Empire

In this episode of Empire, Robert Leshner - founder of Compound Labs - joins us to discuss how DeFi will evolve in the wake of Operation Choke Point 2.0 and the coordinated effort to debank crypto. We discuss what this means for today's DeFi protocols, the end of the DeFi Mullet thesis and how teams will respond. Then we explore Robert's thoughts on why MakerDAO's RWA strategy is short-sighted, the stablecoin landscape, the AppChain thesis and more! - - Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:24 Operation Choke Point 2.0 07:24 Compound Treasury and the DeFi Mullet 11:19 The Return of DeFi? 16:09 BTC vs ETH 19:17 Building in the US vs Offshore 26:25 Real World Assets 28:52 Quicknode ad 30:38 Synthetix Ad 32:17 Stablecoin Landscape 39:48 The AppChain Thesis and Value Accrual 48:24 Reputation, Limit Orders and Security - - Follow Rob: 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 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 Compound https://compound.finance/ Bell Curve, S4 Premiere: A Journey Into The Dark Forest https://spoti.fi/3MpTjWH - - 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 debate Mike's tweet that Eth L2s have every feature Alt L1s are criticized for: centralized, downtime, opaque resource allocation and wild valuations. To get close to the metal, we compare Solana vs Arbitrum based on economics, network effects and future roadmap. If you listen to one conversation this week, this is it. We also discuss Arbitrum's governance debacle, the value of protocol BD deals, a $25M MEV exploit, Euler's $200M recovery and Shanghai predictions! - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Folow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Follow Miles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneil 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 sponsored by Public.com. Put your cash to work in a Treasury Account on https://Public.com/empire and get access to a 5.3% yield today! - - 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. - - Resources Mike's Eth L2 vs Alt L1 debate tweet https://twitter.com/mikeippolito_/status/1642262306712109057 - - 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 is a bonus episode from our podcast 0xResearch, produced by the Blockworks Research team. This is one of my favorite episodes they've done, a deep dive into the future of rollups, scaling and zk-tech. The first 15 minutes is the "analyst bullpen" segment on Arbitrum's recent governance debacle, followed by an interview with Preston Evans from Sovereign Labs (use the Timestamps if you want to skip ahead). If you enjoy this episode, follow the link in the show notes below to subscribe! - - Join us on 0xResearch as we interview Preston Evans, the Chief Scientist of Sovereign Labs. Why should you care about Sovereign? Because they're building the Sovereign SDK. Like the Cosmos SDK that enables modular plug-and-play experimentation for L1s, the Sovereign SDK is a modular toolkit for building zk-rollups on any chain with seamless composability. In this episode, we discuss how Sovereign's design compares to the Cosmos SDK and IBC, smart contract vs Sovereign rollups, the role of data availability, decentralized sequencer design and more! This is my favorite 0xResearch episode yet. And as usual, we start the episode with our analyst bullpen to discuss the recent governance drama at Arbitrum! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:45) Arbitrum's Governance Blunder (15:04) Blockworks Research (16:03) Interview Start: What is Sovereign? (22:23) The Sovereign SDK vs Cosmos SDK (23:59) Settlement on Smart Contract vs Sovereign Rollups (28:14) The Role of Data Availability (32:24) Decentralized Sequencers (37:54) Optimistic Rollup Tradeoffs (41:24) Composability and IBC (52:22) What Is Sovereign’s X Factor? (54:17) Building Rollups on Bitcoin (59:11) Sovereign’s Business Model and Timeline - - Follow Preston: https://twitter.com/prestonevans__ Follow Westie: https://twitter.com/WestieCapital Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Sam: https://twitter.com/swmartin19 Follow Purplepill: https://twitter.com/purplepill3m Follow Matt: https://twitter.com/MattFiebach Follow Blockworks Research: https://twitter.com/blockworksres Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3foDS38 Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3SNhUEt Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3NlP1hA Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources: Delegate ARB to Blockworks Research https://twitter.com/blockworksres/status/1639279479368368132 Sovereign Labs https://www.sovereign.xyz/ https://twitter.com/sovereign_labs - - Check out Blockworks Research today! Research, data, governance, tokenomics, and models – now, all in one place Blockworks Research: https://www.blockworksresearch.com/ Free Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on 0xResearch 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. Dan, Sam, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, we are joined by Kain Warwick, founder of Synthethix and crypto OG. Kain explains the concept of centralized insanity and how crypto is finally ready for the next bull cycle. We cover Synthetix's evolution, Ethereum's outlook, crypto infrastructure, what will cause the shift to decentralized products, DeFi's most important metric and more! Kain is one guest you won't want to miss! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:18) DeFi Summer 2020 (05:29) The Synthetix Evolution (09:29) Ethereum’s Outlook and Alt L1 Cycles (23:25) A Shift From Infra to Apps (27:47) Quicknode Ad (29:34) Synthetix Ad (31:13) Centralized vs Decentralized Trading (36:20) Regulators are Stuck in the Past (43:43) Future of Stablecoins (47:08) Centralized Insanity, Base and DeFi Summer 2.0 (52:43) A Focus on Revenue (01:01:30) Synthetix v3 and the Value of Composability (01:18:34) Fire Round - - Follow Kain: https://twitter.com/kaiynne 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 Synthetix https://synthetix.io/ https://twitter.com/synthetix_io - - 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 Ben Forman, one of the most prolific investors in crypto, to discuss the day DeFi almost died: Black Thursday. The industry was a few liquidations away from an extinction event. Tune in to hear the riveting story and how Black Thursday has shaped MakerDAO and crypto's development! We also discuss why Ben believes RWAs and permissioned DeFi is the next narrative, Binance FUD, investing in private vs liquid markets, return dispersion, incoming regulation and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:34) Binance FUD: Signal or Noise? (07:36) Operation Choke Point 2.0 (11:19) Return Dispersion (16:29) The Moment of Reckoning (23:16) Base’s Market Impact (26:16) Early Stage vs Liquid Market Investing (38:35) MakerDAO’s Black Thursday Almost Killed DeFi (45:50) “Valora Ad” (46:50) The State of DeFi (54:07) USDC, A Structural Reset and Regulation (1:05:00) Tokenization of RWAs and Permissioned DeFi (1:08:00) Key Learnings and Fire Round - - 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.

In this episode of Empire, I'm joined by Marek Olszewski and Rene Reinsberg to discuss how Celo is building an L1 focused on a mobile-first user experience and real-world use cases. We start with the Celo origin story and how Celo is building scalable tech while maintaining the focus on where it belongs: the user. Marek and Rene explain how Celo and Valora (Celo's wallet) provide the infrastructure used by local communities throughout the globe to provide real-world use cases for payments and restorative finance. We then explore Celo's partnership with Deutsche Telekom, why Celo is an L1 and not a rollup, the importance of on/off ramps and more! - - Follow Marek: https://twitter.com/marek_ Follow Rene: https://twitter.com/RegenRene 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 Celo https://celo.org/ https://twitter.com/CeloOrg Valora https://valoraapp.com/about https://twitter.com/Valora - - 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.

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, Avi Felman and Jonah Van Bourg explain how macro and banking turmoil has ignited a market paradigm shift. Funds will be hunting for the assets that will perform well in this new paradigm, and it won't be bonds... Tune in as we discuss BTC's prime moment, why supply is the story of 2023, BTC vs ETH, the USDC depeg and more. If you listen to one Empire episode this year, this is it! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:06) The market is consistently wrong (07:24) A new paradigm and BTC's opportunity (27:14) Bitcoin vs ETH vs Alts (35:34) Quicknode (37:19) The implications of USDC's depeg (38:05) What other trades are you watching? (45:27) Expected sources of leverage in the next cycle - - Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman 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 GoldenTree https://www.goldentree.com/ Cumberland https://cumberland.io/ - - 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.

Arbitrum just announced the $ARB token airdrop and their new L3 solution called Orbit! The L2 wars are now in full force. Tune in as we deep dive into Arbitrum's token and L3 strategy with Steven Goldfeder and Harry Kalodner! PS: We are dropping a second Arbitrum episode this afternoon that covers fraud proofs, decentralizing sequencers, value capture and more. These are two banger episodes. Don't miss out! - - 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.

Signature and Silicon Valley Bank have collapsed. In this breaking news episode, hosts Jason Yanowitz and Jack Farley interview Joseph Wang to discuss the banking system failures and what to expect next. Joseph dives deep into the risk both banks took by not hedging interest rate risk, how this could have been avoided and whether other banks are in a similar position? We then discuss if the Fed's Bank Term Funding Program was the right move? To hear all this and more, you'll have to tune! - - Follow Joseph: https://twitter.com/FedGuy12 Follow Jack: https://twitter.com/JackFarley96 Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Follow Forward Guidance: https://twitter.com/ForwardGuidance 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! - - 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 start with Jason's big takeaways from ETH Denver. What was the vibe? What innovations are on the horizon? And most interesting, what crypto sector was conspicuously missing from the conversation? We then discuss Silvergate's unwind, Coinbase's wallet announcement (bullish), Amazon NFT rumors, MakerDAO's 1.25B treasury proposal and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:33) ETH Denver Takeaways (09:15) Silvergate Unwinds (21:06) Coinbase's WaaS Announcement (28:49) Amazon NFT Rumors (33:07) Public.com (34:29) GBTC & Legal Wins for Crypto (40:24) MakerDAO Proposal to Buy $1.25B US Treasuries (44:04) Bitcoin Innovations (51:44) Predictions: Hong Kong, Bitcoin stablecoins, Coinbase - - 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 Silvergate Twitter thread https://twitter.com/ramahluwalia/status/1633669035924529152 Empire episode with Eric Peters https://spoti.fi/3yqRcdd Empire episode with Rebecca Rettig https://spoti.fi/3ynCF1Z Empire episode with Muneeb Ali (Ordinals/Stacks) https://spoti.fi/3L6xXgB MakerDAO US Treasury proposal https://bit.ly/3T4oqbF - - 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 one of crypto's best traders: Dan Matuszewski. Dan is the founder of CMS, a crypto OG and a prolific trader/investor. We discuss upcoming catalysts, the Coinbase trade, punting on L1s vs L2s, lending markets, what it's like managing a crypto fund and more. This is one of my favorite conversations that you won't want to miss! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:35) Surviving FTX (08:52) Market update and upcoming catalysts (15:41) The industry is starved for action (17:40) Deploying in private vs public markets (21:50) Trading macro (23:43) Is the lending market dead? (27:02) Base and the Coinbase trade (31:30) Punting L1s vs L2s (34:10) Regulation (41:25) Anything under a $50M fund doesn’t make sense (44:11) Blockworks Research (45:45) Anything under a $50M fund doesn’t make sense (49:16) Fund sentiment, LSD trade and inefficient markets - - Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/cmsholdings 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 CMS Peary on LSDs https://cmsholdings.substack.com/p/lsds-rocketpool https://twitter.com/cmspeary CMS Intern https://twitter.com/cmsintern - - 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, Muneeb Ali, the founder of Stacks, joins us to discuss Bitcoin's sudden transformation. Until the last two months, Bitcoin was (perceived as) simply a store of value, a religion. However, Ordinals, a Bitcoin NFT project, has redirected the spotlight to Bitcoin’s underlying tech and utility - a technology that can support NFTs, DeFi and more. Muneeb provides his unique insights in this eye-opening episode! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:53) Bitcoin is a technology, not a religion (06:43) Building apps on Bitcoin (12:36) Has Ordinals transformed Bitcoin’s future? (24:42) Stacks and Bitcoin DeFi (29:30) Blockworks Research (31:04) Stacks and Bitcoin DeFi (35:57) What will Bitcoin look like in 12 months? - - Follow Muneeb: https://twitter.com/muneeb 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 Empire's first-ever episode (with Muneeb) https://tinyurl.com/4vnbxwkz Stacks https://www.stacks.co/ - - 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, Darren Langley (Rocketpool) and John Zettler (Coinbase) join us to discuss why liquid staking is taking over Ethereum. We start with the LSD landscape, how cbETH and Rocketpool approach product strategy, and Lido's dominance. Then we get into the real fun stuff. Darren and John explain the 2/3rd order effects of the Shanghai upgrade, how to drive on-chain liquidity, the evolving fee market and more. Liquid staking is poised to take over Ethereum - don’t miss out! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:45) The LSD market overview (13:34) Rocketpool’s focus on decentralization (16:44) Lido’s dominance (19:59) Coinbase’s partnership with Rocketpool (24:41) Shanghai predictions (33:55) Blockworks Research (40:55) A reshuffling of market share? (46:18) Driving on-chain liquidity (50:08) Fee markets and multi chain (57:00) Future outlook (1:02:44) Regulation (1:08:48) LSDs on L2s - - Follow John: https://twitter.com/JohnZettler Follow Darren: https://twitter.com/langerstwit Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ 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 cbETH https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/trading-and-funding/staking-rewards/cbeth Rocket Pool https://rocketpool.net/ https://twitter.com/Rocket_Pool Ethereum staking distribution dashboard https://dune.com/hildobby/eth2-staking - - 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 Coinbase's journey to become the default gateway to crypto with their new L2. Jason and Santi delve into Coinbase's secret master plan, the impact of Base on Arbitrum and Optimism and the current state of on-chain creativity. Warning: we are bullish. We also cover the recent layoffs and reorgs at Polygon, the closure of Galois Capital, a new CBDC proposal and the misleading claims about Top Shot. Don't miss this episode, where we cover the top stories of the week! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:53) On-chain creativity is at an all-time high (07:04) Coinbase’s secret master plan (39:28) Blockworks Research (41:02) Trouble at Polygon? (46:18) Security is the #1 priority (50:02) Galois Capital shuts down (53:37) Arbitrum, CBDCs and Top Shot - - 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 The Myth of The Infrastructure Phase https://www.usv.com/writing/2018/10/the-myth-of-the-infrastructure-phase/ Empire's Base interview https://spoti.fi/3KGUIau The Coinbase Secret Master Plan https://www.coinbase.com/blog/the-coinbase-secret-master-plan Empire's Cosmos interview https://spoti.fi/41y0xgK - - 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.

Breaking News: Coinbase is launching an L2 on Ethereum called Base! Jesse and Will from Coinbase join us to discuss the news and paradigm shift for Coinbase. We explore why Coinbase is building Base, how Coinbase chose to use the OP tech stack, Base's value proposition, how Coinbase thinks about "competition" building on Base, if Base will have a token and more! -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:45) Base: Coinbase’s on-chain journey (05:02) Why build Base? (10:10) Leveraging the OP stack (19:10) Why now? (24:41) Base’s value proposition (35:27) Controlling the stack (41:10) Will Base have a token? (44:05) Building a bridge, not an island (46:54) What will Coinbase build on Base? (51:05) What is Base’s business model? (54:34) A culture shift and the on-chain future - - Follow Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessepollak Follow Will: https://twitter.com/willrobinson23 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 The Coinbase Secret Master Plan https://www.coinbase.com/blog/the-coinbase-secret-master-plan - - 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, Pacman (Blur's founder) joins Jason and Santi to discuss how Blur, an NFT marketplace for professional traders, has revolutionized the NFT market. We discuss Blur's business strategy, vertical vs horizontal markets, the creator royalty debate, Blur vs OpenSea and more! This is one of my favorite episodes yet - Pacman is a giga brain. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:50) Blur’s Unique Design and NFT Strategy (09:23) Incentivizing Liquidity vs Volume (21:30) Blockworks Research (23:05) Thoughts on Uniswap's NFT Strategy (31:40) OpenSea’s Response to Blur (40:30) Blur’s Airdrop Strategy (47:55) Navigating Regulations (49:30) Creator Royalties (56:00) Blur’s Market Unlock - - Follow Pacman: https://twitter.com/PacmanBlur 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 Blur https://blur.io/ https://twitter.com/BlurCrypto - - 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 start with a deep regulatory discussion with Kristin Smith and Rebecca Rettig to explore Gary's attack on crypto. We cover the SEC's attack against Kraken and BUSD, tokens as securities, market implications, what to expect next and more! Santi and Jason co-pilot the last 25 minutes to discuss Blur's airdrop, the battle for NFT market share, the L2 wars and Flashbots' new MEV-Share product. This episode covers everything you need to know from this wild week! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:55) An attack on Stablecoins? (06:34) Kraken and staking services (10:22) Why is Gary gunning for crypto? (14:09) The Implications and path forward (27:37) What if tokens were deemed securities? (32:30) Blockworks Research (34:05) How should crypto companies respond? (40:22) Regulation segment recap (51:25) Blur's airdrop, OpenSea losing market share (59:10) L2 Wars, Flashbots MEV-Share, Sushi Studios - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Kristin: https://twitter.com/KMSmithDC Follow Rebecca: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRettig1 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 Blockchain Association https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn Polygon https://twitter.com/0xPolygon Empire podcast with Rebecca Rettig and Jake Chervinsky https://spoti.fi/3YTMfoh Flasbots MEV-Share article http://bit.ly/3S7g9TO Categorizing different zk implementations (a Twitter thread) https://twitter.com/pseudotheos/status/1622698514475061252?s=20 - - 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, Camilla McFarland and Avery Akkineni discuss how the world's biggest brands will leverage Web3. Nike, Starbucks, Gucci and many others are already starting to build in crypto, and soon, every brand will have a Web3 strategy. Camilla and Avery explore how brands can leverage Web3 to build customer loyalty, customize user experiences and cater to a digitally-native community. This is one of my favorite episodes yet - it's stable stakes for anyone looking to build or grow a brand! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:36) Defining the Web3 opportunity (09:15) Why will brands embrace Web3? (28:50) Blockworks Research (30:21) How will brands participate? (42:39) How NFTs enable tailored user experiences (48:22) The Tech Stack: EVM dominance (1:05:06) The 5 to 10 year vision - - Follow Camilla: https://twitter.com/camillionaire_m Follow Avery: https://twitter.com/avery_akkineni 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 Vanyer3 https://vayner3.com/ Mojito https://mojito.xyz/ - - 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.

There's a heated debate in crypto right now around AppChains and the modular vs monolithic paradigm. That's why we released this special episode today from our other favorite podcast, Bell Curve. Sunny Aggarwal and Dmitriy Berenzon discuss how AppChains enable developers and protocols to customize consensus, cryptography, MEV rules, fees and more. But is this customization worth the fragmentation, start-up costs, lack of tooling and other challenges AppChains face? Tune in to find out! And don't worry - we'll be back to the usual roundup with Jason and Santi next week! - - Timestamps (00:00) A Note from Jason (02:45) Intro: Pre-Interview (05:15) The AppChain Thesis (13:34) Reasons to Build an AppChain (30:00) Blockworks Research ad (31:33) The Downsides and Challenges (46:22) What is Permissioned Blockspace? (53:06) Cosmos vs Ethereum (01:06:28) Solving Interoperability (01:12:12) User Lock-in, Wallets (1:18:00) Recap: Post-Interview - - Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneil Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ Follow Sunny: https://twitter.com/sunnya97 Follow Dmitriy: https://twitter.com/dberenzon Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9 Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH - - Resources: Bell Curve podcast https://spoti.fi/3JWqLmK Dmitriy's blog https://dberenzon.medium.com/ Osmosis https://osmosis.zone/ 1k(x) https://1kx.network/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve or 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Empire, Sam Kazemian joins Jason and Dan to discuss Frax's mission to build the most widely used stablecoins in DeFi. Sam starts by explaining how Frax has succeeded while other stable protocols have failed, why Frax is eyeing Fed deposits and the strategy behind the "DeFi Trinity". We then explore Frax's new ETH staking product, the stablecoin trilemma, and Sam drops a new product announcement (alpha leak). Don't miss this conversation with one of the brightest minds in DeFi! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:49) - Frax’s Mission (04:41) - How Frax Thrived When Others Failed (09:00) - Fed Deposits, Escaping Regulation and RWAs (17:03) - Public ad (18:53) - Creating Spot Demand and Monetary Premium (26:00) - frxETH and sfrxETH Explained (44:31) - Is Frax’s Focus too Broad? (49:02) - The Stablecoin Trilemma (54:00) - Alpha Leak (55:46) - Update on Frax’s Multisig - - Follow Sam: https://twitter.com/samkazemian?lang=en Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy 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 sponsored by Public.com. Go to https://Public.com/empire to move your cash into a Treasury Account today. - - Resources Frax https://frax.finance/ - - 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 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 this episode of Empire, Hal Press joins Mike and Jason to discuss his investment thesis. It's no secret that Hal is an ETH super bull, and this episode makes it clear why. He explains ETH's unfair advantage, how L2s will serve as free marketing for Ethereum, the liquidity staking derivative trade, the mechanics behind token rallies, token value accrual and the deflationary outlook! Get ready, this is one of my favorite podcasts yet. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:54) What Caused This Rally? (10:46) The ETH:BTC Ratio (13:14) How Shanghai Will Affect ETH Sell Pressure (18:32) The LSD Trade (20:30) Blockworks Research Ad (30:30) The Real Yield Thesis (32:36) Has ETH Won? (44:28) Aptos’ Rally & Learnings (54:40) The L2 Landscape (59:10) Where Will Value Accrue? (1:07:36) Bullish on dYdX (1:10:34) Macro and Deflation - - Follow Hal: https://twitter.com/NorthRockLP Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ 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 North Rock Digital https://northrockdigital.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.

In today’s episode of Empire, we discuss how we've just entered the third phase of the bear market. A phase marked by apathy. We explore what this means for builders, investors and the industry. If you're still here (in crypto), you don't want to miss this. We then cover why Aptos' price is pumping, Circles CCTP news, the controversial Doodles announcement and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (04:27) Permissionless Speakers (05:30) Phase 3 of the Bear Market (37:00) Regulatory Clarity (41:09) Why is Aptos Ripping? (49:06) Circle’s CCTP (55:29) Doodles 2 Launching on Flow (57:50) Kevin Rose $2M+ NFT “Hack” - - 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 Electric Capital 2022 Developer Report https://www.developerreport.com/developer-report Revoke.Cash https://revoke.cash/ - - 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, Qiao explains the upcoming Wallet Wars. Wallets are the decentralized access point for crypto, and the battle for distribution is about to get wild. Listen in to learn about the SuperApp Thesis, account abstraction, the battle for attention, wallet value capture and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:50) The Fat Wallet Thesis (04:11) How Wallets Have Evolved (09:06) Wallet Wars, Rise of the SuperApp (24:35) Account Abstraction (27:28) Why Geography Matters (29:16) Wallet Value Capture (41:03) Blue Ocean Opportunities & Centralized Credentials (51:02) Crypto Alfalpha - - Follow Qiao: https://twitter.com/QwQiao 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 Alliance DAO https://alliance.xyz/ Good Game podcast (Qiao's podcast) https://goodgamepod.xyz/ - - More related content by Blockworks: What Are Seed Phrases and Are They Needed? The New Debate https://blockworks.co/news/what-are-seed-phrases - - 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 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, 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 today’s episode of Empire, Santi and Jason go full Michael Scott by hosting the Annual Empire Awards. We discuss our favorite projects of 2022, our wildest predictions, the most overhyped section of crypto, the best unsexy ideas and so much more! We then get personal by discussing our worst investment in 2022, our best/worst new habits, our favorite app and our personal goals for 2023. Don't miss this one - it's one of my favorites yet. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (04:08) Biggest Mental Reframe (17:06) Favorite Project or Business (20:48) Crypto Person of the Year (23:08) Top Breakout Company (29:23) Best Unsexy Idea (35:40) Wildest Prediction for 2023 (43:40) Most Overlooked Vertical in Crypto (47:02) Most Overhyped Vertical in Crypto (50:33) Business You Want to See Built in 2023 (51:56) Your Best & Worst Investment in 2022 (59:37) Best Business Decision of 2022 (1:01:55) Most Helpful Thing You Started in 2022 (1:03:49) Worst & Best Habit (1:08:17) Favorite Content of 2022 (1:13:48) Besides Crypto, What Would You Work On? (1:22:11) Favorite New App or Product (1:24:33) Dream Podcast Guest (1:27:13) 2023 Business & Personal Goals - - 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 The Diff https://www.thediff.co/ I Pledge Allegiance https://bit.ly/3QgW2BK A Media Operator https://www.amediaoperator.com/ Graham Duncan https://grahamduncan.blog/about/ John Collison with Stanley Druckenmiller https://bit.ly/3QxSRpL Clay https://clay.earth/ The Summit (by Santi) https://bit.ly/3Cu4cBk - - 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 explore the state of the crypto market. We discuss where we are in the market cycle, the investment landscape, why 2023 could be a blood bath for crypto startups and why there's reason to be optimistic. You don’t want to miss this section. We then talk through Visa’s new payments deployment on Starknet, the power of account abstraction, Yuga Labs’ big hire, DCG’s outlook, the evolving media landscape and more! - - 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 Barry Silbert's WSJ tweet https://twitter.com/BarrySilbert/status/1604837519224639488 Catherine's Visa announcement tweet https://twitter.com/catgu_/status/1604896035616264205 - - 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, Simon Jones joins us to discuss DeFi's interest rate opportunity. A year ago, DeFi's meme was, "Why earn .01% in your bank account when you can earn 20%+ in DeFi". Fast forward to today, and TradFi offers higher yields than DeFi. Did we get rugged, or what's the new opportunity? Tune in as we explore the correlation between TradFi and DeFi rates, DeFi's low cost-of-capital opportunity, the efficiency of market-driven protocols, importing TradFi yields on-chain and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:15) The Divergence of TradFi & DeFi Rates (11:00) DeFi Responded 10x Faster Than the Fed (17:42) Leveraging DeFi as a Cheap Source of Funding (20:59) Importing TradFi Yields On-Chain (27:35) Why Institutions Will Use On-Chain Products (32:11) Replacing Regulation With Smart Contracts & Incentives (36:46) Voltz and the Importance of Fixed Rates (41:16) Will TradFi & DeFi Rates Eventually Converge? - - Follow Simon: https://twitter.com/0xSimonJones Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_ 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 Voltz https://www.voltz.xyz/ Voltz research paper on DeFi vs TradFi rates https://www.voltz.xyz/tradfi-vs-defi-rates Bell Curve episode with Simon https://bit.ly/3PC7lEj - - 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.

Blockworks just released a new podcast called 1000x! We're dropping the first episode here as we think you might want to add this podcast to the lineup. 1000x is a crypto markets podcast hosted by professional traders Avi Felman and Jonah Van Bourg that dives deep into the macro and micro factors that represent the lifeblood of digital money and web3. In this episode, Avi and Jonah discuss how to think like a crypto trader. They explore how today's market compares to the 2018 bear, where to look for opportunities, the investment landscape post-FTX and our top investing frameworks. A new 1000x episode will drop on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:28) Why We Started 1000x (06:18) Today’s Market Compared To 2018 (16:17) How To Think About Trading Markets (23:25) Market Structure Post-FTX (28:05) Managing Risks (36:30) Investing Frameworks (48:12) Crypto Is Here To Stay - - Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3Fw083Z 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/ Avi's psychology of a market tweet https://twitter.com/AviFelman/status/1595176484766883843 - - 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, Rob Behnke and Steve Walbroehl join us to discuss the state of Web3 security. When code equals money, security is everything. Rob and Steve explain the concept of blockchain cybersecurity, transactional-level audits, bridge hacks, crypto-native insurance and more. With over $2B in crypto hacks this year, this episode is worth everyone's time! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:30) Halborn, Cybersecurity For Web3 (12:17) The State Of Web3 Security (17:45) Are Smart Contract Audits A Sustainable Solution? (21:30) Reactive Security Measures (23:33) Seraph, A Tool That Enables Transactional Level Audits (26:25) Crypto-Native Insurance Solutions (29:53) Why Are There So Many Bridge Hacks? (42:20) Creating Security Standards (48:43) Solidity vs Other Programming Languages (53:56) The Best Way To Scale Blockchains (1:00:29) Why Rob & Steve Are Bitcoin “Maxis” (1:06:26) The Downsides Of Liquid Staking - - Follow Rob: https://twitter.com/robbehnke Follow Steve: https://twitter.com/HalbornSteve 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 Seraph https://www.seraph.co/ Halborn https://halborn.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.

In this episode of Empire, we start with a 25-minute interview with Adam Brotman, the creator of Starbucks Rewards, to discuss why he believes every company will adopt an NFT strategy. We discuss his partnership with Starbucks, NFTs as the ultimate loyalty product and what OG crypto fans get wrong about NFTs. After this interview, we do something a bit different. Instead of our usual roundup, we dropped one of our favorite episodes from a new Blockworks show called 0xResearch. It's an episode with dYdX's founder Antonio Juliano that I highly recommend you check out. If that's not for you, check out the spicy roundup from our Bell Curve podcast [see links below]. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:03) Creator of Starbucks Rewards talks NFTs (25:55) 0xResearch dYdX podcast with Antonio (26:05) FTX's Ripple Effects Across CeFi & DeFi (38:11) Brand As A Moat (42:49) How dYdX Can Outmatch CeFi (49:35) Expected FTX Regulatory Fallout (54:36) Risk Mgmt & dYdX’s Safety Module (1:01:40) SubDAOs & Governance (1:04:31) dYdX AppChain Update (1:13:36) How dYdX Will Approach MEV (1:16:53) On & Off Ramps To dYdX (1:23:16) Returning Fees To Stakers & The Future Of dYdX - - Follow Adam: https://twitter.com/adambrotman 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 Forum3 https://www.forum3.com/ Bellcurve Podcast (roundup) Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Fdw7pB Apple: https://bit.ly/3UJid4b YouTube: https://bit.ly/3VH4jB6 0xResearch Podcast Spotify: https://bit.ly/3hhL81z Apple: https://bit.ly/3hcTsQ8 YouTube: https://bit.ly/3DNVFdp Blockworks Research twitter https://twitter.com/blockworksres - - 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, Anatoly Yakovenko and Ben Sparango join us to discuss Solana's future in the aftermath of FTX. SBF and FTX were core investors and contributors to the Solana ecosystem. How did Solana get so intertwined with FTX? How bad was Solana damaged as a result? How will Solana recover? These are just a few of the questions we explore. We then dive into Solana's roadmap and discuss Solana's new local fee market, network outages, decentralization worries, monolithic chains vs rollups, the Solana mobile stack and more. This is the go-to podcast for all Solana fans and skeptics! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:18) How Did Solana Get So Intertwined With FTX? (11:20) How Important Was SBF To Solana’s Growth? (17:36) Fallout From Reliance On FTX (20:05) Did You See This Coming? (25:07) What Exchanges Got Wrong & Alameda’s 10% SOL Stake (29:58) FTX Impact On Solana Apps & Developers (33:30) Where Does Solana Go From Here? (42:13) Solana’s Fee Markets & Decentralization Questions (46:16) Solving Solana’s Network Outages (57:38) Monolithic Blockchains, Layer 2s & New Learnings (1:07:10) Economic Sustainability (1:10:30) Avalanche vs Cosmos, Who’s Solana's Main Competitor? (1:14:59) The Importance Of Business Development (1:19:18) Google Partnership & The Solana Phone - - Follow Anatoly: https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko Follow Ben: https://twitter.com/bennybitcoins 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 Break Solana website https://break.solana.com/ Chris Burniske's thread on Solana https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1590455521307660290 Anatoly and Dankrad debate https://bit.ly/3Umky4T Solana events webpage https://solana.com/events Solana Twitter account https://twitter.com/solana The Solana Podcast https://bit.ly/3FgMAdS - - 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.

In this episode of Empire, Thomas Braziel joins us to discuss the highly lucrative yet misunderstood world of distressed crypto investing. We start with the basics of how distressed asset investing works; then, we explore the Mt. Gox bankruptcy, how to value bankruptcy claims, what's next for FTX, the tokenization of bankruptcy claims and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:57) What Is Distressed Asset Investing? (04:49) Mt. Gox Case Explained (19:26) Circle Ad (21:08) Finding Investment Opportunities (27:09) How to Value a Bankruptcy Claim (30:01) Buying FTX Claims for 3 Cents on the Dollar (31:59) FTX Bankruptcy Jurisdiction Questions (35:57) Tokenization of Bankruptcy Claims (38:32) Will They Separate FTX.US and FTX International Assets? (39:43) What's Next for BlockFi and Genesis? - - Follow Thomas: https://twitter.com/ThomasBraziel 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 507 Capital https://507capital.com/ Memos from Howard Marks https://www.oaktreecapital.com/insights - - 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, we bring on Nic Carter to discuss if Genesis and DCG can fix their liquidity issues and avoid bankruptcy. We explore how Genesis overextended its books with asset-liability duration mismatches, how FTX's fallout exposed the DCG Empire and what to expect next. Nic then walks us through his framework on institutional adoption, Bitcoin's long-term outlook, proof-of-reserves and more! -- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (00:58) Genesis Meltdown Exposes DCG (20:10) Bitcoin Miner Blood Bath & BTC’s Outlook (34:03) Proof-of-Stake vs Proof-of-Work (36:05) What Looks Interesting Right Now? (39:05) How Has Institutional Adoption Been Affected? (42:20) The Future of Solana (47:37) The Off-Shore Exchange Thesis (50:05) Proof-of-Reserves (56:20) Where Nic and His Business Partner Disagree - - Follow Nic: https://twitter.com/nic__carter 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 On The Brink podcast http://bit.ly/3TWTnxz Castle Island Ventures https://www.castleisland.vc/ Nic Carter's blog and website https://niccarter.info/ - - 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.

Genesis, crypto's largest lender, just froze withdrawals and new loan orginations. Would a Genesis collapse have wider impacts than FTX's demise? Genesis sits at the direct center of crypto capital markets. They custody funds. They help institutions earn yield. They are the yield product for CeFi platforms. Genesis touches almost everything... We bring on foobar to discuss! Note: A spokesperson at Anchorage (mentioned in the ep), shared this great update: "Anchorage Digital does not lend or repurpose client assets without a client's permission and we have no commercial relationship with Genesis." - - Follow foobar: https://twitter.com/0xfoobar 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 Jason's thread on Genesis https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1592917789898989568 Circle's tweets on Genesis https://twitter.com/circle/status/1592940639645495298 - - 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, Kristin Smith and Jake Chervinsky join us to discuss how FTX's collapse will impact crypto regulation. SBF was the poster child of crypto in D.C. - how will his fallout damage crypto's reputation? Did regulators fail consumers, and how will they respond? What are the shortcomings of the DCCPA bill? How important are the political midterms, and what is happening in the securities vs commodities debate? Tune in to find out! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:54) SBF’s Unbelievable Damage (07:17) How Active Was SBF In D.C.? (09:52) The First Red Flags & DCCPA Threats (22:56) Where Regulators Failed (27:32) Expected Reaction From D.C. (33:43) Circle Ad (35:26) DCCPA Overview & Its Impact On DeFi (47:53) What The Midterms Mean For Crypto (50:55) The Litigation Phase (55:07) LBRY, Ripple & Progressive Decentralization (1:03:45) A Path Forward - - Follow Kristin: https://twitter.com/KMSmithDC Follow Jake: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky 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/ -- 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 Jake's tweet thread on DCCPA https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1570451252852527104 Brian Amstrong's response to Elizabeth Warren https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1590511022104010753 Ron Hammond's tweet thread on FTX/SBF https://twitter.com/ronwhammond/status/1590741692348772352 Blockchain Association website https://theblockchainassociation.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, Avichal Garg Founder of Electric Capital and Haseeb Qureshi Managing Partner at Dragonfly Capital join the show to discuss the fallout of FTX. Avichal and Haseeb discuss the structure between FTX and Alameda Research, looking behind the curtain into how intertwined the two entities were. We then go on to discuss the potential contagion between large CeFi companies in crypto who could have exposure to FTX and Alemeda. To hear all this and more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow Avichal https://twitter.com/avichal Follow Haseeb: https://twitter.com/hosseeb 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/ -- 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. - - 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. Disclaimer: Scammers are impersonating Blockworks and replying to comments on some of our videos. Please be advised that we will NEVER reply to your comment asking you to contact us on whatsapp, telegram, provide investment advice, or solicit money from you. These are scam impersonator accounts and you should not respond to them.

Binance is considering acquiring FTX. I never thought I'd type those words. What just happened? How did FTX go from a market-leading exchange to near insolvency? Is there contagion risk, and how will regulators respond? Tune in to find out! - - Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel 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 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 of Empire, Arianna Simpson and Ali Yahya join to discuss a16z's crypto thesis. We start with Ali's network flywheel framework, the future of interoperability and protocol value capture. Do protocols have moats? Is the L1 trade over? Will applications accrue an outsized share of crypto's value? We then discuss DAO governance, music NFTs, zero-knowledge proofs and crypto's open design space. This is one of those can't-miss episodes! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:14) Crypto's Network Flywheel (08:40) Is The L1 Trade Over? (20:52) a16z’s Value Accrual Framework (28:03) Circle ad (29:45) Infrastructure Unlocks (37:55) a16z’s Governance & DAO Philosophy (44:33) Evolution of Web3 Gaming (49:19) Music NFTs (55:22) ZK Proofs & Building Privacy Into Blockchains (1:00:33) What Feels Obvious That Others Are Missing? - - Follow Arianna https://twitter.com/AriannaSimpson Follow Ali: https://twitter.com/alive_eth 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/ -- 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 Ali's network flywheel tweet thread https://twitter.com/alive_eth/status/1296831069065375749 Computers That Can Make Commitments (Chris Dixon) https://a16z.com/2020/01/27/computers-that-make-commitments/ The Fat Protocol Thesis https://www.usv.com/writing/2016/08/fat-protocols/ The Internet Economy https://cdixon.org/2016/03/13/the-internet-economy Commoditize Your Complements https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/ The Myth of The Infrastructure Phase https://www.usv.com/writing/2018/10/the-myth-of-the-infrastructure-phase/ 1000 True Fans https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/ - - 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. Disclaimer: Scammers are impersonating Blockworks and replying to comments on some of our videos. Please be advised that we will NEVER reply to your comment asking you to contact us on whatsapp, telegram, provide investment advice, or solicit money from you. These are scam impersonator accounts and you should not respond to them.

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, we bring on Matthew Blumberg and Byron Gilliam to discuss how J.P. Morgan - the largest bank in the US - just made history. What happened? J.P. Morgan executed their first trade on a public blockchain (sup Polygon) using an Aave Arc clone. Tune in to find out what happened, why J.P. Morgan chose Polygon, how enterprise crypto adoption will likely play out and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:42) JP Morgan’s Aave Trade, What Happened? (10:53) Permissioned DeFi, Why Do This On-Chain? (25:09) The Aave Mafia (26:08) Will Polygon Remain "Loyal" To Ethereum? (31:50) Why J.P. Morgan Chose Polygon (37:51) Social Media Is Adopting Web3 - - Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Matt: https://twitter.com/matt_blumberg Follow Byron: https://twitter.com/bgilliam1982 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 Decent Crypto Podcast (hosted by Matt) https://spoti.fi/3FKxBJW Ty Lobban's tweet thread on the J.P. Morgan trade https://twitter.com/TyLobban/status/1587679344792829954 Erik Voorhees & SBF on Bankless https://spoti.fi/3FIPw3M Sandeep's tweet on Polygon "bringing the world to Ethereum" https://twitter.com/sandeepnailwal/status/1587949120031006721 - - 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.