DAS Takeaways, Crypto’s Largest Liquidation Ever & Have We Peaked? | Weekly Roundup

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. - - 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 - - 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/  - - 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 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! - - Resources Worldcoin https://worldcoin.org/ https://twitter.com/worldcoin Sam Altman https://twitter.com/sama - -  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.

16 Touko 202358min

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: (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 - - 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/ - - 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.

12 Touko 202355min

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 shifting. Is this a market turning point or just a short-term phenomenon? Tune in to find out! 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! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:32) Are Bank Failures Priced In? (07:31) The Impact of a Potential US Default (12:51) Repeating 2021’s Perfect Storm (18:03) Meme Mania: Why You Should Pay Attention (31:30) Deflationary ETH and Blockspace Fee Generation (36:34) BTC Miner Revenue and BRC-20s - - 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/ - - Resources: Golden Tree https://www.goldentree.com/ Cumberland https://cumberland.io/ BRC-20.io https://brc-20.io/ - - 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.

11 Touko 202348min

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 Vision (04:25). Huobi: Competing with Binance (07:44) The Threat of USDT’s Falling Market Share (11:14) $56M TUSD Binance Transfer (13:21) Quicknode Ad (15:08) KWENTA Ad (16:04) Yield Farming, Staking and Bribing Liquidity (22:43) Tron’s Team, Acquisitions and DCG (25:40) SEC vs TRX and Regulation - - Follow Justin: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron 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 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! - - Resources Tron https://tron.network/ Huobi https://www.huobi.com/en-us/ - -  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.

9 Touko 202329min

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 you need to know. This is the first episode in an ongoing regulatory and policy series with Jake and Rebecca! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:40) The State of Crypto Regulation (02:36) Europe's MiCA Legislation (11:10) “Chainalysis Ad” (12:14) Coinbase’s Offshore Expansion (14:11) The UK’s Approach and What’s Next for the EU (19:07) Gary Gensler’s April Testimony (22:45) Coinbase’s Fight with the SEC (30:08) Warren Marshall Bill (35:21) The US Policy Outlook - - Follow Rebecca: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRettig1 Follow Jake: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky 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 Chainalysis. Chainalysis is the blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, web3 companies, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies. Our data powers investigation, compliance, and business intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases. For more information, visit www.Chainalysis.com/empire. - - Resources: Coinbase's response to the SEC’s Wells notice https://www.coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-responds-to-the-secs-wells-notice The Blockchain Association https://theblockchainassociation.org/ https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn Polygon https://polygon.technology/ - - 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.

8 Touko 202344min

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 are pumping and NFTFi is here. Is this all noise or have markets finally turned after the wild year? Tune in as we debate our market outlook, Blur and the financialization of NFTs, Curve's new crvUSD stablecoin, LST Summer and more! - - Timestamps: 00:00) Introduction (02:54) Coinbase Earnings Predictions (18:17) “Valora Ad” (19:13) Blend: The Financialization of NFTs (39:51) Protocol Stablecoins: crvUSD Launch (50:34) Degens are Back (53:34) ETH’s Economics: Burn vs Distribution (57:32) Coinbase Beats Earnings and LST Summer (1:07:26) Nate from OpenSea Convicted - - 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 - - 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: GovHub https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1654179131171512320 - - 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.

5 Touko 20231h 11min

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. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:10) Blend: A Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform (07:30) How Refinancing Auctions Work (22:27) Institutional Liquidity Provision (30:15) Strategies, Market Inefficiencies & Adding New Collections (38:09) The Yield Curve and User Preferences (45:28) Catering to Consumers vs Professionals (52:44) Liquidation Coordination Risk (55:36) Lending Incentives (58:46) Blur’s Roadmap (1:06:01) Infrastructure Unlocks Economic Value - - Follow Pacman: https://twitter.com/PacmanBlur Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel 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 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/blur_io Blur Dune Dashboard https://dune.com/beetle/blur-loans Empire's first Blur episode https://spoti.fi/3HxWgkK - - 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.

3 Touko 20231h 9min

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 decentralized their sequencer? We discuss these questions and more in this epic conversation! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (04:27) The Role of a Sequencer (11:24) The Risks of Centralized Sequencers (20:13) Using the L1 as the Sequencer (23:12) Why Use a Shared Sequencer? (34:56) Quicknode (36:43) Kwenta (37:40) The Tradeoffs (40:35) Who will be the Sequencers? (45:23) The AWS Analogy (50:27) Economic Capture and Allocation Challenges (58:28) How Block Times Impact Shared Sequencing (01:01:12) Competition (01:05:04) Restaking Risk and Timelines - - Follow Josh: https://twitter.com/Jskybowen Follow Ben: https://twitter.com/benafisch 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 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! - - Resources Espresso Systems https://www.espressosys.com/ https://twitter.com/EspressoSys Astria https://www.astria.org/ https://twitter.com/AstriaOrg - -  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.

2 Touko 20231h 12min