Empire

In today's episode, Santi is joined by Jesse Pollak, a Base contributor. Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) chain incubating inside of Coinbase with plans to progressively decentralize the chain over time. They discuss Coinbase role in the ecosystem, account messaging & abstraction, privacy approach, and ecosystem growth trajectories. 

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Follow Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessepollak 

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

Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel 

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

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Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. 

Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ 

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Use code EMPIRE30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023 

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Timestamps: 

(00:00) Base: High Level Overview 

(07:08) Base Neutrality 

(10:25) Base Bridging 

(13:52) Base dApp Development 

(19:15) Base Privacy Approach 

(21:27) Permissionless Ad 

(22:54) Base Value to Coinbase Revenue 

(25:57) Coinbase Wallet Adoption 

(30:32) User Incentives 

(37:05) Onchain Identity 

(41:25) Bald Meme Coin Season 

(46:13) Real Consumer Experiences on Base 

(48:44) Sequencer Decentralization 

(51:53) Onchain Messaging 

(58:42) USDC Importance 

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Resources 

Introducing Base

https://www.coinbase.com/blog/introducing-base

https://base.mirror.xyz/lt3JR-mZ51q9eIOtGO36L3ZVzCTXmZVnbIiXz6crqzQ

Onchain Summer

https://www.coinbase.com/blog/celebrate-onchain-summer-with-coinbase

Prop House

https://prop.house/base

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

In today's episode, the tables have flipped. Santi & Michael interview Co-founders of Blockworks Michael and Jason. They dive into the Blockworks origin story, from conception, surviving COVID, the hiring difference, and the evolving thesis for Blockworks growth & trajectory. 

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Follow Michael I: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

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

Follow Michael A: https://twitter.com/im_manderson

Follow Santiago: 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/ 

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Use code EMPIRE30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023

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Timestamps:

(00:00) The Blockworks Start

(08:20) Entrepreneur Mindset Origination

(11:42) Determining Product Categories

(19:18) The COVID Pivot

(24:12) Competitive Landscape

(30:26) The Hiring Difference

(34:36) Cycle Sentiment Check-in

(39:24) Aligning Teams in Crypto

(43:37) Target Audience

(47:04) Permissionless

(48:30) Evolving Thesis Approach

(57:03) Narrative Pulse Check-in

(01:00:02) Crypto's Killer App

(01:02:38) Why Back Blockworks?

(01:13:11) The Biggest Mistake

(01:16:16) DAO Bullishness

(01:23:12) Staying Interested Advice

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Resources

Go to Permissionless 

https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023

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

In today's round-up, we dive into the $70M Curve Exploit. Joined by Ren, a blockworks research analyst, and Andrew, blockwork's lead data reporter, the team dives into how the exploit happened, the impacted pools, MEV & White Hat recovery efforts, and Egorov's liquidation hunt.

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Use code EMPIRE30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023

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

Follow Ren: https://twitter.com/purplepill3m

Follow Andrew: https://twitter.com/Blockanalia

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/

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Resources

Technical Post-mortem

https://hackmd.io/@LlamaRisk/BJzSKHNjn

Egorov's Debank Profile

https://debank.com/profile/0x7a16ff8270133f063aab6c9977183d9e72835428?chain=eth

Egorov's Aave

https://aave.blockanalitica.com/v2/ethereum/wallets/0x7a16ff8270133f063aab6c9977183d9e72835428/

OTC Deals

https://twitter.com/thiccythot_/status/1686728604326002688

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Timestamps

(00:00) Introduction

(00:24) What is Curve?

(03:49) Exploit Explained

(08:59) Impacted Curve Liquidity Pools

(16:01) Vyper Code Exploit

(20:25) Permissionless Ad

(21:51) Centralized War Rooms

(25:54) MEV Bots vs Hackers

(31:29) Egorov Liquidation Hunt

(38:09) Abracadabra Governance Proposal

(40:25) Bad Debt Stand-off

(44:06) OTC Deals

(49:04) Lending Protocol Watershed Moment

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

In today's episode, Nick Tomaino, GP of 1confirmation, joins Santiago and Jason. They dive into why the Next Gen L1 Thesis is wrong, Opensea token launch, VC issues, and his thesis for NFTs moving forward. 

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Follow Nick Tomaino: https://twitter.com/NTmoney

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

Follow Santiago: 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/ 

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This episode is brought to you by Carbon. 

Carbon is a new DEX on Ethereum that makes concentrated liquidity easy. LPs can automate their liquidity strategy with custom on-chain limit and range orders: all from a beautiful UI. Check out Carbon today at https://www.carbondefi.xyz/. 

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Use code EMPIRE30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Why Crypto VC is Dumb Money

(08:06) Narrative Investing

(17:48) The Key to VC Success

(23:10) Bull Case for Prediction Markets

(31:40) Carbon Ad

(32:59) Permissionless 

(34:24) The NFT Thesis

(44:19) NTS & RWAs

(49:02) NFT Fractionalization

(54:52) The Future of Open Sea

(01:00:04) Coinbase and Wallstreet

(01:04:15) Timeline for Mainstream Adoption

(01:12:25) 2024 US Election Outlook

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Resources

Polymarket

https://polymarket.com/

https://twitter.com/Polymarket

The Scapegoat by Rene Girard

https://www.amazon.com/Scapegoat-Ren

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

In today's episode Dan and Sam are joined by host of Bell Curve Podcast & Blockworks Co-Founder Michael and Blockworks research analyst Matt. The team dives into their key takeaways of the EthCC and converse on zkEVM problems, the bull case for centralization, scaling solutions, interoperability, and much more!

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Follow 0xResearch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3foDS38

Subscribe to 0xResearch on Apple: https://apple.co/3SNhUEt

Subscribe to 0xResearch on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3NlP1hA

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Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Sam: https://twitter.com/swmartin19

Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy

Follow Matt: https://twitter.com/MattFiebach

Follow Blockworks Research: https://twitter.com/blockworksres

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3foDS38

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3SNhUEt

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3NlP1hA

Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ 

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Use code EMPIRE30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023

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Resources

Alex Blania Interview

spoti.fi/3BuCzab

https://apple.co/3W94QN6 

https://youtu.be/ImPvUOwFR68

McHenry Bill Derailing

https://blockworks.co/news/house-stablecoin-markup

Vitalik Buterin - A history of account abstraction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLf8qpOmxQc

LayerZero

https://layerzero.network/

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:27) EthCC Vibe Check

(09:30) Discussions on zkEVM Problems

(15:11) Takeaways for Interoperability

(23:52) The Bull Case for Centralized Builders

(39:49) Enshrining Eigen Layer in Ethereum Protocol

(46:21) Are Scaling Solutions Too Much?

(55:01) Lido Bribe Mechanism

(59:45) Web2 at EthCC

(01:01:55) Permissionless Discount

(01:03:19) What Does Institutional Adoption Look Like?

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

In today's episode, Jason is joined by Qiao Wang, Partner at Alliance DAO. They start today's episode by sentiment checking the market, reflecting on the current building landscape, and the types of founders and projects currently raising funds. They wrap up the show by diving into the intersection of Crypto & AI, decentralizing AI, and consumer crypto AI products. 

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Follow Qiao Wang: https://twitter.com/QwQiao

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/ 

- -

This episode is brought to you by Carbon. 

Carbon is a new DEX on Ethereum that makes concentrated liquidity easy. LPs can automate their liquidity strategy with custom on-chain limit and range orders: all from a beautiful UI. Check out Carbon today at https://www.carbondefi.xyz/. 

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Use code EMPIRE30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Bear Market Sentiment Check

(08:23) The Stages of a Bear Market

(13:19) What Buildoors are Building

(18:50) What Layer has the Buildoors?

(21:55) Types of Founders

(29:44) Characteristics of a Successful Founder

(33:47) Where Web3 Innovation is

(37:03) Permissionless ad

(38:28) Carbon ad

(39:47) Is AI on the Gartner Hype Cycle?

(43:07) The Intersection of AI

(50:06) Decentralizing AI

(59:41) Is There a Crypto Element for AI?

(01:05:43) Consumer Crypto & AI Products

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Resources

Alliance DAO

https://twitter.com/alliancedao 

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

In today's episode special edition cross-over episode Jason and Santi are joined by Michael, Co-founder at Framework Ventures and Co-host of the Bell Curve podcast. They cover EthCC Account Abstraction takeaways, Infinex, UniswapX, Chainlink CCIP & LayerZero, the VC landscape and MUCH much more. 

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This episode is brought to you by Kwenta, the premier derivatives trading platform on Optimism that offers deep liquidity, low fees and up to 50x leverage across 24+ assets. 

Go to Kwenta.io and start trading today!

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This episode is brought to you buy Thales. 

Thales is an innovative digital options platform on Arbitrum and Optimism that gets you exposure to crypto assets in the simplest way possible. As simple as choosing UP or DOWN! Experience the simplicity and power of Thales by visiting: 

https://thalesmarket.io/?mtm_campaign=blockworks

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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/

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Resources

UniswapX

https://twitter.com/Uniswap/status/1680955621343129600

Infinex

https://twitter.com/DefiantNews/status/1679838219201028097

Chainlink CCIP

https://twitter.com/chainlink/status/1680970793331613697

Celo Move to L1

https://blockworks.co/news/celo-return-home-ethereum

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(00:00) EthCC

(03:46) Account Abstraction & Crypto UX

(06:48) Infinex: The CEX Killer?

(10:25) UniswapX Release

(17:19) Chainlink CCIP

(27:43) LayerZero vs Chainlink

(31:04) Policy Episode Takeaways

(36:23) Thales

(37:19) Kwenta

(38:15) CoinDesk Acquired

(41:25) Sequoia Shakes Up Crypto Arm

(48:24) Crypto VC Competitive Landscape

(52:16) Crypto VC Strategies & Investment Practices

(01:03:13) Most Important Factor for L1s

(01:12:43) Celo Transition to Ethereum L2

—

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.

Join Santi and guests Rebeca Rettig and Jake Chervinsky in today's special Policy Series episode as they discuss the landmark Ripple case and its monumental impact. Explore the implications for future legislation, token sales practices, decentralization & governance, and get updates on MiCA & EU regulations. 

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:24) Landmark Ripple Case

(14:00) Verdict Impact on Industry Financing

(19:08) What's Next for Ripple Case?

(24:35) Influence on Future Legislation

(28:36) Token Sales in Practice

(38:31) Decentralization & Governance

(48:57) Digital Asset Market Structure Proposal

(56:25) Updates on MiCA & EU

(01:01:18) Call Your Representatives

(01:09:02) Futures Curve

(01:15:07) Recession Risk

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Follow Rebecca: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRettig1

Follow Jake: https://twitter.com/jchervinsky

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/ 

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This episode is brought to you by Chainalysis. 

Chainalysis is the blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, web3 companies, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies. Our data powers investigation, compliance, and business intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases. 

For more information, visit www.Chainalysis.com/empire.

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Resources

Crypto Usecases

thevaluedrop.io 

The Blockchain Association

https://theblockchainassociation.org/

https://twitter.com/BlockchainAssn

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

In today's episode of 1000x, Avi & Jonah explore the bear case despite the XRP rally. Also discussed are the impact of XRP versus ETF news, Ripple effect on Alt Market, the multi-chain thesis, on-chain RWAs, and much more!

We'll drop a new 1000x episode on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. Hit the links below and give us a follow!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:17) Market Sentiment Check-in

(06:40) Market Insights From News

(12:18) Impact of XRP vs ETF News

(17:19) Ripple Effect on Alt Market

(22:18) Is Multi-chain the Future?

(26:35) Are Useful On-chain RWAs Here?

(32:19) The Bear Case for Risk Assets

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Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman

Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz

Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3FuSarX

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/

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Resources:

XRP (Ripple) Case News

https://blockworks.co/news/traders-profit-cautious-markets-ripple

Figure Technologies (RWAs On-Chain)

https://twitter.com/Figure

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x 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. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, Jason is joined by Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, to discuss his journey, Pudgy Penguins' business model, IP Houses, Brand Licensing, and Pudgy Penguins future. 

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Follow Luca Netz: https://twitter.com/LucaNetz

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/ 

- -

This episode is brought to you by Carbon. 

Carbon is a new DEX on Ethereum that makes concentrated liquidity easy. LPs can automate their liquidity strategy with custom on-chain limit and range orders: all from a beautiful UI. Check out Carbon today at https://www.carbondefi.xyz/. 

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This episode is brought to you by Synthetix. 

This episode is brought to you by Synthetix. Synthetix Perps is the most efficient decentralized perpetual futures engine, with 5/10 bp fees and up to 25x leverage. With a growing list of over 20 tradable markets, Synthetix Perps are available on Optimism via Kwenta.io and Polynomial.fi, with more coming soon! As a permissionless liquidity layer, Synthetix makes it easy for any protocol to integrate perps and earn 5%-10% of trade fees.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Who is Luca Netz?

(04:35) Buying Pudgy Penguins

(10:47) Pudgy Penguins' Business Model

(25:16) Pudgy Penguins as an IP House

(31:44) Carbon Ad

(33:03) Synthetix Ad

(34:43) Monetization & NFT Bear Markets

(38:22) Confidence In NFT Projects

(44:23) The Future of Pudgy Penguins

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Resources

Pudgy Penguins

https://twitter.com/pudgypenguins

https://www.pudgypenguins.com/

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