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Empire

Empire

By: Blockworks
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 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.384141 Blockworks 2021-2023 Economics Personal Finance Politics & Government
Episodes
  • How Arbitrum Landed Robinhood With A.J. Warner & Steven Goldfeder

    How Arbitrum Landed Robinhood With A.J. Warner & Steven Goldfeder
    Jul 7 2025
    Gm! This week Yano is joined by Steven and AJ from OffChain Labs to dive into all the behind-the-scenes happenings of one of the biggest deals in recent crypto history - the collaboration between Arbitrum and Robinhood to tokenize both public and private US stocks for European markets. -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts -- Follow Steven - https://x.com/sgoldfed Follow AJ - https://x.com/ajwarner90 Follow Santi - https://x.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod -- Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh -- SKALE is the next evolution in Layer 1 blockchains with a gas-free invisible user experience, instant finality, high speed, and robust security. SKALE is built different as it allows for limitless scalability and has already saved its 50 Million users over $11 Billion in gas fees. SKALE is high-performance and cost-effective, making it ideal for compute-intensive applications like AI, gaming, and consumer-facing dApps. Learn more at https://skale.space and stay up to date with the gas-free invisible blockchain on X at @skalenetwork -- Katana is a DeFi-first chain built for deep liquidity and high yield. No empty emissions, just real yield and sequencer fees routed back to DeFi users. Pre-deposit now: Earn high APRs with Turtle Club [https://app.turtle.club/campaigns/katana] or spin the wheel with Katana Krates [https://app.katana.network/krates] -- Mantle is evolving into the premier on-chain financial hub, supercharging the ecosystem that bridges blockchain with banking. The 2025 roadmap introduces three transformative products: - Enhanced Index Fund (launching Q1) offering optimized crypto exposure to BTC, ETH, SOL and USD with built-in yield optimization - targeting $1B AUM - Mantle Banking for seamless financial services - MantleX for AI-powered innovationBacked by a $4.5B treasury, Mantle is building the future of on-chain finance – accessible for everyone.Learn more: https://x.com/Mantle_Official/status/1882017058680086805 -- Zenrock is a permissionless, decentralized custody network backed by 1RoundTable Partners, 10T, Maven11, and Spartan. Live on Jupiter, $ROCK is the native token for transactions within the Zenrock ecosystem and secures Zenrock’s decentralized custody network.The first application launching on Zenrock is zenBTC – yield-bearing Bitcoin on Solana. zenBTC is now live. -- Ledn is the leading platform for Bitcoin-backed loans, offering a secure and transparent way to unlock liquidity without selling your Bitcoin. Ledn has issued over $9 billion in loans since 2018 and has never lost a single satoshi of client assets, earning a reputation as the name you can trust in the crypto space.Visit https://www.ledn.io to learn more. -- CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 02:45 BTS Of Robinhood X Arbitrum Collab 07:25Launch & Migrate Strategy 19:01 Ads (Skale, Katana) 20:49 What Did Robinhood Want The Most Out Of Arbitrum 24:03 Business Model Breakdown 38:22 Ads (Skale, Katana) 40:09 The Largest Digital Nation 42: OpenAI Tokens 46:56 Next Up To Work With Arbitrum 51:57 Ads (Mantle, Zenrock, ,LEDN) 54:26 Mistakes Around L1s and L2s 01:13:16 Corporate Treasuries 01:16:53 Acquisitions 01:20:13 Stablecoins — 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.
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    1 hr and 24 mins
  • It’s A Bull Market But Not The One You Wanted With Rob Hadick & Santiago Santos | Weekly Roundup

    It’s A Bull Market But Not The One You Wanted With Rob Hadick & Santiago Santos | Weekly Roundup
    Jul 4 2025
    Happy 4th of July to our stateside followers! On this episode, Rob Hadick joins Santi to review the biggest news of the week focusing in on stablecoins, Circle IPO butterfly effects, robinhood’s arbitrum tokenization announcement at Cannes at ECC, 12 month outlook and the biggest opportunities today in crypto. -- Rob's Stablecoin Article - https://x.com/HadickM/status/1934680037795705133 -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts -- Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod -- GEODNET is the world’s largest RTK network, delivering real-time, centimeter-level precision for drones, robots, farmers, and first responders. Recognized by the U.S. Congress, this blockchain-powered network supports mission-critical applications across a wide range of industries. Discover how GEODNET is changing the world: [https://geodnet.com] -- Get up to speed on the biggest stories in crypto each week. In five minutes. Get the Bitwise Weekly CIO Memo delivered directly to your inbox at bitwiseinvestments.com/ciomemo/empire -- Ledger, the global leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors Expansion! As Ledger celebrates 10 years of securing 20% of global crypto, it remains the top choice for securing your assets. Buy a LEDGER™ device now, and build confidently, knowing your BTC, ETH, SOL, and more are safe.Buy now on https://shop.ledger.com/?r=1da180a5de00. -- Citrea is the first zero-knowledge rollup to enhance the capabilities of Bitcoin blockspace and enable Bitcoin applications (₿apps). Citrea is optimistically verified by Bitcoin, offering the most Bitcoin-secured and native way to extend BTC’s utility to DeFi. Learn more about Citrea: https://citrea.xyz/?utm_source=bellcurve&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=website_promo Follow Citrea on X/Twitter for the latest on its journey to mainnet: https://x.com/citrea_xyz -- CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 02:08 Stablecoin Sentiment & Insights 22:40 Ads (Geodnet, Bitwise) 24:16 Evolution of LPs 27:02 Robinhood At ECC 42:14 Ads (Geodnet, Bitwise) 43:51 Mirror Tokens Explained 47:32 Talking About Crypto With TradFi 59:56 Ads (Ledger, Citrea) 01:01:27 2025 Exceeds Expectations 01:03:18 12 Month Outlook 01:08:59 BIG Opportunities In Crypto — 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.
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Crypto Meets Cards: Shaping the Future of Commerce Featuring Ivan Soto-Wright & Sherri Haymond | Permissionless IV Fireside Chat | Bonus Episode

    Crypto Meets Cards: Shaping the Future of Commerce Featuring Ivan Soto-Wright & Sherri Haymond | Permissionless IV Fireside Chat | Bonus Episode
    Jul 3 2025
    This week, we're excited to share with our community a bonus episode from PERMISSIONLESS IV, which just took place this past week in Brooklyn, NY. This is a Fireside Chat with Yano and Ivan Soto-Wright, the CEO of MoonPay, and Sherri Haymond of MasterCard who dive in and discuss the fusion of DeFi and TradFi. -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts -- Follow Ivan - https://x.com/ivanhodl Follow Sherri - https://x.com/SherriHaymond Follow Jason - https://x.com/jasonyanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod -- Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh -- Katana is a DeFi-first chain built for deep liquidity and high yield. No empty emissions, just real yield and sequencer fees routed back to DeFi users. Pre-deposit now: Earn high APRs with Turtle Club [https://app.turtle.club/campaigns/katana] or spin the wheel with Katana Krates [https://app.katana.network/krates] -- CHAPTERS 00:25 - Intro 01:00 - Mastercard's Web3 Journey 02:53 - Stablecoins + MoonPay 05:08 - MoonPay + MasterCard Partnership 07:28 - Katana Ad 08:28 - Beneficiaries Of The Future Of DeFi + TradFi 12:25 - Global Stablecoin Adoption 15:25 - Stablecoin Backed Cards 16:31 - Katana Ad 20:12 - Future Industry Thesis For Tokenization -- 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.
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    23 mins
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