In this week's roundup, we discuss the rise of engagement farming, the evolving role of token project founders as public-facing marketers, and the tension between long-term building and short-term market pressures. We also examine Jito’s BAM rollout, modular blockchain design, Zora’s creator economy model, and the regulatory implications of the CLARITY Act for L2 sequencers. Enjoy!

On this week’s roundup, Austin Adams joined the crew to discuss the latest including Pump’s ICO, Tom Lee’s BitMine play, and Ethereum’s roadmap and how ZK will fit in.

For this week's roundup, Jill, Mike, Nick and Uma are back and dive deep into the infrastructure details of the Robinhood and Arbitrum deal and how crypto make be in its walled garden, regulatory arbitrage era of development and how that will impact future infrastructure plays and plans.

(00:00) Introduction

(04:22) Robinhood + Arbitrum

(16:16) Infra Roadmap For Robinhood

(16:31) Pre-Roll Ad

(25:45) Tokenization TradeOffs

(29:31) Regulatory Arbitrage

(38:35) Ad Mid Roll

(39:02) Robinhood’s Walled Garden

(47:03) Stablecoins Are Email Moment For Crypto

(51:21) Memecoins & Creator Coins

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Expansion 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. Mike, Jill, Uma, Nick and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we're sharing with you a live debate from Permissionless that features Jill and Uma who are joined by Max from Onza, and Rob from Polkadot to dive into the technicals around can everything fit in 1 machine?!

This week, Jill, Uma and Mike got together IRL to record the Roundup with Nick joining virtually. From purpose built block space to L2s to stablecoins and prediction markets, per usual - this roundup has it all and is live from Brooklyn at Permissionless IV!

In this week's roundup, Jill, Uma, and Nick discuss “CLOBs on Blobs”, the Hibachi launch, and the ongoing CLOB Wars. They also unpack the Ethereum Foundation’s new direction, and the SEC’s regulatory shift. Enjoy!

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Resources

WTF Are CLOBs on Blobs: https://x.com/0xJaehaerys/status/1935721742816719272

The CLOB Wars: https://x.com/nickwh8te/status/1935726630598807951

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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

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Follow Jill: https://x.com/jillrgunter

Follow Nick: https://x.com/nickwh8te

Follow Uma: https://x.com/pumatheuma

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

Follow Expansion: https://x.com/ExpansionPod_

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

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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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Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

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Disclaimer

Expansion was kickstarted by a grant from the Celestia Foundation.

Nothing said on Expansion 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. Michael, Nick, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This week, we're publishing an Empire episode on our feed to share info about the recent Blockworks launch of a brand new Token Transparency Framework.

In this episode, Yano is joined by Dan Smith of Blockworks Research, Felipe Montealegre of Theia Research and Louis T of L1D to publicly launch a brand new, industry leading Token Transparency Framework that will move the entire industry forward!

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Learn more here - https://blockworks.co/token-transparency

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Follow Felipe - https://x.com/TheiaResearch

Follow Louis - https://x.com/0xLouisT

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

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

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

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Chapters:00:00

Token Transparency02:25

The Token Market & Lemons

11:40 Equity vs Token Risk

14:18 Structural Token Issues

17:12 How Did We Get Here?

22:57 Token Horror Stories

31:50 Token Launches

56:50 Best Case Scenario

01:02:38 Impact On Token Prices

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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 this episode, the gang unpacks major talking points from this week including but not limited to the notion of the end of foundations in crypto, Circle’s IPO, the impact the US government has had on the overall ecosystem and chokepoint 2.0s lasting impacts on Ethereum, existing legal challenge for tokens in the US and the space for privacy focused stablecoins to take shape.

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:22) Listening To Old Crypto Podcasts

(08:47) PRE ROLL LEDGER AD

(16:21) Crypto’s Time In The USA

(18:15) Ethereum vs Solana Foundation

(24:21) Existing Legal Challenges For Tokens

(27:09) Why Hyperliquid Over A CEX?

(34:41) Crypto Driving Push To Revisit KYC

(39:20) MID ROLL LEDGER AD

(42:35) White Hat To The Rescue

(43:10) Private Stablecoin Protocols

(46:26) Circle’s IPO

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Disclaimer:

This week on Expansion, Nick, Uma and Mike explore the evolving crypto media landscape, from the decline of crypto Twitter to the rise of decentralized social platforms like Farcaster. They unpack major themes including AI privacy risks, the potential of verifiable apps, and the implications of a recent SUI exploit. They debate the spectrum of decentralization, institutional adoption, and why speculation still drives most blockchain activity. Plus, they critique Loudio’s attention farming and revisit whether ideas like FriendTech deserve a second life.

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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.

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Join us from June 24th-June 26th at Permissionless IV! Use Code EXPANSION10 at checkout for 10% off!

Tickets: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iv

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Follow Jill: https://x.com/jillrgunter

Follow Nick: https://x.com/nickwh8te

Follow Uma: https://x.com/pumatheuma

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

Follow Expansion: https://x.com/ExpansionPod_

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

Subscribe on Apple: http://apple.co/4bGKYYM

Subscribe on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/3Vaubq1

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

--

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:39) Is X Still Relevant In The Crypto Zeitgeist?

(07:11) Decentralized Social Media

(11:02) Ledger Ad

(11:20) Decentralized AI

(14:37) Are AI wearables The Future?

(15:58) SUI Hack Explored

(28:05) Premium on Blockchain Neutrality

(29:26) Ledger Ad

(35:16) Decentralization Is A Spectrum

(36:19) Value Add Value Engineering

(38:12) Verifiable Apps (Unruggable)

(42:25) Privacy’s Evolution In Crypto

(51:09) “When Genius Failed”

(54:20) Non-Crypto Produced Media On Crypto

(56:03) Loudio - Incentivizing Social Media Engagement

(01:00:36) crypto’s yearly revenue outlook

(01:05:39) Just CTO FriendTech

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Disclaimer

Expansion was kickstarted by a grant from the Celestia Foundation.

Nothing said on Expansion 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. Michael, Nick, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this week's roundup, we discuss Bitcoin’s new highs and the lack of enthusiasm around it, the vibes at Solana’s Accelerate conference, and the sustainability of memecoin activity on Solana. We also dive into Succinct’s SP1 Hypercube and Real-Time Ethereum Proving. Finally, we unpack the Cetus exploit on Sui, and their response. Enjoy!

Resources

Real-Time Ethereum Proving is here: https://x.com/SuccinctLabs/status/1924845712921264562

Justin Drake on Real-Time Proving: https://x.com/SuccinctLabs/status/1925306484281553262

Sui’s Response to the Cetus Exploit: https://x.com/SuiNetwork/status/1925572334054002774

–

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.

–

Join us from June 24th-June 26th at Permissionless IV! Use Code EXPANSION10 at checkout for 10% off!

Tickets: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iv

- -

Follow Jill: https://x.com/jillrgunter

Follow Nick: https://x.com/nickwh8te

Follow Uma: https://x.com/pumatheuma

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

Follow Expansion: https://x.com/ExpansionPod_

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

Subscribe on Apple: http://apple.co/4bGKYYM

Subscribe on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/3Vaubq1

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

--

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:16) Bitcoin’s New Highs

(05:24) The Vibes at Solana Accelerate

(09:12) Ledger Pre-Roll

(09:30) Is Solana’s Memecoin Activity Sustainable?

(29:01) Ledger Mid-Roll

(29:36) Real-Time Ethereum Proving

(39:57) Ethereum’s Misaligned Vision

(57:53) The Cetus Exploit

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Disclaimer

Expansion was kickstarted by a grant from the Celestia Foundation.

Nothing said on Expansion 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. Michael, Nick, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.