Empire
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.
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Quadrillions: The New Wall Street | Nick Shalek & Mathew McDermott
<p>In the Quadrillions finale, we map the power shift from crypto building parallel markets to institutions integrating onchain rails into traditional finance. With Ribbit Capital’s Nick Shalek, and Goldman’s Mathew McDermott, we break down why the last wave of adoption stalled, why distribution beats ideology, and how networks like Canton are building from the inside out. This is the blueprint for “The New Wall Street.”</p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Canton: https://x.com/CantonNetwork</p> <p>Follow Nick: https://x.com/nshalek</p> <p>Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz</p> <p>Follow Empire: https://twitter...
MegaETH in 2026 & Ethereum's L2 End Game | Brett DiNovi & Lei Yang
<p>This week, Brett DiNovi and Lei Yang join the show to discuss the path forward for L2s. We deep dive into why we need L2s, MegaETH's 2026 roadmap, how to build a successful ecosystem, lessons learned from building MegaETH, and more. Enjoy!</p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Brett: https://x.com/bread_</p> <p>Follow Lei: https://x.com/yangl1996</p> <p>Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel</p> <p>Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod </p> <p>--</p> <p>Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using...
The Clarity Act, State of Crypto VC & LayerZero Launches Zero | Weekly Roundup
<p>This week, Rebecca Rettig joins the show to discuss the latest happening in Washington and what it means for crypto. We deep dive into the Clarity act, how to regulate prediction markets, who's crypto's enemy now, the state of crypto VC, LayerZero's Zero announcement and more. Enjoy! </p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Rebecca: https://x.com/RebeccaRettig1</p> <p>Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM</p> <p>Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel</p> <p>Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod </p> <p>--</p> <p>Referenced In The Show: https://open.spotify.com/episode/67w8irQ06j6...
How Rain Grew To A $2B Company | Charles Yoo-Naut
<p>This week, Charles Yoo-Naut joins the show to unpack Rain's explosive growth and what's next for crypto payments. We deep dive into the Rain origin story, their recent $250M fundraise, partnering with Visa, who wins the crypto card race, how Rain grew to a $2B company, and more. Enjoy!</p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Charles: https://x.com/cnaut</p> <p>Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz</p> <p>Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod </p> <p>--</p> <p>Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto as...
Why Is Crypto Crashing? | Weekly Roundup
<p>This week, Josh Lim from FalconX joins the show to discuss the recent market sell-off. We deep dive into Josh's outlook for 2026, who is crypto's marginal buyer, the Ethereum L2 roadmap, Kyle Samani's announcement of leaving Multicoin and more. Enjoy!</p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Josh: https://x.com/joshua_j_lim</p> <p>Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM</p> <p>Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel</p> <p>Follow Empire:https://x.com/theempirepod </p> <p>--</p> <p>Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto...
Hivemind: Are L1s Still Overvalued, Hyperliquid’s End Game & State of The Market
<p>This week, the Hivemind team breaks down the continued sell-off in markets, from crypto to software. We deep-dive into the historical L1 premium, the endgame for Hyperliquid, Bitcoin's quantum threat, Vitalik's post on L2s, and more. Enjoy!</p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Ceteris: https://x.com/ceterispar1bus </p> <p>Follow Jason: https://x.com/3xliquidated </p> <p>Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman</p> <p>Follow LTR: https://x.com/maybeltr</p> <p>Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod </p> <p><br></p> <p>Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4jYEkBx </p> <p>Subscribe on Apple: https://bit.ly/3EC...
Quadrillions: Stablecoins: We’ve Only Just Begun | Mohamed Afifi
<p>In this episode, we break down the state of stablecoins and why they’ve been able to bridge the gap into TradFi’s mainstream. Who’s adopting stablecoins and why? How are stablecoins changing the financial and legislative landscape? And what does this mean for the future of the larger crypto landscape? </p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Canton: https://x.com/CantonNetwork</p> <p>Follow Mo: https://x.com/Mo_Bps</p> <p>Follow Eric: https://x.com/wesarn_real</p> <p>Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz</p> <p>Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod</p> <p>--</p> ...
Why BitGo Went Public | Mike Belshe
<p>This week, we’re joined by CEO and Co-founder of BitGo, Mike Belshe, to discuss BitGo’s IPO, their motivations for going public, and the IPO process. We dive into allocation decisions, key product growth areas, and views on regulation, crypto market structure, and future industry evolution. Enjoy!</p> <p>–</p> <p>Follow Mike: https://x.com/mikebelshe</p> <p>Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz</p> <p>Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod</p> <p>–</p> <p>Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto as collateral. Rates are typicall...
The Bull Case For DePIN, RWAs on Hyperliquid & The Onchain Endgame | Weekly Roundup
<p>This week, we break down the evolving DePIN thesis, from real revenue traction to infra financing, regulation, and why some networks are finally compounding at scale. We also discuss the boom in Hyperliquid RWAs, bringing money & companies onchain, 2026 IPOs, and more. Enjoy!</p> <p>--</p> <p>Follow Salvador: https://x.com/DAnconia_Crypto </p> <p>Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz </p> <p>Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM </p> <p>Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel </p> <p>Follow Empire:https://x.com/theempirepod </p> <p>--</p> <p>Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take...
Why Kraken Is Betting Big on Onchain Vaults | John Zettler & Sun Raghupathi
<p>This week, we’re joined by John Zettler, Director of Product at Kraken and Sun Raghupathi, Co-founder of Veda, to discuss their collaboration to bring onchain vaults to Kraken! We explore the growth of onchain vaults, how vaults package DeFi lending and yield strategies, vault mechanics, risk management, business models, comparisons to past yield products, and implications for DeFi adoption and future TVL growth. Enjoy!</p> <p>Resources</p> <p>2026 Predictions Episode: https://youtu.be/yagd3CT2VQk?si=G1cFXBpODiWZ-pQR</p> <p>–</p> <p>Follow John: https://x.com/JohnZettler</p> <p>Follow Sun: https://x.com/sunandr_</p> <...
