Empire

Latest Episodes:

Mike Novogratz on Crypto's Outlook, Trading & Storytelling | 1000x Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

In today's episode of 1000x, we are joined by Mike Novogratz, legendary trader and founder of Galaxy Digital. We talk about how Mike built an intuition for markets, how to synthesize trades, crypto's outlook, macro policy expectations, Mike's favorite trade and more!

We'll drop a new 1000x episode on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. Hit the links below and give us a follow!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:55) Developing an Intuition for Markets

(03:25) How to Synthesize Trading Opportunities

(07:17) Trading Crypto vs Macro: Similarities and Differences

(11:42) Maintaining Conviction in Crypto

(18:27) Crypto’s Most Interesting Opportunities

(20:51) The Relationship Between BTC and Monetary/Fiscal Policy

(30:41) Retail Adoption: Crypto Needs More Storytellers

(37:19) Why Mike Started Galaxy

(39:40) Favorite Trade of All Time

(42:37) When to Sell vs Hold

(48:22) Investing in Your Community and Making an Impact

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Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/novogratz

Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz

Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3FuSarX

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Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

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Resources:

Golden Tree

https://www.goldentree.com/

Cumberland

https://cumberland.io/

https://twitter.com/CumberlandSays

DRW

https://drw.com/

https://twitter.com/DRWTrading

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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.

The Sovereign Rollup Thesis & Inevitability of Modular Tech Stacks | Mustafa Al-Bassam (Celestia), Preston Evans (Sovereign) Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

Today we are joined by Preston Evans and Mustafa Al-Bassam to discuss the sovereign rollup thesis. We discuss social vs technical sovereignty, the Sovereign SDK, why light clients are critical to scale, limitations of optimistic rollups, value accrual in a modular world and more!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Rollup Designs

(05:40) Social Sovereignty vs Technical Sovereignty

(09:58) Why Does the Rollup Debate Matter?

(18:09) Limitations of the EVM

(20:39) A Blockchains 3 Core Tasks

(24:21) Thales

(25:18) Security Guarantees & the Benefit for Users

(32:21) Modular Inevitability & Breaking the Layer One Loop

(42:34) Why Preston is Bearish on Optimistic Rollups

(46:00) Value Accrual and Moats

(53:40) Sovereign’s Alpha Release & Celestia’s Mainnet Incoming

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Follow Preston: https://twitter.com/prestonevans__

Follow Mustafa: https://twitter.com/musalbas

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

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Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

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This episode is brought to you by Thales. Thales is an innovative digital options platform on Arbitrum and Optimism that gets you exposure to crypto assets in the simplest way possible. As simple as choosing UP or DOWN! Experience the simplicity and power of Thales by visiting https://thalesmarket.io/?mtm_campaign=blockworks today!

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Resources

Celestia

https://celestia.org/

https://twitter.com/CelestiaOrg

Sovereign

https://www.sovereign.xyz/

https://twitter.com/sovereign_labs

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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.

Santi Announces He's Building A Crypto Bank | Roundup Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

In today's episode, Jason and Santiago discuss their outlook on the bear market, why Lido FUD is overblown, Animoca's red flags to watch, the SEC's show of weakness and Santi's big announcement (he's building a new crypto bank!).

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:38) Why This Bear Market Seems So Dark

(13:47) Santi Announces He's Building a Crypto Bank

(24:54) “Valora Ad”

(25:49) Lido FUD

(33:34) Animoca's Red Flags

(43:16) The SEC Shows Weakness

(47:53) Book/Show Recommendations

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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/

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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.

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Resources:

Animoca

https://www.animocabrands.com/

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MakerDAO's Endgame: The Boldest Gamble in Crypto History | Rune Christensen May 31, 2023

Show notes

Today we are joined by Rune Christensen to discuss MakerDAO's Endgame. The Endgame is MakerDAO's roadmap to create the world's most widely used stablecoin. We discuss how Maker has evolved since 2015, MKR's underperformance, the 5 phases of the Endgame, what could go wrong and more!

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Timestamps:

00:00 MakerDAO's History: From Creation to Today

08:51 Codifying Rules to Scale

19:36 MKR’s Underperformance vs DAI’s Growth

24:36 Quicknode

26:25 Phase 1: Rebranding, New Tokens, Farming

37:37 Phase 2: SubDAOs, RWA Collateral & Tokenomics

55:59 Phase 3: Implementing AI

01:01:20 Phase 4 & 5: Voting Rewards and a Special Purpose Blockchain

01:05:40 The Bear Case

01:10:10 Allocator DAOs and Internalizing Value

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Follow Rune: https://twitter.com/RuneKek

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/

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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!

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Resources

The Endgame Plan parts 1&2 (May 2022)

https://forum.makerdao.com/t/the-endgame-plan-parts-1-2/15456

The 5 phases of Endgame (May 2023)

https://forum.makerdao.com/t/the-5-phases-of-endgame/20830

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Solana's Metaplex Sparks Heated Protocol Funding Debate | Roundup May 26, 2023

Show notes

In today's episode, we discuss how Metaplex, Solana's leading NFT infrastructure provider, surprised the community by announcing usage fees, causing a heated debate on public goods funding and protocol business models. We also explore the intersection of AI and crypto, the dangers of restaking, if crypto has PMF and Ledger's PR nightmare!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:57) Nvidia and AI Take Center Stage

(14:20) Metaplex: Public Goods and Protocol Funding

(31:26) “Valora Ad”

(32:24) Should ETH Embrace Restaking?

(38:28) Ledger’s PR Nightmare

(49:32) Does Crypto Have PMF?

(58:01) Fred Wilson: “When They Want to Shut Down, Double Down”

(1:04:41) What We’re Watching and Blockworks’ New Podcast

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Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_

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

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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.

Try out Masa Prosperity Passport in Valora to claim your free 5+ character .celo domain and get additional rewards from Celo ecosystem partners. Download the app and start exploring today at valoraapp.com/empire."

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Resources:

EigenLayer episode (Empire)

https://spoti.fi/45yUdr6

Shared Sequencer episode (Empire)

https://spoti.fi/3MSIw7n

Vitalik's new article on restaking

https://vitalik.ca/general/2023/05/21/dont_overload.html

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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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

How Don Wilson Built His Trading Empire | 1000x May 25, 2023

Show notes

In today's episode of 1000x, we are joined by Don Wilson, the founder of DRW and one of the world's most successful traders. Don explains how to use probability distributions to make decisions, how he founded DRW, why BTC has negative convexity, how AI will change financial markets and more!

We'll drop a new 1000x episode on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. Hit the links below and give us a follow!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:57) How Don First Became a Trader

(06:28) Custom Valuation Models and Strategies

(10:37) The Transition to Electronic Trading

(14:56) Bitcoin’s Appeal: Removing Intermediaries

(19:21) Cumberland's Origin Story

(21:15) BTC's Negative Convexity

(26:35) How Will AI Impact Financial Markets?

(30:16) Crypto’s Evolution and Market Structure

(35:15) When Will RWAs Move to Crypto Rails?

(37:50) Today’s Infrastructure Shortfalls and the Canton Blockchain

(42:54) Don’s Decision-Making Process

(47:51) Favorite Trades of All Time

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Follow Don: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donwilsonjr/

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/3FuSarX

Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7

Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw

Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

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Resources:

Golden Tree

https://www.goldentree.com/

Cumberland

https://cumberland.io/

https://twitter.com/CumberlandSays

DRW

https://drw.com/

https://twitter.com/DRWTrading

Digital Asset

https://www.digitalasset.com/

Canton Network

https://www.canton.network/

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Should Bitcoin Embrace New Use Cases? | Lyn Alden, Jordi Alexander May 23, 2023

Show notes

Today we are joined by Lyn Alden and Jordi Alexander to discuss the Bitcoin blockspace debate, Bitcoin's long-term security and money vs tech crypto. Lyn and Jordi are two of the most prominent macro and Bitcoin investors. You don't want to miss their hot (and often conflicting) takes on the evolution and future of Bitcoin!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Bitcoin Blockspace Debate

(10:59) The Bear Case and Long-Term Security

(36:03) Quicknode

(37:50) Kwenta

(38:45) Money Crypto vs Tech Crypto

(51:53) Bitcoin's Attack Vectors

(57:56) Incentives for Bitcoin Development

(01:09:29) Macro’s Impact on BTC

(01:14:45) The Bitcoin Halvening

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Follow Lyn: https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact

Follow Jordi: https://twitter.com/gametheorizing

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/

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This episode is brought to you by Kwenta, the premier derivatives trading platform on Optimism that offers deep liquidity, low fees and up to 50x leverage across 24+ assets. Go to Kwenta.io and start trading today!

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Resources

Lyn Alden's website

https://www.lynalden.com/

Selini Capital

https://www.selinicapital.com/

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Should Protocols Share Revenue With Token Holders? | Roundup May 19, 2023

Show notes

Jason’s traveling this week so we’ve dropped today’s Bell Curve episode in its place!

In today's episode, we discuss if protocols should distribute revenue to token holders. This debate was sparked by a Lido proposal for a token revenue share mechanism that now has all of Crypto Twitter debating the merits of revenue distribution, buyback and burn vs dividends, protocol treasuries and more. Tokenomics is a theme you can no longer ignore.

We also discuss roadblocks at Stacks (a Bitcoin scaling solution), the viability of Bitcoin's blockspace for arbitrary use cases and Tether's new BTC buying program.

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This episode is brought to you by Valora. Valora is the easiest way to send, swap, collect, and grow your crypto on the Celo blockchain. Download the app and start exploring dapps like

JumpTask today at valoraapp.com/empire. Sign up and use the code ‘HelloValora’ to get a 20% bonus after completing your first task in JumpTask!

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Resources

Lido revenue share proposal

https://research.lido.fi/t/proposal-introducing-ldo-staking/4636

Hasu's Lido response

https://research.lido.fi/t/proposal-introducing-ldo-staking/4636/25?u=hasu

Alex's SNX thread

https://twitter.com/thiccythot_/status/1659278056035348485

0xResearch hosted by Dan and Sam

https://spoti.fi/3NlP1hA

https://apple.co/3SNhUEt

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Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy

Follow Sam: https://twitter.com/swmartin19

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneil

Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Why Proof-of-Humanity Matters in an AI Future | Alex Blania May 16, 2023

Show notes

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 how Worldcoin will be crypto's largest onboarding catalyst over the next 12 months.

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Timestamps:

(01:26) The Origin Story

(06:39) How AI Impacts Proof-of-Humanity

(11:24) Why Biometrics and the Orb

(19:37) Data and Privacy Concerns

(26:01) Related Government Experiments

(30:07) Why Should People Care About Proof-of-Humanity

(32:38) Quicknode ad

(34:23) Kwenta ad

(35:21) The Crypto Tech Stack

(40:02) Biggest Challenges, Success Metrics and Revenue Model

(46:37) Criticisms and Reactions from Governments

(49:37) Universal Basic Income

(52:16) Scary Vibes and Removing Trust

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Follow Alex: https://twitter.com/alexblania

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/

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Resources

Worldcoin

https://worldcoin.org/

https://twitter.com/worldcoin

Sam Altman

https://twitter.com/sama

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How to Value Crypto Tokens: Fees, Flows or Fugazi | Roundup May 12, 2023

Show notes

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!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:16) Activist Investing: Aragon DAO

(13:51) Will TradFi Have a Luna Moment?

(20:22) How to Value Tokens

(33:23) “Valora Ad”

(34:19) Uniswap's Fee Switch & the Changing Liquidity Landscape

(45:55) How Jared fromsubway.eth Eats Everyone’s MEV Lunch

Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism

Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

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Resources:

Blockworks Podcast Producer application

https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Blockworks/236ee9e8-f4ea-47ac-9eb6-f95a44d6c93b

Arbitrum proposal

https://forum.arbitrum.foundation/t/distribution-of-dao-revenue-to-arb-token-holders/14412

Uniswap proposal

https://gov.uniswap.org/t/making-protocol-fees-operational/21198

Robert Miller MEV thread

https://twitter.com/bertcmiller/status/1656392876438462464

Relay Scan

https://www.relayscan.io/

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire or Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

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