Empire

4.8 (165)
Investing
Updated Weekly

Empire features interviews with top crypto founders to get the real stories that aren’t shared elsewhere. Empire is your look behind the curtain of the crypto industry. We release two episodes per week: guest interviews on Monday and a weekly roundup on Friday.

3h ago

Crypto’s Speculation Problem, Regulation Without CLARITY & The Gambling Economy

Crypto adoption is accelerating, but does that mean token prices follow? This week, we unpack growing institutional interest in crypto as brokerages and fintechs push onchain, even as CLARITY stalls and memecoin activity dominates. We explore SEC and CFTC catalysts, Fomo versus Pump.fun, the durability of meme-driven markets, token value accrual, and crypto’s financialization problem. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 02:17 Has Crypto Found A Bottom? 08:22 Can Regulation Replace Clarity? 14:42 Fomo Vs Pump Fun 22:07 How Founders Survive The Reckoning 26:31 Is Crypto Worth The Venture Bet? 34:39 Is Erebor Worth $8 Billion? 41:40 Is Collector Crypt Just Gambling? 48:03 Everything Is Becoming Financialized 54:23 Why Santi Is Long AI 57:26 What Benchmark Gets Right FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Santi – https://x.com/santiagoroel › Rob – https://x.com/HadickM › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said. onEmpire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
3d ago

Morpho Is Coming For The $200 Trillion Credit Market | Paul Frambot

Is DeFi’s future invisible financial infrastructure? This week, Cofounder & CEO of Morpho, Paul Frambot, joins to explore Morpho’s ambition to bring global credit markets onchain for fintechs and institutions. We discuss Midnight and fixed-rate lending, network effects, token-equity alignment, scaling distribution, and why direction can matter more than speed. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:19 Morpho’s Market And Token Thesis 09:00 Ribbit’s Role In Morpho 11:50 Morpho And Midnight Explained 20:42 Why DeFi Becomes Infrastructure 26:29 First Principles Beat Fast Execution 29:30 Building Crypto’s GTM Machine 37:52 Scaling Morpho Without Losing Direction 42:19 Funding A $200 Trillion Ambition 47:47 Where Morpho Grows Next 57:37 Midnight’s Path Beyond Crypto Credit 01:03:18 Agents And The Regulatory Frontier FOLLOW PAUL › X/Twitter – https://x.com/PaulFrambot › Morpho – https://x.com/Morpho FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Aug 7

Venture Mandates, Cloudflare Wallets, Circle Earnings & Saddam Hussein Patek Philippe

What separates lasting winners from everyone chasing the next trend? This week, we dig into why specialization may be the biggest edge in venture investing as crypto, AI, and traditional finance increasingly converge. We discuss venture mandates, stablecoin competition, Circle's earnings, Cloudflare's agent wallets, and why reputation compounds faster than capital. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 04:05 Crypto Venture Expands Beyond Crypto 09:20 Can Crypto Funds Go Generalist? 16:06 The Hidden Cost Of Dilution 22:43 Crypto Venture Enters Hard Mode 28:39 Ads (Peaq) 29:25 Cloudflare Bets On Agent Wallets 41:04 Is Circle Stock Mispriced? 53:04 Western Union Goes Onchain 01:02:13 Watches And Content Picks 01:09:01 Amazon Discovery Rewrites History 01:11:29 DAS Asia And London Preview Robots will soon outnumber humans onchain. peaqOS turns them into a new trusted liquid asset class, with yield tied to real-world workloads. It gives robots all they need to do business on any chain — and lets humans earn from automation. Explore the Machine Economy: https://peaq.xyz FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Santi – https://x.com/santiagoroel › Rob – https://x.com/HadickM › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Jul 31

AI Fatigue, Robinhood & Every Market Becoming Crypto | Weekly Roundup

What happens when every market starts trading like crypto? This week, Santi and Rob examine how leverage, automation, and retail speculation are exporting crypto-style volatility across traditional finance. They also explore CLARITY’s fading odds, AI fatigue, Robinhood’s onchain expansion, and the battle between public and private tokenization. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:58 CLARITY’s Falling Odds 04:54 Everything Trades Like Crypto 08:53 AI Capex and Semiconductor Volatility 12:47 The Death of Long-Term Investing 18:19 Why Market-Neutral Funds Win 20:09 Institutional AI Fatigue 24:22 AI’s Token Economics Problem 25:55 peaq Ad 26:41 AI Token Costs and Model Routing 30:37 Robinhood Chain’s Early Traction 34:13 Prediction Markets Eclipse Crypto 38:51 Ethereum L2 Activity Collapses 45:49 Ondo’s Private Chain Bet 52:18 Stablecoin Adoption and Crypto VC 58:55 Content of the Week Robots will soon outnumber humans onchain. peaqOS turns them into a new trusted liquid asset class, with yield tied to real-world workloads. It gives robots all they need to do business on any chain — and lets humans earn from automation. Explore the Machine Economy: https://peaq.xyz FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Santi – https://x.com/santiagoroel › Rob – https://x.com/HadickM › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Jul 27

Robinhood's Plan to Bring Global Finance Onchain | Johann Kerbrat

What happens when Robinhood turns crypto from a trading feature into the backbone of its global financial platform? This week, Robinhood's GM of Crypto, Johann Kerbrat, explains how Robinhood Chain connects DeFi, tokenized assets, and mainstream users. We explore global access, permissionless development, strategic partnerships, token economics, and whether equities and crypto eventually converge. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:59 Robinhood’s Onchain Vision 04:46 Will Robinhood Move Fully Onchain? 11:07 Inside Robinhood Chain’s Explosive Launch 14:33 Building The Chain For Adoption 16:15 Ads (peaq) 17:00 Building Robinhood’s DeFi Stack 21:20 Why DeFi Partners Stay Independent 26:58 Tokenized Equities Go Global 30:38 Robinhood’s Crypto Growth Strategy 34:52 Competition And Financial Convergence Robots will soon outnumber humans onchain. peaqOS turns them into a new trusted liquid asset class, with yield tied to real-world workloads. It gives robots all they need to do business on any chain — and lets humans earn from automation. Explore the Machine Economy: https://peaq.xyz FOLLOW JOHANN › X/Twitter – https://x.com/JohannKerbrat › Robinhood Crypto – https://x.com/RobinhoodCrypto FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Jul 23

The Bill That Could Reshape Crypto In America with Greg Xethalis from Multicoin

Is CLARITY the breakthrough crypto needs or just the beginning? This week, Jason and Multicoin’s Greg Xethalis unpack how the bill could reshape crypto’s regulatory future. They explore CFTC oversight, token classification, DeFi protections, disclosure requirements, and the fight threatening its passage. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:20 How CLARITY Came To Be 07:08 Who Built The CLARITY Act? 11:05 What CLARITY Actually Does 15:13 The New Token Taxonomy 18:13 Ads (Peaq) 18:58 When Is A Blockchain Mature? 23:01 Protecting DeFi And Developers 33:51 The Future Of Token Disclosures 40:14 What CLARITY Could Unlock 44:30 Closing Thoughts Robots will soon outnumber humans onchain. peaqOS turns them into a new trusted liquid asset class, with yield tied to real-world workloads. It gives robots all they need to do business on any chain — and lets humans earn from automation. Explore the Machine Economy: https://peaq.xyz FOLLOW GREG › X/Twitter – https://x.com/xethalis › Multicoin – https://x.com/multicoin FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Jul 16

Clarity Window Closing, Robinhood Eating Ethereum Value & Coinbase's Base Reset

Crypto's window for regulatory clarity is about to close while Robinhood raises questions about who actually captures the value created onchain. This week, we unpack Clarity’s narrowing path through Congress and what failure could mean for crypto markets and institutional adoption. We also debate Ethereum’s economics, Coinbase’s Base reset, the Ostium hack vs instant settlement, and Stripe’s reported PayPal bid. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:50 Clarity Act’s Closing Window 08:40 Trump’s Crypto Ethics Roadblock 14:07 What Clarity Means For Markets 18:13 Robinhood Exposes Ethereum’s Value Problem 28:14 Coinbase Resets Base’s Strategy 39:28 Ostium Hack Challenges Instant Settlement 50:50 Stripe’s Bid To Reinvent PayPal 01:04:57 AI Trades And Biohacking 01:10:20 Content Of The Week FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Santiago – https://x.com/santiagoroel › Rob – https://x.com/HadickM › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Jul 14

Fomo Co-Founders on Building the Social Network for Finance

What happens when crypto finally builds a trading experience for everyone, not just crypto natives? This week, Jason sits down with fomo co-founders Paul and Se to discuss why consumer crypto has struggled, how fomo is approaching onchain trading differently, and why they believe social finance is the next major platform. They explore building for mainstream users, the future of tokenized assets, product design tradeoffs, creator-driven distribution, and why transparent onchain data could redefine how investors discover ideas. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 03:35 Why Consumer Crypto Keeps Failing 09:32 Selling The Social Finance Vision 15:57 From Niche App To Breakout 22:22 How Fomo Acquires Users 27:57 Building The Social Trading Layer 34:44 Fees, Perps, And Onchain Competition 43:37 Expanding Beyond Trading Fees 49:12 Funding Growth Through Market Cycles 53:14 Robinhood, X, And Copy Trading 58:00 Media And Frictionless Onboarding 01:04:03 The Everything Trading App 01:09:00 Crypto, Tokens, And Going Public FOLLOW GUESTS › Se – https://x.com/seyong › Paul – https://x.com/paulerlanger › fomo – https://x.com/fomo FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Telegram –https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th https://blockworks.com/events DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

See All (664)

4.8

out of 5

165 Ratings

Accessible, clear fun

02/17/2023

Losangelessunset

As someone serving brands in Web3, Empire is my favorite spot to learn and stay in the know. Yanowitz brings it!
1000x

01/22/2025

0010010

I wish 1000x had its own feed. Those guys are genuinely smart and insightful. The other shows on this feed are very broey and kind of just mid-curve.
It gives me hope as an investor

01/08/2025

Rscat

Regularly listening to Avi and whatever the other guys name is, knowing that not only do they remain confident to continue publishing content but also put their money into markets lets me know that there are market participants less sophisticated than I. I especially enjoy how they see their own conjecture as some sort of fundamental thesis. The only thing I enjoy more is how often they are wrong; I guess if you always call for a bottom you’ve got to nail it sometimes but I guess I missed those episodes. Special stuff here.
10/10 Listen

02/16/2023

Nick2187

One of the best crypto pods out there! Highly recommend for anyone interested in the space.