Trump's Win, Portfolio Positioning, and Crypto's Return to the US | Roundup

In this episode of Empire, Anatoly Yakovenko and Ben Sparango join us to discuss Solana's future in the aftermath of FTX. SBF and FTX were core investors and contributors to the Solana ecosystem. How did Solana get so intertwined with FTX? How bad was Solana damaged as a result? How will Solana recover? These are just a few of the questions we explore. We then dive into Solana's roadmap and discuss Solana's new local fee market, network outages, decentralization worries, monolithic chains vs rollups, the Solana mobile stack and more. This is the go-to podcast for all Solana fans and skeptics! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:18) How Did Solana Get So Intertwined With FTX? (11:20) How Important Was SBF To Solana’s Growth? (17:36) Fallout From Reliance On FTX (20:05) Did You See This Coming? (25:07) What Exchanges Got Wrong & Alameda’s 10% SOL Stake (29:58) FTX Impact On Solana Apps & Developers (33:30) Where Does Solana Go From Here? (42:13) Solana’s Fee Markets & Decentralization Questions (46:16) Solving Solana’s Network Outages (57:38) Monolithic Blockchains, Layer 2s & New Learnings (1:07:10) Economic Sustainability (1:10:30) Avalanche vs Cosmos, Who’s Solana's Main Competitor? (1:14:59) The Importance Of Business Development (1:19:18) Google Partnership & The Solana Phone - - Follow Anatoly: https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko Follow Ben: https://twitter.com/bennybitcoins 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/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Break Solana website https://break.solana.com/ Chris Burniske's thread on Solana https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1590455521307660290 Anatoly and Dankrad debate https://bit.ly/3Umky4T Solana events webpage https://solana.com/events Solana Twitter account https://twitter.com/solana The Solana Podcast https://bit.ly/3FgMAdS - - 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.

5 Des 20221h 33min

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi discuss SBF's interview with The New York Times and his attempt to avoid all liability. We then discuss BlockFi's bankruptcy, Uniswap's new NFT marketplace, Apple banning NFT transfers on Coinbase, Bitcoin's colossal problem and more! This is the one weekly podcast you won't want to miss. - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (05:00) SBF Played Us (17:00) BlockFi Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (27:00) Permissionless Tickets Are On Sale! (28:40) Uniswap Launches An NFT Marketplace (36:48) Coinbase Takes On Apple (41:38) Bitcoin Miners In More Pain (46:30) Is Bitcoin In Trouble? (53:27) Tech Layoffs & A Focus On Unit Economics (57:55) Casa Adds Ethereum Support (1:02:33) Crypto Media, Book Recs & Closing Thoughts - - 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/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Vox SBF interview https://bit.ly/3AZa7O4 BlockFi/FTX/Alameda recursive loan tweet https://twitter.com/ayko2718/status/1597432454070956032 Coinbase tweet on Apple https://twitter.com/CoinbaseWallet/status/1598354819735031809 The River of Doubt https://www.candicemillard.com/river-of-doubt.html - - 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 Des 20221h 7min

In this episode of Empire, Thomas Braziel joins us to discuss the highly lucrative yet misunderstood world of distressed crypto investing. We start with the basics of how distressed asset investing works; then, we explore the Mt. Gox bankruptcy, how to value bankruptcy claims, what's next for FTX, the tokenization of bankruptcy claims and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:57) What Is Distressed Asset Investing? (04:49) Mt. Gox Case Explained (19:26) Circle Ad (21:08) Finding Investment Opportunities (27:09) How to Value a Bankruptcy Claim (30:01) Buying FTX Claims for 3 Cents on the Dollar (31:59) FTX Bankruptcy Jurisdiction Questions (35:57) Tokenization of Bankruptcy Claims (38:32) Will They Separate FTX.US and FTX International Assets? (39:43) What's Next for BlockFi and Genesis? - - Follow Thomas: https://twitter.com/ThomasBraziel 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/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources 507 Capital https://507capital.com/ Memos from Howard Marks https://www.oaktreecapital.com/insights - - 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.

28 Nov 202243min

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, we bring on Nic Carter to discuss if Genesis and DCG can fix their liquidity issues and avoid bankruptcy. We explore how Genesis overextended its books with asset-liability duration mismatches, how FTX's fallout exposed the DCG Empire and what to expect next. Nic then walks us through his framework on institutional adoption, Bitcoin's long-term outlook, proof-of-reserves and more! -- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (00:58) Genesis Meltdown Exposes DCG (20:10) Bitcoin Miner Blood Bath & BTC’s Outlook (34:03) Proof-of-Stake vs Proof-of-Work (36:05) What Looks Interesting Right Now? (39:05) How Has Institutional Adoption Been Affected? (42:20) The Future of Solana (47:37) The Off-Shore Exchange Thesis (50:05) Proof-of-Reserves (56:20) Where Nic and His Business Partner Disagree - - Follow Nic: https://twitter.com/nic__carter 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/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources On The Brink podcast http://bit.ly/3TWTnxz Castle Island Ventures https://www.castleisland.vc/ Nic Carter's blog and website https://niccarter.info/ - - 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.

25 Nov 202259min

In this episode of Empire, Arthur_0x, the founder of Defiance Capital, joins us to discuss the fallout from FTX's collapse. Arthur is a DeFi OG with a unique perspective on market dynamics and ecosystem-wide liquidations. His fund was directly impacted by the 3AC meltdown, giving Arthur a front-row seat to the complexities of liquidations and contagion. We discuss Alameda's outsized contagion risk, why this might be the most complex liquidation in history, the damage to the Solana ecosystem, private vs public markets and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:02) The Unintended Consequences Of Authority (05:37) Due Diligence In A Bull Market (08:18) What Was Great About FTX? (10:40) FTX Contagion Explained (18:05) Did You See Red Flags? (23:45) Did Sam Always Have Bad Intentions? (28:04) Why Did CZ Wait Until Now? (30:47) Circle Ad (32:48) Damage To The Solana Ecosystem (39:48) The Most Complex Liquidation Process In History (44:38) Tokens vs Equity, Private vs Public Markets (53:30) Arthur’s Biggest Takeaway - - Follow Arthur: https://twitter.com/Arthur_0x 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/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Sequoia's FTX Memo https://twitter.com/zebulgar/status/1590394857474109441 Solana FTX Documentation Page https://solana.com/news/solana-facts-ftx-bankruptcy Defiance Capital https://defiance.capital/ - - 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.

21 Nov 202256min

Genesis, crypto's largest lender, just froze withdrawals and new loan orginations. Would a Genesis collapse have wider impacts than FTX's demise? Genesis sits at the direct center of crypto capital markets. They custody funds. They help institutions earn yield. They are the yield product for CeFi platforms. Genesis touches almost everything... We bring on foobar to discuss! Note: A spokesperson at Anchorage (mentioned in the ep), shared this great update: "Anchorage Digital does not lend or repurpose client assets without a client's permission and we have no commercial relationship with Genesis." - - Follow foobar: https://twitter.com/0xfoobar 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/ - - Resources Jason's thread on Genesis https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1592917789898989568 Circle's tweets on Genesis https://twitter.com/circle/status/1592940639645495298 - - 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 Nov 20221h 8min

In this episode of Empire, Kristin Smith and Jake Chervinsky join us to discuss how FTX's collapse will impact crypto regulation. SBF was the poster child of crypto in D.C. - how will his fallout damage crypto's reputation? Did regulators fail consumers, and how will they respond? What are the shortcomings of the DCCPA bill? How important are the political midterms, and what is happening in the securities vs commodities debate? Tune in to find out! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:54) SBF’s Unbelievable Damage (07:17) How Active Was SBF In D.C.? (09:52) The First Red Flags & DCCPA Threats (22:56) Where Regulators Failed (27:32) Expected Reaction From D.C. (33:43) Circle Ad (35:26) DCCPA Overview & Its Impact On DeFi (47:53) What The Midterms Mean For Crypto (50:55) The Litigation Phase (55:07) LBRY, Ripple & Progressive Decentralization (1:03:45) A Path Forward - - Follow Kristin: https://twitter.com/KMSmithDC Follow Jake: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky 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/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Jake's tweet thread on DCCPA https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1570451252852527104 Brian Amstrong's response to Elizabeth Warren https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1590511022104010753 Ron Hammond's tweet thread on FTX/SBF https://twitter.com/ronwhammond/status/1590741692348772352 Blockchain Association website https://theblockchainassociation.org/ - - 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.

15 Nov 20221h 7min

In this episode of Empire, Avichal Garg Founder of Electric Capital and Haseeb Qureshi Managing Partner at Dragonfly Capital join the show to discuss the fallout of FTX. Avichal and Haseeb discuss the structure between FTX and Alameda Research, looking behind the curtain into how intertwined the two entities were. We then go on to discuss the potential contagion between large CeFi companies in crypto who could have exposure to FTX and Alemeda. To hear all this and more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow Avichal https://twitter.com/avichal Follow Haseeb: https://twitter.com/hosseeb 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/ -- Circle’s USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - 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. Disclaimer: Scammers are impersonating Blockworks and replying to comments on some of our videos. Please be advised that we will NEVER reply to your comment asking you to contact us on whatsapp, telegram, provide investment advice, or solicit money from you. These are scam impersonator accounts and you should not respond to them.

12 Nov 202248min