Empire

Today we are joined by Alex Blania to discuss Worldcoin and its attempt to solve proof-of-humanity. ChatGPT and AI have hit the world by storm, making it harder to distinguish humanity from machine. In this episode, we discuss how proof of humanity is necessary in an AI-driven world, why Worldcoin uses biometric data and crypto rails, how privacy concerns are mitigated, questions around UBI, and h...

In today's episode, we discuss frameworks for valuing crypto projects. The fellas debate token buybacks vs dividends, fundamentals vs flows, protocol revenue vs supply-side revenue and how these factors impact investor valuation frameworks. We also explore activist crypto investing, jaredfromsubway's MEV strategy and more. Santi's out so it's Jason with the Bell Curve crew today! - - Timestamps: (...

In this episode, Avi and Jonah discuss Bitcoin's outlook and recent meme coin mania. We start with a discussion on Bitcoin and if bank failures are priced in, what it will take for BTC to break past the 30K range and if institutions are buying. Avi and Jonah then debate if we'll ever see 2021s perfect storm again. Meme coins are pumping, blockspace demand is saturated, and market sentiment is shif...

Today we are joined by Tron's founder, Justin Sun. Justin describes Tron's role as the leading stablecoin network, USDT's falling market share, Huobi's competition with Binance, his potential acquisition of DCG's assets and more. You will be shocked to hear what dollar amounts Justin has staked in Lido and other DeFi protocols. Tune in to find out! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:56) Tron’s Visi...

Today we are joined by Rebecca Rettig and Jake Chervinsky to discuss the state of crypto regulation. Rebecca and Jake explain how the US is falling behind, the EU's MiCA regulation, the SEC's attack on Coinbase, Gary's false sense of control and the hottest crypto bills in DC. Regulation and policy are becoming must-know topics for crypto participants, and this is your go-to source for everything...

SPECIAL EPISODE: We decided to skip Empire's roundup this week and replace it with this epic roundup from Bell Curve! Bell Curve is our sister podcast that features Jason, Mike (Blockworks' other co-founder) and Vance + Michael from Framework Ventures. In this episode of Bell Curve, the crew discusses Coinbase's earnings beat and Blur's new NFT lending product! Coinbase crushed revenue, meme coins...

Today we are joined by Pacman to discuss Blend, Blur's new perpetual NFT lending platform. Blend is peer-to-peer, doesn't require oracles and offers non-expiring loans. Pacman explains how these mechanics work, why Blend focuses on institutional liquidity provision, borrower liquidation risk and more! Blend could be the NFT primitive that ignites the next NFT run - you don't want to miss this one....

Today we are joined by Josh Bown (Astria) and Ben Fisch (Espresso Systems) to discuss the role of shared sequencers in the modular future. Josh and Ben explain the risks of centralized sequencers, why rollups will use a shared sequencer and the core tradeoffs. What is the value proposition of a shared sequencer? How will MEV be allocated between rollups and sequencers? Why haven't rollups already...

In today's episode, Jason and Santiago discuss why Santi is bullish on Solana. We start with a debate on how low liquidity creates wild volatility, BTC's correlation to the S&P and if shared sequencers are overhyped. This leads to a conversation on the MadLads mint, Santi's allocation to the Solana ecosystem, Circle's CCTP launch and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:38) Low Liquidity...

1000x is officially back! If you're new here, 1000x is a crypto markets podcast by professional traders Avi Felman and Jonah Van Bourg. We bring on experts to dive deep into the macro and micro factors that represent the lifeblood of digital money and web3. 1000x is officially back! If you're new here, 1000x is a crypto markets podcast by professional traders Avi Felman and Jonah Van Bourg. We bri...

Today we are joined by Julian Holguin, the CEO of Doodles. Julian reveals how Doodles is creating an IP powerhouse that will become the Pixar of Web3. The OG Doodles NFT collection is just the tip of the iceberg (their "Toy Story"), with even more exciting things to come. In this episode, Julian explains the power of combining narrative with technology, Doodles' business plan and collaboration wit...

In today's episode, Jason and Santiago discuss Gary Gensler's crypto crusade. The SEC Chair has continually attacked crypto and revealed this week that... he has never owned or interacted with any "digital asset". We debate Garry's comments from this week's committee meeting, if regulators are pushing companies like Coinbase out of the US and why we remain optimistic. We also cover Flashbot's new...

Although our guests this week are managing partners of a registered investment adviser, nothing in this podcast is investment, tax, legal or other financial advice. In this episode of Empire, Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain of Multicoin join us in their first public discussion since the fall of FTX and Solana's crash. We start with a detailed discussion about Multicoin's relationship with SBF and FTX:...

In today's episode, Jason and Santiago discuss the bull vs bear case for ETH's Shapella upgrade. Since December 2021, ETH staking was one way. You could stake your ETH, but it was locked until the Shapella upgrade finally arrived. Shapella is here, and ETH is unlocked for the first time! Does this mean a giant supply of ETH sell pressure will hit the market? Will institutions embrace ETH now that...

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, th...

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...

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 y...

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 wan...

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,...

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 infrastructur...

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 a...

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...

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, t...

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 ph...

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...