Empire

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/santiagoroelFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFolow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Miles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneilFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet 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.- -ResourcesMike's Eth L2 vs Alt L1 debate tweethttps://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/WestieCapitalFollow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguyFollow Sam: https://twitter.com/swmartin19Follow Purplepill: https://twitter.com/purplepill3mFollow Matt: https://twitter.com/MattFiebachFollow Blockworks Research: https://twitter.com/blockworksresSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3foDS38Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3SNhUEtSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3NlP1hAGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -Resources:Delegate ARB to Blockworks Researchhttps://twitter.com/blockworksres/status/1639279479368368132Sovereign Labshttps://www.sovereign.xyz/https://twitter.com/sovereign_labs- -Check out Blockworks Research today! Research, data, governance, tokenomics, and models – now, all in one placeBlockworks 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/kaiynneFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroelFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet 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.- -ResourcesSynthetixhttps://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/santiagoroelFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet 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/RegenReneFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroelFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -ResourcesCelohttps://celo.org/https://twitter.com/CeloOrgValorahttps://valoraapp.com/abouthttps://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-395b09Follow Andrew: https://twitter.com/andrewlpeelFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroelFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet 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!- -ResourcesMorgan Stanleyhttps://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 hotWe 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/santiagoroelFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -ResourcesBell Curve podcasthttps://spoti.fi/42uqCxHBlockworks' Grantfarmhttps://blockworks.co/grantfarmArbitrum Airdrop dashboard by Blockworks Researchhttps://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_xyzFollow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelmanFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroelFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet 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!- -ResourcesGoldenTreehttps://www.goldentree.com/Cumberlandhttps://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/sgoldfedFollow Harry: https://twitter.com/hkalodnerFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroelFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -ResourcesArbitrumhttps://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/sgoldfedFollow Harry: https://twitter.com/hkalodnerFollow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroelFollow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2jSubscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprwGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -ResourcesArbitrumhttps://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.