Empire

Druckenmiller is bullposting TradeXYZ and you're bearish? This week, we break down the TradFi incumbents suddenly leaning into crypto rails and what it means for the startups that built them. We explore Druck's viral X post, ICE bringing Hyperliquid perps to the US, Google Cloud's new crypto custody play, Y Combinator's crypto wishlist, and whether AI favors incumbents over startups. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Chicken Hats and Bull Markets 02:15 Google's 12% Earnings Drop 02:33 Druckenmiller Bets on Trade XYZ 15:59 Fidelity 16:34 DAS London 17:12 Google Cloud Enters Custody 22:01 Inside Dragonfly's Partner Shakeup 26:12 Fidelity 26:53 DAS London 27:28 Inside Dragonfly's Partner Shakeup (cont.) 28:25 YC's Crypto Startup Wishlist 32:49 The Four Stages of a Bull Market 39:15 DeFi Primitives Beyond Perps 42:42 AI Bubble or Incumbents' Game? 50:26 ICE's Sprecher on Hyperliquid 51:44 Midterms and Crypto Politics 56:26 Content of the Week FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Santi – https://x.com/santiagoroel › Haseeb – https://x.com/hosseeb › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks SPONSORS › Fidelity Crypto was built in-house. with over adozen 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 significant loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services,LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC. http://fidelity.com/crypto EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit London Nov 10-11 https://blockworks.com/events RESOURCES › Learn more about Blockworks Agentic Detection: https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-agentic-detection-asset-monitoring-built-for-the-ai-era › Start building with the Blockworks Unified API https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-the-blockworks-unified-api DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Is AI about to make the whole internet a target? This week, we unpack the PHP exploit wave and why crypto saw this cybersecurity attack pattern first. We also explore whether the AI labs get nationalized, where AI's irrational exuberance lives, Visa's rumored Fireblocks deal, and why it feels like nothing is investable right now. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 From the B-List to the A-List: Haseeb & Zaki Join 01:21 Is AI Breaking Cybersecurity? 10:22 Where Are The AI-Powered Cyberattacks? 15:44 Can AI Defend Against Itself? 20:34 Ads (Fidelity, DAS London) 21:45 Should The Government Control AI Labs? 28:42 Will AI Labs Become Nationalized? 32:55 Ads (Fidelity, DAS London) 34:11 Is The AI Boom Overvalued? 38:38 Who Is Actually Winning In AI? 43:16 Does The World Need More AI Labs? 46:27 Is Crypto Custody Consolidating? 53:53 Crypto's Next Wave Of M&A 57:56 What Is The Market Telling Us? 01:01:22 Content Of The Week FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Santi – https://x.com/santiagoroel › Hasseeb – https://x.com/hosseeb › Zaki – https://x.com/zmanian › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks SPONSORS › 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 significant loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services,LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC. http://fidelity.com/crypto EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit London Nov 10-11 https://blockworks.com/events RESOURCES › Learn more about Blockworks Agentic Detection: https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-agentic-detection-asset-monitoring-built-for-the-ai-era › Start building with the Blockworks Unified API https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-the-blockworks-unified-api DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Will the AI labs eat everything or is tech just too sure of itself to tell what actually lasts? This week, Compound's Michael Dempsey explains why he invests against the herd in a market running on FOMO. We explore which SaaS companies survive AI, why sentiment has turned against tech, his case for a historic decade in bio, and why crypto venture went quiet while onchain assets got interesting. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:29 How Do You Invest Without FOMO? 08:30 Is The AI Boom Built To Last? 12:32 Will AI Labs Eat Every Startup? 17:19 Ads (Fidelity Crypto) 17:52 Which Software Companies Survive AI? 24:35 Why Is Tech Losing Public Trust? 33:56 Ads (Fidelity Crypto) 34:35 Gambling, Inequality, And Financial Nihilism 40:03 Has Tech Lost Its Soul? 43:54 How Compound Finds Its Next Bets 55:36 Can AI Transform Biotech? 01:03:39 Why Still Invest In Crypto? 01:08:04 Which Crypto Companies Could Go Public? FOLLOW GUEST › Michael – https://x.com/mhdempsey › Compound – https://www.compound.vc/ FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks SPONSORS › 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 significant loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services,LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC. http://fidelity.com/crypto EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit London Nov 10-11 https://blockworks.com/events RESOURCES › Learn more about Blockworks Agentic Detection: https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-agentic-detection-asset-monitoring-built-for-the-ai-era › Start building with the Blockworks Unified API https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-the-blockworks-unified-api DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Is AI's infinite capital era finally running out of road? This week, we unpack the AI bloodbath and why credit markets are flashing warnings while crypto quietly holds its ground. We explore Anthropic's growth scare, Yano's AI survival tiers, why everyone's talking about Pearl, and whether regulators will ever allow global liquidity. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:24 AI Sells Off, Crypto Holds Up 05:20 Is CoreWeave Facing A Debt Crisis? 10:14 Can Frontier Models Make Money? 16:20 Ads (Fidelity Crypto, DAS London) 17:30 Which AI Businesses Survive? 21:52 Who Wins As AI Gets Cheaper? 27:15 Ads (Fidelity Crypto, DAS London) 28:41 What Stood Out At Token2049? 31:49 Can AI Mining Challenge Bitcoin? 36:09 Does Pearl’s Mining Model Work? 40:23 What’s Next For Crypto Exchanges? 50:26 Will Stablecoins Replace National Currencies? 59:45 Content Of The Week FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyano. itz › Santi – https://x.com/santiagoroel › Rob – https://x.com/HadickM › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks SPONSORS › 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 significant loss. Securities offered by Fidelity Brokerage Services,LLC. Member NYSE, SIPC. http://fidelity.com/crypto EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit London Nov 10-11 https://blockworks.com/events RESOURCES › Learn more about Blockworks Agentic Detection: https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-agentic-detection-asset-monitoring-built-for-the-ai-era › Start building with the Blockworks Unified API https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-the-blockworks-unified-api DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Is tokenization pointless until you can borrow against it? This week, we sit down with Kamino's new CEO Michael Weisz on why he left fintech to build the onchain credit layer. We explore Kamino's invisible distribution strategy, why Goldman won't lend on private assets, why venture can't be collateral yet, and how his upside rides on $KMNO. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:54 Why Leave Fintech For Crypto? 05:43 Why Join Kamino? 10:01 Kamino’s Vision For Onchain Finance 14:06 Who Owns The Customer Relationship? 17:13 Bringing Institutions Onchain: Four Pillars 23:34 Why Private Assets Need Onchain Credit 27:23 Which Assets Make Good Collateral? 33:27 Can DeFi Attract Top Asset Managers? 39:18 Running Kamino Like A Public Company 43:28 How Do Collateral And Liquidations Work? 46:45 Why Choose Tokens Over Equity? 50:05 Building Kamino’s Team 52:49 Final Thoughts FOLLOW GUEST › Michael – https://x.com/WeiszM › Kamino – https://kamino.com/earn/lend FOLLOW THE SHOW › Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod › Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz › Telegram – https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh › Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks EVENTS › Join us at Digital Asset Summit London Nov 10-11 https://blockworks.com/events RESOURCES › Learn more about Blockworks Agentic Detection: https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-agentic-detection-asset-monitoring-built-for-the-ai-era › Start building with the Blockworks Unified API https://blockworks.com/insights/introducing-the-blockworks-unified-api DISCLAIMER Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.