? (10:40) FTX Contagion Explained (18:05) Did You See Red Flags? (23:45) Did Sam Always Have Bad Intentions? (28:04) Why Did CZ Wait Until Now? (30:47) Circle Ad (32:48) Damage To The Solana Ecosystem (39:48) The Most Complex Liquidation Process In History (44:38) Tokens vs Equity, Private vs Public Markets (53:30) Arthur’s Biggest Takeaway - - Follow Arthur: https://twitter.com/Arthur_0x Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Sequoia's FTX Memo https://twitter.com/zebulgar/status/1590394857474109441 Solana FTX Documentation Page https://solana.com/news/solana-facts-ftx-bankruptcy Defiance Capital https://defiance.capital/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Avi Felman and Jonah Van Bourg to discuss their new podcast 1000x and the state of crypto markets. Avi and Jonah explain their trading mindset, how to evaluate the buyers/sellers in the market, crypto's investment cycle, how catastrophe creates opportunity and more! A new 1000x episode will drop on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. Links below! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:07) 1000x Podcast Launch (04:33) Market Outlook (07:48) Who’s Buying, Who’s Selling? (18:10) Crypto’s Investment Cycle (21:10) How Are People Positioned Right Now? (23:23) Leverage In The System (25:05) Trading Around Governance Events - - Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources 1000x YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEAwYFRFUuekaEmKz4oiB_A The Prize https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169354.The_Prize Sushi's protocol fee proposal https://bit.ly/3FWvOkA - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Today we are joined by Julian Holguin, the CEO of Doodles. Julian reveals how Doodles is creating an IP powerhouse that will become the Pixar of Web3. The OG Doodles NFT collection is just the tip of the iceberg (their "Toy Story"), with even more exciting things to come. In this episode, Julian explains the power of combining narrative with technology, Doodles' business plan and collaboration with global brands, the secret to community content creation, Doodles' growth strategy and more! You won't want to miss this inside look at one of the most captivating NFT/IP houses in Web3! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:26) Doodles Origin Story (08:44) Julian’s Digital Media Background (15:41) Building the Pixar of Web3 (20:09) Why Leverage NFTs? (23:47) The Impact of Doodle’s Floor Price (27:16) Quicknode (29:04) Synthetix (30:43) The Business Model (39:29) Collaborations with Global Brands (44:32) Why Choose Flow for Doodles 2? (51:12) Scarcity, Utility and Community Content Creation (58:49) The Doodle Bank (01:04:46) Doodle’s Audience and Value Accrual - - Follow Julian: https://twitter.com/jholguin Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - This episode is brought to you by Quicknode. QuickNode is an end-to-end blockchain developer platform that makes building Web3 apps easy. Go to QuickNode.com and use code Empire for a free month on their feature-packed Build Plan! - - This episode is brought to you by Synthetix. Synthetix Perps is the most efficient decentralized perpetual futures engine, with 5/10 bp fees and up to 25x leverage. With a growing list of over 20 tradable markets, Synthetix Perps are available on Optimism via Kwenta.io and Polynomial.fi, with more coming soon! As a permissionless liquidity layer, Synthetix makes it easy for any protocol to integrate perps and earn 5%-10% of trade fees. - - Resources Doodles https://doodles.app/ https://twitter.com/doodles - -  Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, Jason is joined by Rob Leshner, former founder of Compound, to discuss his newly created venture Superstate. We cover the challenges & impacts of bringing RWAs on-chain, the go-to-market strategy and competitive landscape for Superstate, and the upcoming battleground for stablecoins.  - - Timestamps: (00:00) What is Superstate (08:06) Challenges of bringing RWAs on-chain (18:27) Impact of Trad Assets on Crypto (28:52) Quicknode ad (30:39) Carbon Ad (32:18) Superstate Raise & Competitive Landscape (38:07) Legal Challenges of Superstate GTM (41:24) Taking on Stablecoins & Token Model (47:48) Exploring On-Chain KYC (51:31) Business Model & Founding a Company - - Follow Rob Leshner: https://twitter.com/rleshner Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - This episode is brought to you by Carbon.  Carbon is a new DEX on Ethereum that makes concentrated liquidity easy. LPs can automate their liquidity strategy with custom on-chain limit and range orders: all from a beautiful UI.  Don't miss out on Carbon's "ROI Trading Competition" that's live until July 11! Here’s how to play: Click this Carbon link: https://bit.ly/43Vo2AB Create a new Carbon strategy  Boom. You're eligible to win USDC rewards based on the performance of your strategy - - This episode is brought to you by QuickNode.  QuickNode is an end-to-end blockchain developer platform that makes building Web3 apps easy. Go to QuickNode.com and use code Empire for a free month on their feature-packed Build Plan! - -  Resources Superstate Website https://superstate.co/  https://twitter.com/superstatefunds - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Mike discuss the current state of crypto. It's officially a bear market, so how are companies and DAOs responding? What are the stories that you need to know? Tune in to find out. Highlights include: Did companies overhire What happens in a down round Why we need to separate investors from traders DAOs look to stables and the need for debt financing The Coinbase vs FTX strategy debate Is the Lummis bill good for crypto Enterprise blockchains are back Optimism loses 20M OP tokens ApeCoin DAO sides with Ethereum - - Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: BlockFi down round https://tinyurl.com/2tej9jyf Novogratz says 2/3 of crypto funds will fail https://tinyurl.com/yh4x2jsu Lido, FEI and Frax proposals https://research.lido.fi/t/lido-to-prepare-for-the-bear-market/2318/5 https://tribe.fei.money/t/tip-110-simplify-pcv/4323 https://gov.frax.finance/t/fip-77-20m-fxs-buyback-program-using-twamm/1523 SBF on Empire https://tinyurl.com/23wp5uza SBF on Invest Like The Best https://tinyurl.com/2p8wsdfe FTX surpasses Coinbase in BTC & ETH spot trading https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/state-of-the-network-issue-158?s=r Coinbase job portal https://coda.io/@coinbase-talent/coinbase-talent-hub/ Richard Burton article on how crypto is like building hardware https://tinyurl.com/ytww6ap7 Tim Beiko on Bankless https://tinyurl.com/2vxmcdux -- BitMEX is back and better than ever. Sign up for BitmEX's new Spot Exchange for a chance to win a piece of $500,000 in BTC (new users). Learn more about them at https://www.bitmex.com/ -- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (02:45) Down Rounds, Layoffs and Hiring Freezes (16:40) An Investor Reckoning? (18:20) Separating Investors vs Traders (20:05) Frothy Private Markets (23:50) DAO Treasuries and Debt Financing (27:53) Questioning Token Buybacks (32:30) Bitmex Ad (33:33) FTX Surpassing Coinbase (40:15) Cynthia Lummis Bill (45:15) Are Tokens Securities? (48:21) Salesforce and Enterprise Blockchains (56:15) Optimism loses $20M OP tokens (59:45) APE DAO votes on Ethereum (1:03:40) When ETH merge -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, we are joined by Amy Oldenburg and Andrew Peel from Morgan Stanley to discuss how the banking crises will impact crypto's adoption. We start by exploring how far the banking crises will go, the similarities between today and 2008, and the market outlook. Amy and Andrew then explain how crypto is prime for adoption in a world that desperately needs new banking rails and an alternative store of value. We discuss institutional adoption, ETH vs BTC, why BTC just had its most important rally and more! - - Follow Amy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-oldenburg-395b09 Follow Andrew: https://twitter.com/andrewlpeel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - This episode is brought to you by Quicknode. QuickNode is an end-to-end blockchain developer platform that makes building Web3 apps easy. Go to QuickNode.com and use code Empire for a free month on their feature-packed Build Plan! - - Resources Morgan Stanley https://www.morganstanley.com/ - -  Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Follow 1000x On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3tFGmBv Follow 1000x On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/48JRV9i Follow 1000x On YouTube: https://bit.ly/3DNc5C6 -- We're back with the first episode of 2024! This week, Dan Matuszewski of CMS Holdings joins the show for a discussion on trading crypto's next bull market. We deep dive into CMS's trading strategy, surviving previous bear markets, narrative trading in crypto & what to expect in 2024 post Bitcoin ETF approval. -- Follow CMS: https://twitter.com/cmsholdings Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:44) Trading Crypto Cycles (09:48) CMS's Trading Strategy (11:12) Surviving The 2022 Bear Market (20:09) The BTC/Alt Rotation (24:54) Trading The 2024 Cycle (28:44) GBTC (31:40) Narratives In Crypto (39:05) Getting Rugged (41:56) Crypto's 2017 Mania -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, Santi & Jason talk with Avi and Ro about the current state of the crypto market cycle in both private and liquid markets. They discuss Avi's "bearish" outlook driven by diminishing ETF inflows and stablecoin market caps, Ro's perspective on crywpto venture investing, and how this cycle compares to the last one. The conversation dives into the Solana IOUs auction, the upcoming Ethereum ETF catalyst, and the (un)productive nature of assets like Eigen Layer's restaking product and Bitcoin DeFi. Avi and Ro also outline their framework for crypto portfolio construction and the key indicators they watch. The episode concludes with their 12-month price predictions for BTC, ETH and SOL. - - Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Ro: https://twitter.com/roshunpatel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - This episode is brought to you by Aura, the AI-powered digital security protection app that keeps your personal information, passwords, online activity, and tech safe from digital threats. It’s all-in-one protection from identity theft, financial fraud, malware, scams, and more. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day FREE trial plus up to 55% off an Aura subscription. Visit aura.com/blockworks to sign up for your free trial. - - SKALE is a modular, AppChain network that offers zero gas fee transactions and instant finality. Tailored for ease of development and onboarding, SKALE's configurable EVM chains enable next-gen use cases in gaming, AI, DePin, and others. With over 20,000,000 users having saved over $6 Billion on gas fees, SKALE is the blockchain for mass adoption. Bridge to SKALE at portal.skale.space and stay up to date with the gasless blockchain at @skalenetwork - - Marinade is the leading Solana staking service that spreads your stake across 100+ top validators, distributes MEV rewards, and provides automatic downside protection with new Protected Staking Rewards. Choose to liquid stake for mSOL for use in DeFi, or delegate your stake through Marinade Native, which gives you full custody of your SOL and no smart contract risk. Max performance for you, max performance for Solana. https://blckwrks.co/Marinade - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (04:28) Avi's Bearish Take (09:41) Ro's Private Market Perspective (16:42) Ethereum's Bull Case (27:42) Private & Liquid Ratio (36:49) Arbitrum Ad (37:26) Aura Ad (38:25) Marinade Ad (39:29) SKALE ad (40:46) Solana's Trade (45:44) Cycle Timing & Comparison (54:23) Fundamentals of DeFi (01:01:06) What Everyone is Missing? (01:11:14) Price Predictions - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Chris Burniske is a co-founder of Placeholder, a New York venture firm that specializes in cryptoassets, and co-author of the book, Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond. He joins us to talk about crypto's past, and the implications that has for its future. ––– LUKKA Lukka Prime is crypto asset pricing data aligned to accounting standards like GAAP and IFRS. Lukka Prime Pricing Data is the pricing source used by S&P Dow Jones Indices’ for their new cryptocurrency indices. Lukka Prime is the world’s first fair market value pricing source for crypto assets and the best option for all post-trade reporting needs. Visit lukka.tech/empire to learn more. ––– Get unparalleled access to the greatest minds in macro at Blockworks’ three day, executive summit in Bretton Woods. August 11 - 13. Apply to attend today! https://blockworks.co/brettonwoods/empire --- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!

In this episode, the Delphi team dives deep into the real impact of AI on the global economy and job market. They explore the potential for AI to create a deflationary environment and discuss how this might affect various industries. The conversation then shifts to the intersection of AI and crypto, examining potential investment opportunities and the role of open-source models. The team also touches on the All-In Summit, the lull in crypto, and Delphi's upcoming CryptoAI accelerator program. - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Ceteris: https://x.com/ceterispar1bus Follow Jose: https://x.com/ZeMariaMacedo Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman Follow Duncan: https://x.com/FloodCapital Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (1:38) All In Summit (11:31) Inevitability of Compute Increase (17:41) Impact of AI Adoption (29:31) Investing in AI (35:13) Best AI Chatbots (42:22) What's Real in Crypto & AI - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Crypto's timeline keeps getting more surreal and the SEC just added fuel to the fire by issuing a Wells Notice to Coinbase. In this episode, we explore the implications for Coinbase, BTC's opportunity and why crypto isn't going anywhere. This podcast will make you sweat it's so hot We then discuss Arbitrum's airdrop, the wild Euler x Ronin hacker story, DeFi Llama drama and more. Tune in for this epic episode! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (03:38) Coinbase receives SEC Wells Notice (18:20) BTC’s path to mass adoption (30:00) Self-custody, regulation & crypto’s staying power (50:20) Abritrum’s airdrop (50:29) Blockworks Research (56:55) Wild Euler x Ronin hacker story (1:00:35) DeFi Llama Drama (1:03:37) Sushi subpoena, Do Kwon and Justin Sun - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources Bell Curve podcast https://spoti.fi/42uqCxH Blockworks' Grantfarm https://blockworks.co/grantfarm Arbitrum Airdrop dashboard by Blockworks Research https://dune.com/blockworks_research/arb-airdrop - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Emin Gün Sirer and John Wu explain why Avalanche is the most scalable, decentralized L1. We start with why developers choose Avalanche, then quickly transition into the L2 debate. Emin explains why Subnets are superior and how the L2 vision and L2 reality are miles apart. We also talk about Avalanche's consensus engine, business development, the multichain future and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:01) Avalanche’s Core Thesis (04:17) Why Build on Avalanche? (14:19) The Problem with L2s (19:08) Avalanche's Tradeoffs (23:41) The Consensus Engine (30:00) Learnings From Other Networks (33:29) Solana vs Avalanche (40:59) Avalanche’s Security Guarantees (45:00) Business Development Strategy (55:09) Warp: Communication Between Subnets (1:00:01) On-Chain Governance (1:01:41) Avalanche’s Community (1:08:29) A Multichain Future? - - Follow Emin: https://twitter.com/el33th4xor Follow John: https://twitter.com/John1wu Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources Avalanche https://www.avax.network/ Ava Labs https://www.avalabs.org/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Cooper Turley, aka Coopahtroopa, for a master class on music NFTs. We all listen to music every day, yet monetization for 99% of artists is abysmal. Coop explains how artists can leverage Web3 to maximize revenue, fan engagement and creativity. We explore how music NFTs work, why they have value, which artists should participate and how Web3 will revolutionize the music industry. Cooper is an absolute expert, you won't want to miss it! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:00) Coop Records & Intro to Music NFTs (06:50) The Evolution of Music Monetization (11:30) How to Value Music NFTs (14:41) Artists as CEOs & the Music NFT Market (22:59) Circle Ad (24:41) Should Every Artist Create Music NFTs? (28:57) Do Music NFTs Need Utility? (37:40) One-of-Ones vs Collections (41:35) AI-Generated Music & Virtual Artists (47:05) Monetization, Fan Data and the Innovator's Dilemma (53:16) Incubating Artists, Creator Equity Tokens & Community (1:00:01) Tokenized Media & Rapid Fire Questions - - Follow Cooper: https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Resources Relics by Monstercat https://relics.xyz/ Hume https://www.wearehume.com/ Coop's Substack https://thisweekinmusicnfts.substack.com/ Coop Records https://www.cooprecords.xyz/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at circle.com/transparency that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Today we are joined by Rebecca Rettig and Jake Chervinsky to discuss the state of crypto regulation. Rebecca and Jake explain how the US is falling behind, the EU's MiCA regulation, the SEC's attack on Coinbase, Gary's false sense of control and the hottest crypto bills in DC. Regulation and policy are becoming must-know topics for crypto participants, and this is your go-to source for everything you need to know. This is the first episode in an ongoing regulatory and policy series with Jake and Rebecca! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:40) The State of Crypto Regulation (02:36) Europe's MiCA Legislation (11:10) “Chainalysis Ad” (12:14) Coinbase’s Offshore Expansion (14:11) The UK’s Approach and What’s Next for the EU (19:07) Gary Gensler’s April Testimony (22:45) Coinbase’s Fight with the SEC (30:08) Warren Marshall Bill (35:21) The US Policy Outlook - - Follow Rebecca: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRettig1 Follow Jake: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - This episode is brought to you by Chainalysis. Chainalysis is the blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, web3 companies, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies. Our data powers investigation, compliance, and business intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases. For more information, visit www.Chainalysis.com/empire. - - Resources: Coinbase's response to the SEC’s Wells notice https://www.coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-responds-to-the-secs-wells-notice The Blockchain Association https://theblockchainassociation.org/ https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn Polygon https://polygon.technology/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode Jason is joined by ETF celebrities Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, and Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer for Bitwise Asset Management. They start off by discussing the criticisms around underwhelming trading volumes and put the declines in GBTC into context. Discussion then leads to an inside scoop on how authorized participants source liquidity for the ETF and the real costs involved in running these funds. They also dive into how advisors are rethinking portfolio construction given crypto’s changing risk profile and the potential impacts on Bitcoin price. To close out they discuss the potential timing of an Ethereum ETF approval. Enjoy! - - Wormhole is a decentralized interoperability platform powering multi-chain applications and bridges. It provides developers with access to liquidity and users on over 30 leading blockchain networks, enabling use cases in DeFi, data queries, and governance. The platform is trusted by teams like Uniswap and Circle and, to date, the platform has facilitated the transfer of over 35 billion dollars through over 850 million cross-chain messages. Claim your unique Wormhole NFT at https://wormhole.com/empire1/ - - Send your crypto to your PayPal account, swap it for PYUSD, and use it to checkout at millions of stores. Pay how you want by getting started at: https://blckwrks.co/PYUSD - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Follow Matt: https://twitter.com/Matt_Hougan Follow Eric: https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Timestamps: (01:46) The ETF Guys & Free Milkshakes (04:05) BTC ETF Underwhelming? (12:13) The ETF Launch Process (18:49) Costs of an ETF Service (22:10) What does Buying an ETF Mean? (30:31) Wormhole Ad (31:57) Paypal Ad (32:55) Impact of ETF Flows on Bitcoin Price (36:56) Role of Bitcoin in Portfolios (47:15) Eth ETF Predictions - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santi share their thoughts on the state of the market, the endless hacks in crypto and a few of the latest innovations. Santi gives his unique private-market insights, Jason gives a behind-the-scenes look at Blockworks, and the duo discuss the biggest story of the week: the Binance and Mango Markets Exploit. We then discuss the 3 big ZK-rollup announcements (scaling season?), Arbitrum's acquisition, and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:16) What's Changed At Blockworks During The Bear? (06:53) State of Venture, Macro And Crypto Markets (21:39) Does Everything Need A Token? (26:14) Hacks, Exploits And More Hacks (Binance, Mango) (39:43) Yuga Labs & Regulation By Enforcement (48:08) ZK Tech Is Here (51:56) Arbitrum Acquires Prysmatic Labs (55:36) Coinbase News, Stephane Resigns, PayPal & More - - Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7  Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: Cosmos podcast https://spoti.fi/3S3W9zP GCR's "inside job" tweet https://twitter.com/GCRClassic/status/1579837794675216384 Rebecca & Jake regulation podcast https://spoti.fi/3rSZMOw Scroll's zkEVM podcast https://spoti.fi/3rTXO0w Polygon deep dive by Blockworks Research https://bit.ly/3S3Wti1 Starkware podcast https://spoti.fi/3Vqu88v Influence Empire (book) https://bit.ly/3T9CLTc David Marcus tweet criticizing PayPal https://twitter.com/davidmarcus/status/1578795041719750663 -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at circle.com/transparency that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. Learn more at: http://empirepodcast.link/circle --  Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - -  Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, the Hivemind team discuss the effect of crypto scams and grifting on sentiment, whether the Trump Admin is actually better for crypto, and the key macro factors driving markets. We also delve into ETH Denver, what assets the team is bidding, and much more. Enjoy!. -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire Follow Ceteris: https://x.com/ceterispar1bus Follow Jose: https://x.com/ZeMariaMacedo Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman Follow Duncan: https://x.com/FloodCapital Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4jYEkBx Subscribe on Apple: https://bit.ly/3ECSmJ3 Subscribe on Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hzy9lH Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (1:57) Market Overview and Theories (6:10) Impact of Meme Coins and Scams (18:22) Comparing Trump vs Harris Administrations (22:16) Are Memes Dead? (25:29) Macro Corner (33:21) Tough Market to Trade (37:57) Macro Corner Pt. 2 (43:40) Crypto Market Drivers & ETH Denver (49:34) What We're Bidding -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week we're excited to bring you the Round Up episode from our Bell Curve Podcast, a show where we breakdown the most important themes in crypto. In today’s episode, Mike and Michael discuss all things Stables and more! The guys kick things off with PayPal, discussing their PYUSD Stablecoin launch and what it means for the wider ecosystem and future Stablecoin market structure. We then take a closer look at Coinbase’s Q2 earnings, before touching on future Rollup value accrual. We then close with a Ripple update, Cantina (Web3’s security marketplace), the endgame for Stablecoins, and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:28) PYUSD: PayPal stablecoin (07:37) Future Stablecoin Market Structure (11:31) Coinbase Update (24:39) Portnoy's Barstool Sports $1 Buy Back  (26:10) Rollup Value Accrual (44:43) Ripple XRP Update (50:04) Web3 Security Marketplace: Cantina (55:10) News-to-price Incongruities (58:15) The Stablecoin Endgame - - Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9 Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH -- Research, news, data, governance and models – now, all in one place. As a listener of Bell Curve, you can use code "BELLCURVE10" for a 10% discount when signing up to Blockworks Research https://www.blockworksresearch.com/ -- Use code BELLCURVE30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023 - - Resources: PYUSD: PayPal stablecoin: https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/crypto/pyusd Coinbase earnings: https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-stocks-stumble-earnings - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire or Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, we sit down with Jay, co-founder of Sei Labs, to discuss the future of parallelized EVMs and Sei's approach to building a supercharged EVM. Jay shares his insights on the tradeoffs between decentralization and efficiency, the importance of shipping products quickly versus pursuing research, and how Sei is tackling these challenges with their upcoming V2 launch. He also dives into his experience at Robinhood, thoughts on the Gamestop saga, and tips for building strong teams. Thanks for tuning in Seilors! - - Follow Jay: https://x.com/jayendra_jog Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - This episode is brought to you by Aura, the AI-powered digital security protection app that keeps your personal information, passwords, online activity, and tech safe from digital threats. It’s all-in-one protection from identity theft, financial fraud, malware, scams, and more. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day FREE trial plus up to 55% off an Aura subscription. Visit aura.com/blockworks to sign up for your free trial. - - SKALE is a modular, AppChain network that offers zero gas fee transactions and instant finality. Tailored for ease of development and onboarding, SKALE's configurable EVM chains enable next-gen use cases in gaming, AI, DePin, and others. With over 20,000,000 users having saved over $6 Billion on gas fees, SKALE is the blockchain for mass adoption. Bridge to SKALE at portal.skale.space and stay up to date with the gasless blockchain at @skalenetwork - - Kinto is the Safety-first L2 designed to accelerate the transition to an on-chain financial system. If you believe in this on-chain financial system, join Kinto's launch program (Engen) and become a founding member at engen.kinto.xyz - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:20) Jay's Robinhood Experience (05:25) SEI's L1 Thesis (14:53) Importance of Parallelism (16:21) SEI vs Solana (23:04) Aura Ad (23:55) Kinto Ad (24:51) Skale Ad (26:07) Developer Communities (33:25) Sei V2 (37:58) Why Decentralization is Bad (44:31) Shipping Products vs Research (47:48) Team Building - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire Jason & Santiago are joined by Antonio Juliano. Antonio is the founder of dYdX one of the largest decentralized exchanges in the world. After leaving Coinbase to start dYdX in 2017, dYdX now settles over $2 Billion of trade volume per day and is backed by some of the largest funds in the crypto industry such as a16z, Polychain & Bain Capital. We invited Antonio on Empire to discuss how dYdX plans to become the largest crypto exchange in the world, futures trading products, order books vs AMMs, the layer-1 wars, Antonio's outlook for DeFi growth and much more. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. Find out more about them at https://www.paraswap.io/ -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M 

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason is joined by 0xpibblez and Westie from Blockworks Research to discuss this week's biggest stories. We start with the $160M Wintermute hack, Nasdaq's new custody offering and why pibblez is staying away from algo stablecoin governance tokens. We then discuss Arbitrum's white hat hacker, why the Cosmos ecosystem might start seeing more exploits, how DAOs should codify their cap tables and more! - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (00:38) Who The F*ck is Buying ETH Right Now? (01:46) Wintermute $160M Vanity Address Hack (14:36) Nasdaq's Crypto Custody Announcement (17:31) New Draft Stablecoin Bill (25:44) Avalanche Ad (27:12) Arbitrum Vulnerability Exposed (34:44) Rari Fuse Hack Payment - - Follow Pibblez: https://twitter.com/0xpibblez Follow Westie: https://twitter.com/WestieCapital Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: Arbitrum white hat hacker (Riptide) blog https://medium.com/@0xriptide/hackers-in-arbitrums-inbox-ca23272641a2 Riptide's tweet asking if Arbitrum would have been insolvent https://twitter.com/0xriptide/status/1572269938580115456 -- Core, from Ava Labs, is more than just a wallet. It’s a free, non-custodial browser extension that gives Avalanche users a more seamless and secure Web3 experience. Download Core today at https://www.core.app/ -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode of Empire Jason and Santi interview Blockchain Capital General Partners Aleks and Spencer. Blockchain Capital recently closed two new funds, early stage and opportunity, totaling $580 million. Since its inception in 2013, Blockchain Capital has invested in more than 110 companies, protocols and crypto assets across the ecosystem. Today's discussion dives into their fund thesis and overall managing strategy, the time horizon for mass adoption, deploying capital in U.S. based projects, and existing discounts in later stage start-ups.  - - Follow Aleks: https://twitter.com/_alekslarsen Follow Spencer: https://twitter.com/CremeDeLaCrypto Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  - - Get 5% off your business insurance today with Vouch, the leading insurer of crypto startups. With over 4000 clients, Vouch offers exclusive coverages with crypto enhancements including Directors & Officers with digital asset regulatory defense and Cyber that includes smart contract vulnerabilities.  Get started today at https://vouch.us/web3/blockworks - - Bumper is an innovative DeFi protocol that protects the value of the crypto you hold from the downside & simultaneously preserves gains when the price climbs.  - A superior alternative to crypto options for traders  - 30% cheaper and more efficient than traditional tools - Liquidity providers earn 3-18% real yield on USDC - Get a share in $250,000 of BUMP rewards for Early Adopters Visit bumper.fi for more info! - - Timestamps: (00:00) $580M Fund Raise (08:00) Fund Performance and Power Dynamics (16:45) Time Horizon for Mass Adoption (22:04) Allocating Capital in U.S. (29:58) Exciting Innovation (38:30) Bumper Ad (39:34) Vouch ad (40:42) Balancing Portfolio Competition (44:50) Investment Stage Discount (47:18) What's Misunderstood about WorldCoin (51:01) Potential of AI & Crypto (54:09) Lessons Learned from Previous Cycles (58:56) Revisiting Old Ideas - - Resources: Blockchain Capital https://www.blockchaincapital.com/blog/doubling-up-while-doubling-down-announcing-our-latest-funds - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

On today's episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Santiago Roel Santos are joined by Travis Kling, founder of Ikigai Asset Management. Travis is a prolific investor who sits at the intersection of macro and crypto.  We discuss the implications of the ETH 2.0 merge, why ETH is prime for institutional capital, what a macro bear market means for crypto, Ikigai's investment strategy, and more. This is a must-listen if you're interested in the ETH 2.0 Merge and ETH's investment prospects (warning, Travis is a mega bull).  -- Travis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Travis_Kling Ikigai Newsletter: https://www.kanaandkatana.com/ -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. --- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M -- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (00:58) Bitcoin's 2022 Outlook (07:30) ETH 2.0 Merge Catalyst (12:33) Why Is This Time Different? (15:20) Paraswap Ad (16:37) When Will Institutions Start Deploying Capital? (19:36) The Bear Case (21:31) The Merge's Perfect Timing (23:35) Will Institutions HODL? (28:48) Crypto's Progress and Runway (33:00) Moving Beyond Just BTC (39:52) The Most Important Rule In Crypto Investing (41:00) Layer 1 Wars (48:40) BTC As Pristine Collateral (54:30) Bitcoin Defi (56:00) Ikaigi's Investment Style (57:20) Investments and Mistakes

In today's episode Jason is joined by Arthur of DeFiance Capital and Sean of Fintech Collective. They kick off the episode by discussing the current state of token launches, highlighting the unsustainable model of low float and high fully diluted valuations that often leave retail investors at a disadvantage. They explore the challenges in accurately valuing crypto assets and the need for better alignment of incentives between teams, investors, and the broader market. The episode concludes with Arthur and Sean sharing their high-conviction bets for this market cycle. Thanks for tuning in! - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire Follow Arthur: https://twitter.com/Arthur_0x Follow Sean: https://twitter.com/seanlippel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - This episode is brought to you by Aura, the AI-powered digital security protection app that keeps your personal information, passwords, online activity, and tech safe from digital threats. It’s all-in-one protection from identity theft, financial fraud, malware, scams, and more. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day FREE trial plus up to 55% off an Aura subscription. Visit aura.com/blockworks to sign up for your free trial. - - SKALE is a modular, AppChain network that offers zero gas fee transactions and instant finality. Tailored for ease of development and onboarding, SKALE's configurable EVM chains enable next-gen use cases in gaming, AI, DePin, and others. With over 20,000,000 users having saved over $6 Billion on gas fees, SKALE is the blockchain for mass adoption. Bridge to SKALE at portal.skale.space and stay up to date with the gasless blockchain at @skalenetwork - - Kinto is the Safety-first L2 designed to accelerate the transition to an on-chain financial system. If you believe in this on-chain financial system, join Kinto's launch program (Engen) and become a founding member at engen.kinto.xyz - - Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (01:52) Crypto VCs are Broken (14:31) Best Token Launch Model (22:11) Valuing Crypto Assets (29:20) Arbitrum Ad (30:08) Aura Ad (30:56) Kinto Ad (31:52) Skale Ad (33:08) Evaluating LDO & ETHFI (51:57) Active Investments (57:51) Highest Conviction Bets - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Aave founder/CEO Stani Kulechov & technology investor Santiago R Santos. Sitting at the forefront of the fast evolving DeFi ecosystem, we invited Stani & Santiago on to Empire to share their thoughts on the exponential growth and assess whether DeFi has hit escape velocity. This conversation was fascinating and covered a range of topics including how DeFi managed to attract $100 Billion of total value during the 2020 DeFi summer, when $1 trillion of value will be locked in DeFi, how social media could be decentralised in the web 3.0 transition, NFT's, Stani & Santiago's outlook for the end of year bull market & so much more. - Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. Find out more about them at https://www.paraswap.io/

On today's episode of Empire, Olaf Carlson-Wee, Coinbase's first employee & founder of Polychain, joins Jason and Santiago to discuss his views on the state of crypto. Olaf reflects on crypto's cycles, the reoccurring themes and how this relates to the UST meltdown and today's bear market. We then dive into Olaf's investment philosophy, exploring his thoughts on what assets will accrue value, the multichain future and the most exciting opportunities. You'll also hear Olaf's unique take on the "one reason" DAOs should exist. Don't miss this fantastic episode with one of the most interesting/successful OGs in crypto. - - Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Follow Olaf: https://twitter.com/zxocw Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe To Our Podcast: apple.co/3srZf7M or sptfy.com/8bQc -- BitMEX is back and better than ever. Sign up for BitmEX's new Spot Exchange for a chance to win a piece of $500,000 in BTC (new users). Learn more about them at https://www.bitmex.com/ -- (00:00) Introduction (01:02) Market Chaos (05:37) Crypto's Cycles (17:33) Stablecoins and UST's Meltdown (24:33) The End of Algo Stables (30:06) Where's The Market Headed? (38:14) Bitmex AD (39:31) The Biggest Entrepreneurial Laboratory in History (43:23) It's Time for Buying Not Selling (44:34) Layer One Wars (48:38) The L2 Ecosystem (53:58) Where Will Value Accrue? (58:13) What's Overlooked In Crypto? (1:03:22) The One Thing DAO's Should Do (1:06:18) DeFi vs CeFi (1:07:39) Struggles of an Entrepreneur (1:11:33) The Industry Has to Prove Itself -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week we discuss is it time to buy the dip? After calling the local top at $70k, is the setup more bullish now for a continued bull market post halving? We deep dive into the bull case for ETH, finding the next big trade, structuring a trade & finding alpha. Enjoy! -- Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Perennial is an on-chain derivatives protocol built from first principles to be a DeFi primitive. The core protocol is minimalist, flexible, and efficient, allowing Perennial to mold to the needs of many different users & use cases. Perennial has a super efficient core protocol that lets LPs use native maker leverage — allowing $1mn in TVL to back to $5-10mn in Open interest. Trade and LP at: https://perennial.finance/1000x Social: https://twitter.com/perenniallabs -- Timestamps: (0:00) Turning Bearish At $70k, Time To Flip Bullish? (12:45) Perennial Ad (14:17) The Bull Case For ETH (23:16) Beaten Down Projects, Supply Unlocks & Finding The Next Big Trade (30:51) Staking vs Supply Dilution (32:30) TradFi Risk-Off (38:26) Trade Structure & Grok For Alpha -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode Dan Smith, Head of Data at Blockworks, joins Empire to break down why traditional crypto metrics are flawed. The episode begins with analysis of recent crypto payment acquisitions and Trump's proposed US Token Reserve, before diving deep into blockchain metrics and why REV matters more than active addresses or TVL. Dan explains Solana's outperformance of Ethereum through the lens of network revenue, examines Base's dominance in the L2 landscape, and closes with insights on Multicoin's new Solana inflation proposal. - - Help us shape the future of Empire. Fill out our audience survey and give us your thoughts: https://empire-31ed59.beehiiv.com/forms/01a0ba12-61d0-4a12-a6c6-8bbcdb3b0060 Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Dan: https://x.com/smyyguy Follow Blockworks Res: https://x.com/blockworksres Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - GEODNET’s native token, GEOD, can be easily mined with a GEODNET Satellite Miner, presenting a unique opportunity to generate passive income. By setting up a GEODNET base station, you can join this groundbreaking Web3 ecosystem that is powering the future of AI and robotics. Join the revolution today and learn more at https://geodnet.com. - - Unichain is a fast, decentralized L2 that’s built to be the home for DeFi and liquidity across chains. To stay updated on news including the upcoming launch of Unichain, visit www.Unichain.org or follow @Unichain on X. - - Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at www.Ledger.com - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:30) Crypto's Payment Acquisitions (08:23)  Trump US Token Reserve (11:37) Bitcoin Backed Loans (17:41) What is Broken in Crypto Data (23:32) Unpacking REV (31:48) Geodnet Ad (32:46) Uniswap Ad (33:33) Ledger Ad (34:16)  Most Important Metrics (47:53) Active Addresses (55:16) MultiCoin Inflation Proposal - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santi discuss the upcoming Ethereum merge and how to maximize your profit opportunity (warning: this is not financial advice). We also explore Coinbase's $1.6B Maker DAO proposal, Binance's BUSD announcement, value accrual frameworks, and more! - - (00:00) Intro (02:23) A Web3 CRM (04:48) How to Prep for the ETH merge (19:30) MakerDAO Proposal To Send $1.6B USDC to Coinbase Prime (27:24) Avalanche Ad (28:50) Coinbase Deal (36:16) Coinbase Backs Tornado Lawsuit Against the Treasury Department (40:45) Binance BUSD Announcement (46:02) Where Will Value Accrue In Crypto? (53:15) Chaos Labs, Mysten Labs & Fund Raises (59:20) Podcast & Book Recommendations - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: Tomasz Tunguz articles https://tomtunguz.com/ Robert Leshner's tweet thread on the merge https://twitter.com/rleshner/status/1559727104903757826 Katie Haun - Tornado Cash: What web3 Needs to Know https://bit.ly/3x9w4b8 Doug Colkitt blockspace fee tweet thread https://twitter.com/0xdoug/status/1566491825942237184 Bell Curve podcast https://spoti.fi/3DbPpwm Take Notes podcast https://spoti.fi/3Qow1yY Matthew Ball's new Metaverse book https://www.matthewball.vc/metaversebook -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode of 1000x, we are joined by Mike Novogratz, legendary trader and founder of Galaxy Digital. We talk about how Mike built an intuition for markets, how to synthesize trades, crypto's outlook, macro policy expectations, Mike's favorite trade and more! We'll drop a new 1000x episode on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. Hit the links below and give us a follow! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:55) Developing an Intuition for Markets (03:25) How to Synthesize Trading Opportunities (07:17) Trading Crypto vs Macro: Similarities and Differences (11:42) Maintaining Conviction in Crypto (18:27) Crypto’s Most Interesting Opportunities (20:51) The Relationship Between BTC and Monetary/Fiscal Policy (30:41) Retail Adoption: Crypto Needs More Storytellers (37:19) Why Mike Started Galaxy (39:40) Favorite Trade of All Time (42:37) When to Sell vs Hold (48:22) Investing in Your Community and Making an Impact - - Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/novogratz Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3FuSarX Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources: Golden Tree https://www.goldentree.com/ Cumberland https://cumberland.io/ https://twitter.com/CumberlandSays DRW https://drw.com/ https://twitter.com/DRWTrading - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, Allen, of Everest Ventures Group (EVG), dives deep into the crypto landscape in Asia. He discusses the cultural nuances of doing business in Asia, the power dynamics between exchanges, developers, and "crypto gangs," and the unique characteristics of various Asian markets. Allen shares insights on enterprise adoption, the impact of major events like FTX and Terra, and offers valuable advice for Western companies looking to expand into Asia. Thanks for tuning in! Resources https://x.com/realallenng/status/1831271083926053013?s=46&t=jvYd6ynEZAVc6kvMtila9g - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Allen: https://x.com/realallenng Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Anoma is the universal intent machine, introducing a new era of applications where you define the outcomes you want. Anoma’s intent-centric architecture provides a universal operating system for building intent-centric apps compatible with any blockchain. Anoma vastly improves blockchain UX, enables novel applications, and promotes a more human-centric future for decentralized technology. Follow Anoma at x.com/anoma and signup for the newsletter at anoma.net - - re.al is the permissionless L2 for tokenized RWAs built on Arbitrum Orbit and the first L2 to return chain and protocol fees back to users, in reETH, ensuring they benefit from ecosystem growth. re.al has just launched a fully-transparent rewards (points) program returning 10% of $RWA supply to early users. Not investment advice or product solicitation and not aimed at US persons. https://re.al/rewards/airdrop/O4UNU - - FBTC is now available on both Ethereum and Mantle Network, and its points-inspired campaign “Sparkle” has officially started, with lucrative and sustainable yields, plus points and token airdrop from Babylon, Mantle’s new token $COOK, and more. Learn more: https://fbtc.com/ongoing-campaign - - Polygon Labs is developing the next generation of open source zero-knowledge tech to aggregate crypto liquidity and user bases with the AggLayer. To support the aggregated future, the Polygon Community Grants Program was launched with 1 billion tokens — all for Polygon builders. Season One of the community grants program is live now, and features 35 million in MATIC to support the next generation of Polygon projects! Join the aggregated future today by applying at https://polygon.technology/grants -- Timestamp: 01:39 EVG Background 11:01 Regulatory Impact of FTX & Terra 20:24 Who has Power in Asia? 32:02 Anoma ad 33:04 Mantle Ad 34:03 Polygon ad 35:11 Re.al Ad 36:12 Crypto Community Differences 45:03 Exchange Wars 53:43 Conferences in Asia 01:02:07 App Scene in Asia -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

On today's episode of Empire, Jason and Santiago are joined by Jeff Dorman, CIO of Arca. Jeff is a prominent crypto investor known for his fundamental analysis, contrarian bets and ability to simplify crypto's arcane topics. In this episode, Jeff explains crypto's response to macro, why fundamentals matter, equity tokenization, crypto's most exciting developments and more. Don't miss Jeff's insights on where crypto is headed next! Resources: BTC/NASDAQ correlation: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-11/bitcoin-s-correlation-with-big-tech-increases-to-record-chart Follow Jeff on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jdorman81 Follow Empire on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theempirepod -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. -- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (01:27) The Real Reason Crypto Is Correlated To The NASDAQ (04:27) Is The Fed In Control of Inflation? (09:02) Crypto's Strength During Macro Turbulence (13:04) The Ownership Narrative (15:25) Everything Is Based On Trust (18:12) Ownership and Aligned Incentives (25:27) Liquidity Incentives (30:28) Governance (33:57) Paraswap Ad (35:06) CeFi Merging With DeFi (39:32) What Is Jeff Excited About? (44:09) DeFi Is Boring But Works (47:42) Tokens That Accrue Value (49:50) Business Development in Crypto (54:38) How To Value Layer One Blockchains -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santi discuss this week's biggest stories. CeFi continues to implode, funds are facing redemptions and Bitcoin miners are in trouble. What could be the catalyst out of this mess? How has Santi changed his mind about DeFi? Tune in to find out! Highlights include: - Why Santi changed his mind on undercollateralized loans in DeFi - What is happening with CoinFLEX and Roger Ver - 3AC officially defaults - Why users aren't ready to use DeFi - Jason and Santi's bet on the next crypto catalyst - A potential Bitcoin miner death spiral - What is a high watermark - Arthur Hayes' predictions - Are we just reliant on the Fed? - Maker DAO is buying T-Bills - Jason/Santi book recommendations - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Referenced in the show: Jill Gunter of Espresso Systems https://twitter.com/jillrgunter Ryan Swanson (Blockworks Research Analyst) https://twitter.com/ryan_swansonx -- BitMEX is back and better than ever. Sign up for BitmEX's new Spot Exchange for a chance to win a piece of $500,000 in BTC (new users). Learn more about them at https://www.bitmex.com/ -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- (00:00) Introduction (03:01) State of the Market (09:45) Bearish On Undercollaterized Loans (12:15) CoinFLEX, Roger Ver and More Contagion (19:08) Will People Use DeFi? (26:25) A Privacy & Security Bet (29:06) Voyager Issues Default Notice to 3AC (29:58) Bitmex Ad (30:56) BTC Miner Death Spiral (42:26) Funder Redemptions ft. Arthur Hayes (50:25) Closing Crypto Funds & High Watermarks (59:10) MakerDAO Vote to Buy T-Bills (1:04:20) Catalyst For The Next Cycle (1:11:20) Crypto's Progress (1:15:48) New Episodes and Book Recommendations -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode, we discuss the sudden market unwind that sent crypto cascading over the weekend. We deep dive into the short vs long term setup for crypto as markets try to rebound. Stay safe out there & enjoy! -- Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Perennial is an on-chain derivatives protocol built from first principles to be a DeFi primitive. The core protocol is minimalist, flexible, and efficient, allowing Perennial to mold to the needs of many different users & use cases. Perennial has a super efficient core protocol that lets LPs use native maker leverage — allowing $1mn in TVL to back to $5-10mn in Open interest. Trade and LP at: https://perennial.finance/1000x Social: https://x.com/perenniallabs -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (2:08) Why Are Markets Unwinding? (12:49) Should You Catch A Falling Knife? (20:43) Perennial Ad (22:14) Will The Fed Intervene? (29:02) Is Crypto A Safe Haven? (34:50) Bitcoin vs Alt's (52:16) Q&A -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed

In today's episode, Jason and Santiago discuss Gary Gensler's crypto crusade. The SEC Chair has continually attacked crypto and revealed this week that... he has never owned or interacted with any "digital asset". We debate Garry's comments from this week's committee meeting, if regulators are pushing companies like Coinbase out of the US and why we remain optimistic. We also cover Flashbot's new MEV Share protocol, an ongoing mystery wallet exploit, the meme coin craze and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (05:06) Gary Gensler: An Anti-Crypto Cruade (20:32) “Valora Ad” (21:26) Coinbase's Global Expansion  (28:27) Flashbots Launches MEV Share (30:00) On-Going Mystery Wallet Exploit (39:49) Meme Coins, MEV & Jared from Subway - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - This episode is brought to you by Valora. Valora is a self-custody, mobile-first wallet... and the easiest way to send, swap, collect and purchase digital goods on the Celo blockchain. Download the app and start exploring today at valoraapp.com/empire. - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Jason and Santi break down the Fifth Circuit's ruling against Tornado Cash sanctions and its implications for crypto protocols. They also examine PumpFun's content moderation crisis and how platforms should navigate these issues. The discussion then shifts to Brazil's proposed Bitcoin reserve bill and broader government adoption, exploring how geopolitical dynamics are reshaping institutional crypto demand. They close out by discussing Base's growth, memecoin dynamics, and surprising movements in legacy tokens. Thanks for tuning in! Chat with us in our new telegram: https://t.co/uvyS3SSdUn - - Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Explore the SKALE Ecosystem at skale.space/ecosystem and stay up to date with the gas-free blockchain on X at @skalenetwork - - Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Empire podcast. Celebrating 10 years of protecting over 20% of the world’s crypto, Ledger ensures the security of your assets. For the best self-custody solution in the space, buy a LEDGER™ device and secure your crypto today. Buy now at https://shop.ledger.com/?r=1da180a5de00 - - Toku simplifies every part of global token compensation — everything from paying full time employees in stablecoins, issuing token grants to your team and investors, all in 100 countries on one platform. Talk to Toku today at: https://www.toku.com/ - - Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:59 Thanksgiving Vibes 12:27 PumpFun Content Moderation 19:08 Will Memes Continue? 23:02 Tornado Cash Court Victory 31:30 Skale Ad 32:09 Toku Ad 33:00 Ledger Ad 33:45 Metrics Dive 45:52 Central Banks Buying Bitcoin - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

My guest today is Mike Belshe, Founder and CEO of BitGo. But before that, he used what he learned at Netscape to help Google develop Chrome. Like many of us, Belshe stored his first Bitcoin on an old laptop. But after his investor friends started sending their digital assets his way, that "old laptop" was suddenly worth millions. Here's how his quest to secure those assets eventually became BitGo. ––– Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like Empire, visit http://blockworks.co/podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!