Why Crypto is Africa’s Next Big Bet | James Zhang, Jambo

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 hot We 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/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/ - - Resources Bell Curve podcast https://spoti.fi/42uqCxH Blockworks' Grantfarm https://blockworks.co/grantfarm Arbitrum Airdrop dashboard by Blockworks Research https://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.

24 Mars 20231h 9min

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_xyz Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman 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! - - Resources GoldenTree https://www.goldentree.com/ Cumberland https://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.

20 Mars 202351min

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/sgoldfed Follow Harry: https://twitter.com/hkalodner 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 Arbitrum https://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.

17 Mars 202342min

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/sgoldfed Follow Harry: https://twitter.com/hkalodner 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 Arbitrum https://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.

17 Mars 202355min

Signature and Silicon Valley Bank have collapsed. In this breaking news episode, hosts Jason Yanowitz and Jack Farley interview Joseph Wang to discuss the banking system failures and what to expect next. Joseph dives deep into the risk both banks took by not hedging interest rate risk, how this could have been avoided and whether other banks are in a similar position? We then discuss if the Fed's Bank Term Funding Program was the right move? To hear all this and more, you'll have to tune! - - Follow Joseph: https://twitter.com/FedGuy12 Follow Jack: https://twitter.com/JackFarley96 Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Follow Forward Guidance: https://twitter.com/ForwardGuidance 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! - - 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.

13 Mars 202356min

In today's episode of Empire, we start with Jason's big takeaways from ETH Denver. What was the vibe? What innovations are on the horizon? And most interesting, what crypto sector was conspicuously missing from the conversation? We then discuss Silvergate's unwind, Coinbase's wallet announcement (bullish), Amazon NFT rumors, MakerDAO's 1.25B treasury proposal and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (02:33) ETH Denver Takeaways (09:15) Silvergate Unwinds (21:06) Coinbase's WaaS Announcement (28:49) Amazon NFT Rumors (33:07) Public.com (34:29) GBTC & Legal Wins for Crypto (40:24) MakerDAO Proposal to Buy $1.25B US Treasuries (44:04) Bitcoin Innovations (51:44) Predictions: Hong Kong, Bitcoin stablecoins, Coinbase - - 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/ - - Resources Silvergate Twitter thread https://twitter.com/ramahluwalia/status/1633669035924529152 Empire episode with Eric Peters https://spoti.fi/3yqRcdd Empire episode with Rebecca Rettig https://spoti.fi/3ynCF1Z Empire episode with Muneeb Ali (Ordinals/Stacks) https://spoti.fi/3L6xXgB MakerDAO US Treasury proposal https://bit.ly/3T4oqbF - - 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.

10 Mars 202359min

In this episode of Empire, we are joined by one of crypto's best traders: Dan Matuszewski. Dan is the founder of CMS, a crypto OG and a prolific trader/investor. We discuss upcoming catalysts, the Coinbase trade, punting on L1s vs L2s, lending markets, what it's like managing a crypto fund and more. This is one of my favorite conversations that you won't want to miss! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:35) Surviving FTX (08:52) Market update and upcoming catalysts (15:41) The industry is starved for action (17:40) Deploying in private vs public markets (21:50) Trading macro (23:43) Is the lending market dead? (27:02) Base and the Coinbase trade (31:30) Punting L1s vs L2s (34:10) Regulation (41:25) Anything under a $50M fund doesn’t make sense (44:11) Blockworks Research (45:45) Anything under a $50M fund doesn’t make sense (49:16) Fund sentiment, LSD trade and inefficient markets - - Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/cmsholdings 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 CMS Peary on LSDs https://cmsholdings.substack.com/p/lsds-rocketpool https://twitter.com/cmspeary CMS Intern https://twitter.com/cmsintern - - 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.

6 Mars 20231h 2min

In this episode of Empire, Muneeb Ali, the founder of Stacks, joins us to discuss Bitcoin's sudden transformation. Until the last two months, Bitcoin was (perceived as) simply a store of value, a religion. However, Ordinals, a Bitcoin NFT project, has redirected the spotlight to Bitcoin’s underlying tech and utility - a technology that can support NFTs, DeFi and more. Muneeb provides his unique insights in this eye-opening episode! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:53) Bitcoin is a technology, not a religion (06:43) Building apps on Bitcoin (12:36) Has Ordinals transformed Bitcoin’s future? (24:42) Stacks and Bitcoin DeFi (29:30) Blockworks Research (31:04) Stacks and Bitcoin DeFi (35:57) What will Bitcoin look like in 12 months? - - Follow Muneeb: https://twitter.com/muneeb 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 Empire's first-ever episode (with Muneeb) https://tinyurl.com/4vnbxwkz Stacks https://www.stacks.co/ - - 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 Mars 202341min