podbrain 
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.
All 42 notes
Anthropic's Fable Banned, Will Microstrategy Blow Up & Structuring A Portfolio in 2026
This episode of Empire features host Santiago (Santi) alongside Rob and guest Jordy Alexander, a proprietary capital allocator and co-founder at Cellini who manages a multi-strategy book spanning cryp…
The Bull Case For Hyperliquid | Ryan Watkins
Ryan Watkins, co-founder of Synchrony, a long-biased crypto hedge fund, discusses the evolution from buying crypto beta to underwriting real businesses with fundamentals. Synchrony launched in 2022 an…
Blockworks Acquires Messari
Jason Yanowitz and Mike Ippolito, co-founders of Blockworks, announce their acquisition of Messari, the crypto data platform founded by Ryan Selkis and Dan McArdle, later led by Eric Turner and curren…
Figure Co-Founder: How Figure Became A $10B Business | Mike Cagney
Mike Cagney, co-founder and former CEO of SoFi and current co-founder and executive chairman of Figure, discusses his vision for blockchain's transformation of capital markets. Figure operates as a ma…
AI Feels Like Crypto In 2017, Circle Raises $222M and Anthropic Cracks Down On SPVs
Jason Yanowitz (Blockworks co-founder), Rob Hadick (Dragonfly General Partner), and Santiago Santos (ParaFi Managing Partner) discuss the convergence of AI mania and crypto infrastructure adoption fol…
How KelpDAO's $290M Exploit Nearly Killed DeFi | Stani Kulechov & Mike Silagadze
Mike Silagadze, CEO and co-founder of EtherFi, and Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, discuss the recent Kelp DAO hack crisis that threatened to collapse DeFi. The conversation covers the two-week perio…
A Quantum Fork is Coming to Bitcoin | Alex Pruden & Philip Martin
Philip Martin, Chief Security Officer at Coinbase, and Alex Pruden, founder and CEO of Project 11, discuss the urgent quantum computing threat to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency security. The conversation …
DeFi’s Latest $290M Hack, Kalshi vs Polymarket & Will the Clarity Act Pass?
This episode features the full Empire crew - Yano, Rob from Dragonfly Capital, and Santi - discussing the week's major DeFi exploit and its industry implications. Rob brings his investment perspective…
The Blockworks Vision
Mike Ippolito and Jason Yanowitz, co-founders of Blockworks, discuss their company's major rebrand and the current state of crypto markets. Recording in April 2025, they analyze why crypto sentiment f…
How To Make DeFi Great Again | Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic & Luca Prosperi
Luca Prosperi, co-founder and CEO of M0 (stablecoin infrastructure company), and Adrian Hetman, co-founder of Steakhouse (Morpho curator managing ~$2B in deposits), discuss the current state of DeFi l…
Why DeFi Is Unattractive, Claude Mythos and Cryptos's Biggest Winners
Santiago and Jason return as the original Empire dynamic duo, discussing the state of DeFi yields, security risks, and fundraising markets. Santiago brings his background as an early DeFi farmer and i…
Hivemind: Ceasefire In Iran, Is AI a Bubble & Drift Exploited For $280M
Kevin Kelly hosts the final Hive Mind episode on Blockworks Empire channel, joined by Jan (managing partner Delphi Ventures), Jose (head of Delphi Labs), Cedaris (head of research), and Jason (markets…
Paxos CEO on Crypto Today & Why Stablecoins Are Exploding | Charles Cascarilla
Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-founder of Paxos, joins the podcast to discuss 14 years of building regulated crypto infrastructure. Cascarilla previously co-founded Liberty City Ventures hedge fund an…
Making Tokenization a Reality: Bringing Assets Onchain | Samara Cohen
Samara Cohen, Global Head of Market Development at BlackRock, discusses the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets with host Jason at a Blockworks conference. Cohen recently returned fr…
Western Union CEO: Western Union's Stablecoin Future
Devin Wenig, CEO and President of Western Union, discusses the company's strategic pivot to stablecoins at the DAS conference. Western Union operates as a licensed financial institution across 50+ cou…
The Two Biggest Issues In Crypto Today | Weekly Roundup
Jason Yanowitz hosts Empire with co-hosts Santiago Santos (Inversion partner) and Rob Hadick (Dragonfly General Partner) discussing crypto market conditions, security issues, and quantum computing thr…
Copper Founder: Building a Billion Dollar Company & Fixing Crypto Custody
Dmitri Tokarev, founder of institutional crypto custody platform Copper, joins the show to discuss his transition from raising $300 million at a $1.25 billion valuation to building Bronze, a next-gene…
It's Still a Bull Market, But Not The One You Wanted
This episode features Jason Yanowitz (co-founder of Blockworks), Rob Hadick (General Partner at Dragonfly), and Santiago Santos (Managing Partner at Inversion Capital) recording live at the DAS confer…
Hivemind: State of The Market, Saylor’s End Game & AI Growth in China
The Hive Mind podcast features Delphi's core team: Jan (Ventures Partner), Jason (Head of Markets), Jose (Head of Labs), Cedaris (Head of Research), and guest Rawson (AI investor at Delphi Ventures). …
Investor Relations in the Onchain Era
Michael Ippolito, co-founder of Blockworks, presents at the Digital Asset Summit in New York to announce the launch of Blockworks Investor Relations platform. The presentation addresses a critical dis…
State of The Market, How to Value Hyperliquid & Tempo Launches Mainnet
This episode features a discussion between two crypto investors analyzing the intersection of geopolitical events, market dynamics, and emerging blockchain applications. The conversation covers the es…
How To Fix Crypto's Token Problem | Weekly Roundup
Rob Haddock returns to New York after abandoning his Miami experiment, joined by the host to discuss the week's most significant crypto developments. Rob, a venture investor, explains his productivity…
How Hyperliquid Unlocks 24/7 Markets | Jake Chervinsky & MC Lader
Jake Travinsky, CEO of Hyperliquid Policy Center and former general counsel at Compound Labs, joins MC Later, founder and CEO of Native Markets and former president of Uniswap Labs. Jake brings extens…
State of The Market, Polymarket Insider Trading & a16z Raising $2B | Weekly Roundup
Rob Hadick from Dragonfly Capital joins Santiago for a wide-ranging discussion covering market dynamics, regulatory challenges, and emerging infrastructure. The conversation spans Bitcoin's recent ral…
Hivemind: Can Bitcoin Reclaim $80k, State of The Market & The AI Trade
The Hive Mind Podcast features Cedaris (head of research at Delphi), Jose (head of Delphi Labs), Jan (venture partner), and Jason (head of markets at Delphi Research), recorded March 3rd with Bitcoin …
Introducing: Inflection Point | The Crypto-TradFi Convergence
This inaugural episode of Inflection Point features Mark Arjun (senior research analyst at Blockworks), David Lawan (head of research at Anchorage Digital), Matt Hogan (Chief Investment Officer at Bit…
Building The Perfect Portfolio In 2026 | Tushar Jain & Pranav Kanade
Tushar Jain and Pranav Kanade from Multicoin Capital join the Empire podcast to discuss crypto market cycles, valuations, and the intersection of AI with blockchain technology. Tushar, a four-cycle ve…
Terra vs Jane Street, Circle Earnings & Robinhood’s Venture Fund | Weekly Roundup
This episode features discussions between crypto investment professionals analyzing the latest developments in stablecoins, regulatory changes, and market structure. The conversation covers major lega…
Zero Just Made Blockchains 100x Better | Bryan Pellegrino & Raz Zarick
Brian Pellegrino, co-founder and CEO of Layer Zero Labs, and Rez, co-founder and CTO, discuss their new blockchain Zero announced last week in New York. The host Jason is an investor in Layer Zero and…
Inside Dragonfly’s $650M Raise | Weekly Roundup
Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly, discusses the firm's successful $650 million Fund IV raise, achieving their hard cap despite challenging market conditions. The conversation covers fundraisin…
Hivemind: Surviving Market Chop, Is Crypto Bottoming & Reasons to Be Optimistic in 2026
This episode features Cedaris (head of research at Delphi Digital), Jan (managing partner at Delphi Ventures), Jason (head of markets at Delphi Research), and Flip (DeFi team and perps expert at Delph…
Quadrillions: The New Wall Street | Nick Shalek & Mathew McDermott
This final episode of Quadrillions features Nick from Ribbit Capital (investors in Nubank, Coinbase, Robinhood, Stripe, Revolut), Matthew as Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, and Yuval f…
MegaETH in 2026 & Ethereum's L2 End Game | Brett DiNovi & Lei Yang
This conversation features Lei, co-founder and CTO of MegaETH, and Brad, defending the project's strategic centralization approach. MegaETH is a Layer 2 blockchain focused on achieving maximum perform…
The Clarity Act, State of Crypto VC & LayerZero Launches Zero | Weekly Roundup
Rebecca Rettig, former Aave counsel and current crypto policy expert, joins hosts Rob and Santi to discuss the current state of crypto market structure legislation. Rebecca splits time between DC advo…
How Rain Grew To A $2B Company | Charles Yoo-Naut
Charles Unaut, co-founder and CTO of RAIN, discusses building stablecoin payment infrastructure that has grown 80x in 12-18 months. RAIN partners with over 200 customers including Etherfi, Cast, Avala…
Hivemind: Are L1s Still Overvalued, Hyperliquid’s End Game & State of The Market
This appears to be the conclusion of a trading or investment discussion between multiple speakers tracking portfolio performance and market movements. The conversation covers recent performance compar…
Quadrillions: Stablecoins: We’ve Only Just Begun | Mohamed Afifi
This episode features Eric Seranicki, co-founder of Canton Network, and Mo, co-founder of Hi-Fi, a financial infrastructure platform providing the software layer for programmable money. Hi-Fi sits at …
Why BitGo Went Public | Mike Belshe
Mike Belshe, CEO and co-founder of BitGo, joins Jason Yanowitz to discuss the company's recent IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. Belshe brings 30 years of Silicon Valley experience, including early …
The Bull Case For DePIN, RWAs on Hyperliquid & The Onchain Endgame | Weekly Roundup
This episode features Jason Yanowitz and Rob Hadick joined by special guest Sal Qadir, co-founder of EV3, fresh off announcing their $61.74 million second fund focused exclusively on DePIN (Decentrali…
Why Kraken Is Betting Big on Onchain Vaults | John Zettler & Sun Raghupathi
Jason Yanowitz hosts John Zettler from Kraken and Sun Raghupati from Veda to explore the explosive growth potential of on-chain vaults. John leads product development at Kraken after five years at Coi…
AI Breaking Software Economics, CLARITY Bill, & Debating BitGo’s IPO | Weekly Roundup
The Empire podcast brings together Yano from Blockworks, Rob from Dragonfly Capital, and Santi from Inversion Capital to discuss AI's transformative impact on business operations and crypto market dev…
Hivemind: Bitcoin Volatility, Perp DEX Trends, and Crypto Market Cycles
This episode features Cedaris, Head of Research at Delphi Research, hosting alongside Jason, Head of Markets at Jan Ventures and their perpetuals expert. The conversation takes place on January 21st w…
All episodes
What they keep coming back to
Can't find the episode you're looking for?
Search the full Empire catalog.
.svg)