On today's episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Santiago Roel Santos are joined by Do Kwon, founder of Terraform Labs. Do explains Terra’s evolving roadmap, how UST will be the most dominant stablecoin in the interchain world, and why Terra is adopting BTC as a reserve asset. Do is an absolute force - don’t miss his alpha on Terra, Anchor, bridges and more. -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to mi...
Mar 31, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 75
On today's episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Santiago Roel Santos are joined by Li Jin and Jesse Walden of Variant. Bringing their specific expertise on the creator space, Li and Jesse discuss what it means to form a crypto creator economy that not only supports quality content but attracts players to actually invest in the concept. With Jason and Santiago, they cover mainstream adoption, NFTs, what it means to be an owner, and more. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price ...
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 74
On today's episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santiago go through the latest in crypto news. They dive in by talking wallet security in the wake of Arthur0x's wallet hack, then segue into equity vs. tokens, Bitcoin as a reserve asset, and what the future will hold for hard commodities like gold as BTC becomes foundational to other nation states. Links discussed: https://twitter.com/Arthur_0x/status/1506167899437686784 https://cryptohayes.medium.com/energy-cancelled-e9f9e53a50cd -- Ava...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Jason and Santiago are joined by Gabby Dizon (co-founder YGG) and Felix Sim (co-founder Salad Venture) for a deep dive into crypto-gaming guilds. We discuss the future of play-to-earn (P2E) and how guilds provide the core infrastructure necessary for gaming's exponential growth. This is a must-listen if you're curious about how P2E economies work, how guilds add value to the gaming ecosystem, or where P2E gaming is headed in the next 5 to 10 years. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the ...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 72
On today's episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Gmoney joins Santiago and Jason to discuss CryptoPunks, IPs, and the creator space in the wake of this week and last week's news. Not only weighing in on the NFT space's tricky relationship with IP and creative commons rights, Gmoney discusses his own journey with self-branding in the space and outside of it. Santiago and Jason also cover $APE and the ApeCoin DAO, the vote results of last week's discussion on Anchor, and more. -- Avalanche: Thank yo...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 71
On today's episode of Empire Jason and Santiago are joined by investor, entrepreneur & Co-Founder of Twitch Justin Kan, for a deep dive into NFTs. Sitting at the crossroads of gaming and NFTs, after launching Fractal, a Solana based marketplace for gaming NFTs, we invited Justin to Empire to discuss what he anticipates for the future. He shares what it was like after leaving Twitch, getting into crypto, launching Fractal and so much more. Justin provides a look behind the curtain into the fa...
Mar 14, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 70
On this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason is joined by Blockworks Co-founder and On The Margin podcast host Mike Ippolito, Blockworks Markets Strategist Byron Gilliam, and Matthew Hepler, vice president of portfolio management at Arca. Matt joins the show to discuss Anchor, its upcoming protocol proposal and the sustainability of the protocol’s 19% APY. He also chats about the differences in governance in equities versus crypto. Jason, Mike and Byron then dive into the hottest stories of...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 69
On today's episode of Empire Jason & Santiago are joined by Andrew Yang an Entrepreneur, Author & 2020 Presidential Candidate. Andrew joins Jason & Santiago for a conversation to discuss the biggest challenges the U.S faces today. Andrew also shares his thoughts on income inequality, universal basic income, his vision for a multi party system, the growth of Web 3.0 & so much more. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap...
Mar 07, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Episode recorded on February 22nd. On today's episode of Empire Jason & Santiago are joined by Jim Bianco, Founder of Bianco Research, for a conversation on the broader markets, as well as crypto. Jim shares his macro framework for 2022 discussing Fed rate hikes, Biden's inflation problem, recessionary warnings in the bond market, crypto's correlation to traditional markets, DeFi vs CeFi Stablecoin TVL, the complexities of protocol bridging & how the financial system is ready for a new w...
Mar 06, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 67
On this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santiago welcome Simon Taylor for a deep dive into the much lauded topic of SWIFT. With the recent sanctions placed on Russia, Simon gives an in depth explanation into what this means for the Russian economy going forward. Simon, Jason & Santiago are here to dispel some misnomers and create a concrete definition of everybody's current question, what is SWIFT? Simon's SWIFT article Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. A...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 66
On today's episode of Empire Jason Yanowitz is joined by Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly Cap and Avichal Garg of Electric Capital. Both are strong voices in the space when it comes to tokenization, metaverse, and multichain futures. With their unique perspectives, Haseeb and Avichal debate the merits of the crypto as cities philosophy, the future of Crypto, what a multichain world will look like & more. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out p...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 65
On today's episode of Empire, Jason sits down with Amy Wu, General Partner at FTX, to take a deep dive in crypto gaming. Covering the differences between traditional gaming and crypto gaming, Amy Wu provides an in-depth and pertinent perspective on the future of gaming as exciting developments occur everyday. She also discusses FTX's personal strategy when concerning crypto gaming and what they see for the genre in the future. -- Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand de...
Feb 27, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 64
On this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santiago are joined by Blockworks' very own newsletter writer, Byron Gilliam, to discuss the latest crypto trends. Harkening back to last week's conversation as the markets experienced a substantial sell off, they review recent news like FTX's push in the retail space and Terra's billion dollar raise. They also go over current market trends discussing stablecoins, wallets, protection and safety in an ever-evolving space. -- Avalanche: Thank y...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 63
In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santiago are joined by James Zhang of Jambo Technology, a crypto team pioneering the largest Web 3.0 super app in Africa. Discussing the foundation of Jambo to how it can empower the next generation of Africans, James Zhang provides an insightful perspective to the crypto infrastructure in Africa & how Web 2.0 companies are approaching Web 3.0. They discuss the current state of crypto in Africa, developing web 3.0 infrastructure, Jambo's roadmap for Afric...
Feb 21, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 62
On this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup Jason and Santiago catch up on the latest with Bitcoin's changing narrative, Canada and America's moves against banking freedom, BlockFi & the SEC and more. Discussing their observations and thoughts on the developments in the space, they cover everything from DeFi acquisitions to social tokens. Follow Jason Yanowitz: @JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: @santiagoroel Follow Blockworks: @Blockworks_ -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Emp...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 61
On today’s episode of Empire, Jason sits down with Jane Street’s Thomas Uhm for Jane Street’s first ever crypto podcast. Thomas and Jason compare traditional capital markets to crypto markets, get deep into financial plumbing, and explore Jane Street’s crypto strategy. You don’t want to miss this one! Accelerating the U.S. Securities Settlement Cycle to T+1 - https://www.sifma.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Accelerating-the-U.S.-Securities-Settlement-Cycle-to-T1-December-1-2021.pdf — ParaSwap: I...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 60
On this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup Jason and Santiago cover Russia officially cosigning cryptocurrency as a legal form of currency, KPMG taking an undisclosed Bitcoin & Ethereum position & BlackRock providing crypto trading & financial services. Jason and Santiago exchange thoughts and musings on what this means for the space- and what we can expect to come in 2022. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing sm...
Feb 11, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 59
On today's episode of Empire, Jason sits with Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly Cap and Tarun Chitra of Gauntlet for a DeFi deep dive. They cover a range of topics, from DAOs and governance, to the digitization of corporations in our increasingly technology-based world. Revisiting familiar subjects like tokenization and Web 2.0 creators coming to Web 3.0. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats th...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 58
On this episode of Empire’s Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santiago cover the Ethereum hack on Wormhole and MakerDAO’s governance proposal. They also dig into why everyone is misunderstanding the importance of DAOs (hint: it has nothing to do with governance). Explanation of the Wormhole Hack -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. Learn more about them at https://www.avax.network/ - Disclai...
Feb 04, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 57
On today's episode of Empire Jason Yanowitz & Santiago Santos and are joined by Jason Kam. Jason runs Folius Ventures, a Hong Kong based crypto fund. After years working as an Analyst in TradFi at Deutsche Bank, 40 North Management & Briarwood Chase Management, Jason took the leap into the world of DeFi after seeing the potential in 2018. Jason shares his insights on launching Folius Ventures, whether we are in a bear market, big trends in crypto for the next decade, the reaction and res...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 56
On today's episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Santiago and Jason both tackle wild news in a crazy market environment. From uplifting fundraisers to shifty characters, the space is rife with commentary to be had and neither hold back. They go over DeFi, protocols, regulation, NFTs and more as they navigate market news and recent events in crypto. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalanche is one of the best and fastest growing smart-contract platforms in the industry. ...
Jan 28, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 55
On today’s episode of Empire Blockwork’s co-founder Jason Yanowitz and his co-host Santiago Roel Santos are joined by Ben Forman, managing partner at ParaFi Capital. Ben launched ParaFi in 2018 after seeing the potential of DeFi. Now with around $1 billion AUM, he provides his thoughts on how the DeFi ecosystem has evolved. Ben also shares his insights into how the recent Jan. 21 2022, market sell-off compares to March 2020, the explosive growth of stablecoins, the layer-1 wars, opportunities in...
Jan 27, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 54
On today's episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santiago gear up for a jam-packed narrative week as they explore the hottest in crypto news. Echoes and reminders of last week's discussion crop up as they review changing opinions on tokenization, DeFi, and the Curve Wars. They look at the biggest in acquisitions, from new funds stepping into the cryptospace with billion dollar backing to Microsoft's metaverse news- and what all of these things could mean for the future of crypto. From li...
Jan 21, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 53
On today's episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Santos Santiago are joined by Joey Krug, CIO of Pantera. Before Pantera, Joey also organized the first ICO on Ethereum, raising a total $5.7 million for Augur, a peer-to-peer betting platform- among other things. With his multiple positions and involvements in the crypto scene, Joey provides a unique viewpoint to not only past and current trends, but a loud and vocal perspective on DeFi and the Layer wars. Join Jason and Santiago as they learn mor...
Jan 20, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 52
In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santiago bring their A-game and best sweaters for this conversation about the latest in crypto this week. After covering the launch of AllianceDAO yesterday and the Curve Wars last week, Ver(3,3) and Yearn Finance provide a stimulating and exciting revisit as they discuss what it means for the environment. Jason and Santiago track the markets, comment on fundraisers, and more. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanche for sponsoring Empire. Avalan...
Jan 14, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 51
On this episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Mike Ippolito are joined by Qiao Wang and Imran Khan of AllianceDAO. Not only are Qiao and Imran announcing big news about launching AllianceDAO & raising $50 Million, but they're also diving into all their thoughts on what DeFi Summer set up for the current state of crypto, the metaverse & gaming projects they're interested in. You won't want to miss this! -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, chec...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Welcome to the first Weekly Roundup of the 2022! With new stories happening all the time, join Jason and Santiago as they look at the latest in market news, wrestle with the internet, and explain the hottest in crytpo news. This week they take a deep dive into explaining Curve and the curve wars, discuss the complicated back-and-forth of what is decentralized and permissionless- this time relating to an art theft!- and analyse Electric Capital's dropped report. -- Avalanche: Thank you to Avalanc...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 49
On this episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Santiago Santos sit down with Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital. As one of the top performing crypto funds of all time, Kyle and Tushar have insight not only discuss their former and current contrarian opinions on the space but discuss what they've learned, how they're thinking, and what they're seeing when it comes to the crypto industry in 2022. -- ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check o...
Jan 06, 2022•55 min•Season 1Ep. 48
In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santiago bring enthusiasm and cheer to end a spectacular year and make some predictions about the new one! Sending off 2021 with a review of their past speculation, Jason and Santiago take turns explaining their own personal predictions and discussing their agreements, disagreements, or confusion thereafter! Want to hear what crypto predictions they have concerning DAOs, DEXs, NFTs and more? Then tune in and bring in the new year with Empire'...
Dec 31, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 47
In this episode of Empire Jason & Santiago are joined by Antonio Juliano. Antonio is the founder of dYdX one of the largest decentralized exchanges in the world. After leaving Coinbase to start dYdX in 2017, dYdX now settles over $2 Billion of trade volume per day and is backed by some of the largest funds in the crypto industry such as a16z, Polychain & Bain Capital. We invited Antonio on Empire to discuss how dYdX plans to become the largest crypto exchange in the world, futures tradin...
Dec 30, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 46
