Empire

This week, CFTC Chair Michael Selig joins the show to discuss the CFTC's recent policy announcement on perps in the U.S. We deep dive into how to regulate crypto in the U.S, prediction markets, 24/7 markets, working with the SEC and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Michael: https://x.com/MichaelSelig

Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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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

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(04:20) Working With The SEC

(08:40) Bringing Perps To The U.S

(19:03) peaq Ad

(19:49) How To Regulate DeFi?

(26:08) Becoming The Crypto Capital of The World

(29:10) Prediction Markets

(45:28) 24/7 Capital Markets

(56:39) The Clarity Act

(01:00:14) Final Thoughts

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we’re back with another weekly roundup to discuss the upcoming SpaceX IPO with early investor Ryan Zurrer. We deep dive into how to value SpaceX, why this crypto bear market feels worse than others, opportunities in DeFi today, Strategy selling Bitcoin and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Ryan: https://x.com/kukulabanze

Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel

Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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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

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:52) Takeaways From Money 2020 & All-In Summit

(07:50) The Bull vs Bear Case For SpaceX

(19:02) peaq Ad

(19:48) Why This Bear Market Feels Worse Than Others

(30:17) The Aftermath of SpaceX’s IPO

(36:20) DeFi Opportunities In 2026

(48:50) Strategy Sells Bitcoin, Will BTC Hit $40k?

(01:10:40) Content of The Week

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, Avichal Garg joins the show to discuss how he is currently allocating to crypto in 2026. We deep dive into the opportunity in crypto and AI venture, how to build a breakout app, the future path for Ethereum, why Avichal is still bullish on SOL & ETH, why tokens trade at a discount and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Avichal: https://x.com/avichal

Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(13:58) How To Build A Breakout App

(21:46) Where Electric Sees the Most Opportunity

(33:35) Why Do Tokens Trade At A Discount?

(39:42) Why Avichal Is Still Bullish On SOL & ETH

(42:46) Who Wins The Crypto Exchange Wars?

(48:10) The Ethereum Roadmap

(54:16) How To Make DeFi Safe Again

(57:50) Final Thoughts

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we’re back with another weekly roundup to discuss why everyone in crypto feels so bearish. We then dive deep into whether stablecoins significantly improve payment rails, Robinhood’s AI agent announcement, Rob’s takeaways from a trip to D.C., MicroStrategy and RoboStrategy NAV premiums, and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel

Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:50) Why’s The Timeline So Bearish?

(22:12) Robinhood Launches AI Agents

(32:23) Morpho Midnight

(44:27) Is DeFi Uninvestable?

(49:15) Takeaways From D.C.

(54:14) MicroStrategy & RoboStrategy NAV Premiums

(58:22) Content of The Week

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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, Rob, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we’re back with another weekly roundup to discuss why Hyperliquid is having its breakout moment by capitalizing on the trillion dollar IPO wave. We then deep dive into whether we’re entering a new bull market, if Ethereum is overvalued, SpaceX’s IPO, and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel

Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:20) Hyperliquid’s Breakout Moment

(23:38) SpaceX's IPO

(29:15) Are We Entering A New Bull Market?

(36:15) Why Ethereum Is Overvalued

(53:28) Content of The Week

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, Mike Cagney joins the show to discuss Figure and how it became the leading non-bank HELOC lender in the U.S. We deep dive into how Figure leverages blockchain rails to scale the next evolution of capital markets before Mike shares his thoughts on tokenization, being a public vs private company, how to fix tokens and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Mike: https://x.com/mcagney

Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(03:20) How Do Blockchains Disrupt Capital Markets?

(09:28) Why Did Mike Build Figure?

(27:00) Will Figure Launch a Wallet?

(38:05) SoFi’s Superbowl Ads

(45:42) Tokenizing Equities

(55:08) The Provenance Blockchain

(01:01:46) Being a Public vs Private Company

(01:07:18) How To Fix Tokens

(01:12:27) What’s Next For Crypto In 5 Years?

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we’re back with another weekly roundup to discuss the current AI mania and how it feels similar to crypto in 2017. We then deep dive into Circle's $222M raise, expectations for the Clarity Act, Anthropic's crackdown on SPVs and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel

Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(05:44) AI Today Feels Like Crypto In 2017

(27:12) Circle Raises $222M

(46:15) The Clarity Act

(59:03) Anthropic Cracks Down On SPV’s

(01:10:30) Content of The Week

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, Stani Kulechov & Mike Silagadze join the show to discuss the aftermath of the KelpDAO exploit. We deep dive into why this hack could have potentially killed DeFi, launching the DeFi United fund, how to mitigate against future hacks, why DeFi tokens are uninvestable and more .Enjoy!

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Follow Stani: https://x.com/StaniKulechov

Follow Mike: https://x.com/MikeSilagadze

Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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This episode is brought to you by Fidelity Crypto. Learn more at https://Fidelity.com/crypto

Fidelity Crypto was built in-house with over a dozen years of crypto experience. So you can trade crypto and stocks in one place at Fidelity, backed by industry-leading security. Fidelity Crypto. We're here to help you feel good about investing in crypto.

Crypto is offered by Fidelity Digital Assets, NA, is not insured by FDIC or SIPC and includes risk of complete loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(04:08) How The KelpDAO Exploit Could Have Killed DeFi

(14:13) Fidelity Crypto Ad

(14:48) Launching DeFi United

(30:12) Fidelity Crypto Ad

(30:52) The Future of Aave & EtherFi

(39:00) DeFi’s Speculative Premium

(43:00) How To Prevent DeFi Hacks?

(53:00) Why DeFi Tokens Are Uninvestable

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we’re back with another weekly roundup to discuss the current state of markets during earnings season. As equities push to new all time highs on stronger than expected results, we take a closer look at Robinhood’s numbers, the DeFi United recovery fund, Pump.fun’s token burn announcement and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel

Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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This episode is brought to you by Fidelity Crypto. Learn more at https://Fidelity.com/crypto

Fidelity Crypto was built in-house with over a dozen years of crypto experience. So you can trade crypto and stocks in one place at Fidelity, backed by industry-leading security. Fidelity Crypto. We're here to help you feel good about investing in crypto.

Crypto is offered by Fidelity Digital Assets, NA, is not insured by FDIC or SIPC and includes risk of complete loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(04:00) Takeaways From Earnings

(20:10) Fidelity Crypto Ad

(20:45) Stablecoin Chains

(24:28) State of The Market

(30:12) The DeFi United Recovery Fund

(42:04) Fidelity Crypto Ad

(42:45) Pump Fun’s Token Burn

(55:58) Content of The Week

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, Alex Pruden & Philip Martin join the show to discuss Bitcoin's rising quantum threat. We deep dive into what is the risk from quantum, what to do with Satoshi's coins, will we see a Bitcoin fork, how does DeFi mitigate hacks, how to protect your privacy and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Alex: https://x.com/apruden08

Follow Philip: https://x.com/SecurityGuyPhil

Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel

Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod

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This episode is brought to you by Fidelity Crypto. Learn more at https://Fidelity.com/crypto

Fidelity Crypto was built in-house with over a dozen years of crypto experience. So you can trade crypto and stocks in one place at Fidelity, backed by industry-leading security. Fidelity Crypto. We're here to help you feel good about investing in crypto.

Crypto is offered by Fidelity Digital Assets, NA, is not insured by FDIC or SIPC and includes risk of complete loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC.

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ZKsync is the Bank Stack of Ethereum. It is a network of chains secured by cryptography, not validators. Its cutting-edge ZK innovation enables the privacy, performance and connectivity that businesses need to thrive in the digital assets economy.

To find out more visit: https://www.zksync.io/

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:02) The Quantum Computing Risk

(08:50) Bitcoin’s Quantum Risk

(12:20) Fidelity Crypto Ad

(12:55) What To Do With Satoshi’s Coins?

(35:12) Fidelity Crypto Ad

(35:52) The Biggest Threat to Bitcoin

(38:35) How Does DeFi Mitigate Hacks?

(46:27) Are Stablecoins At Risk To Quantum?

(50:15) ZKsync Ad

(50:49) How To Secure Your Privacy

(54:57) What's The Timeline For Quantum?

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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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.