Empire

This week, Charles Yoo-Naut joins the show to unpack Rain's explosive growth and what's next for crypto payments. We deep dive into the Rain origin story, their recent $250M fundraise, partnering with Visa, who wins the crypto card race, how Rain grew to a $2B company, and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Charles: https://x.com/cnaut

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

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

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Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto as collateral. Rates are typically 4% to 8%. Borrow up to $5M using BTC as collateral and up to $1M using ETH as collateral.



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"Mantle Global Hackathon 2025 is live! Running from Oct 22 to Dec 31, Mantle invites builders to design the future of Real-World Assets (RWAs) on its modular L2 stack.

Key Highlights:

- $150,000 Prize Pool + Grants & Incubation opportunities

- Access to Bybit's 7M+ verified users

- Judges from Bybit Ventures, Spartan, Animoca Brands

- 6 Tracks: RWA/RealFi, DeFi, AI, ZK, Infra, GameFi

Join the Hackathon: https://www.hackquest.io/vi/hackathons/Mantle-Global-Hackathon-2025"

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This Empire episode is brought to you by VanEck.

Learn more about the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE): http://vaneck.com/EmpireNODE

An investment in the Fund involves a substantial risk and is not suitable for all investors. It is possible to lose your entire principal investment. The Fund may invest nearly all of its net assets in either Digital Transformation Companies and/or Digital Asset Instruments. The Fund does not invest in digital assets or commodities directly.

Digital asset instruments may be subject to risks associated with investing in digital asset exchange-traded products (“ETPs”), which include the historical extreme volatility of the digital asset and cryptocurrency market, as well as less regulation and thus fewer investor protections, as these ETPs are not investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”) or commodity pools for the purposes of

the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).

Investing involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of principal. Visit vaneck.com to read and consider the prospectus, containing the investment objective, risks, and fees of the fund, carefully before investing.

© Van Eck Securities Corporation, Distributor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates Corporation.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:52) The Rain Origin Story

(15:23) Partnering With Visa

(30:05) The Opportunity In Emerging Markets

(36:48) Ads (Coinbase, Mantle, VanEck, Uniswap)

(40:16) The Crypto Card Race, Agentic Payments & Onchain Credit

(48:00) What Chains Does Rain Work With?

(53:28) Rain’s Journey To Raising $250m

(01:03:00) How Rain Grew To A $2B Company

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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, Josh Lim from FalconX joins the show to discuss the recent market sell-off. We deep dive into Josh's outlook for 2026, who is crypto's marginal buyer, the Ethereum L2 roadmap, Kyle Samani's announcement of leaving Multicoin and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Josh: https://x.com/joshua_j_lim

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

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

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

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Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto as collateral. Rates are typically 4% to 8%. Borrow up to $5M using BTC as collateral and up to $1M using ETH as collateral.

Manage crypto-backed loans directly in the Coinbase app with ease. Learn more here:

https://www.coinbase.com/onchain/borrow/get-started?utm_campaign=0126_defi-borrow_blockworks_empire&marketId=0x9103c3b4e834476c9a62ea009ba2c884ee42e94e6e314a26f04d312434191836&utm_source=empire

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(00:00) Introduction

(03:41) State of the Market

(08:48) Josh's Outlook For 2026

(18:45) The SaaS-Pocalypse & Crypto's Marginal Buyer

(26:12) Coinbase Ad

(26:58) The Crypto to AI Rotation

(37:24) The Ethereum L2 Roadmap

(47:27) Kyle Samani Leaves Multicoin

(01:01:45) Why Is Josh Still In Crypto?

(01:03:57) 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, the Hivemind team breaks down the continued sell-off in markets, from crypto to software. We deep-dive into the historical L1 premium, the endgame for Hyperliquid, Bitcoin's quantum threat, Vitalik's post on L2s, and more. Enjoy!

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Follow Ceteris: ⁠https://x.com/ceterispar1bus⁠

Follow Jason: ⁠https://x.com/3xliquidated⁠

Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman

Follow LTR: https://x.com/maybeltr

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

Subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://bit.ly/4jYEkBx⁠

Subscribe on Apple: ⁠https://bit.ly/3ECSmJ3⁠

Subscribe on Spotify: ⁠https://bit.ly/4hzy9lH⁠

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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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(00:00) Introduction

(00:48) State of The Market

(13:15) Are L1s Still Overvalued?

(22:50) The Hyperliquid End Game

(31:38) Bitcoin’s Quantum Threat

(36:42) Ethereum’s L2 Roadmap

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

In this episode, we break down the state of stablecoins and why they’ve been able to bridge the gap into TradFi’s mainstream. Who’s adopting stablecoins and why? How are stablecoins changing the financial and legislative landscape? And what does this mean for the future of the larger crypto landscape? 

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Follow Canton: https://x.com/CantonNetwork

Follow Mo: https://x.com/Mo_Bps

Follow Eric: https://x.com/wesarn_real

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

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

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Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(1:56) The Evolution of Stablecoins

(8:43) The Stablecoin Stack

(11:16) Who is Building on HIFI?

(12:57) Cross-border Payments

(15:55) Stablecoin Market Share

(22:49) Canton's Stablecoin Strategy

(26:09) The Stablecoin Landscape

(28:33) The Importance of Privacy

(31:58) Stablecoin Fragmentation

(35:05) Agentic Payments

(36:52) General Purpose vs Specialized Chains

(41:29) What is the Industry Missing?

(45:06) Closing Comments

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Disclaimer: “Quadrillions” is a mini-series produced by Blockworks, and is sponsored by Canton Network. Nothing on this show is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. It’s for informational purposes only, and the views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice or necessarily the views of Blockworks.

Our hosts, guests, and the Blockworks team may hold positions in companies, funds, or projects discussed, including those related to Canton Network.

This week, we’re joined by CEO and Co-founder of BitGo, Mike Belshe, to discuss BitGo’s IPO, their motivations for going public, and the IPO process. We dive into allocation decisions, key product growth areas, and views on regulation, crypto market structure, and future industry evolution. Enjoy!

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

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

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

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Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto as collateral. Rates are typically 4% to 8%. Borrow up to $5M using BTC as collateral and up to $1M using ETH as collateral. Manage crypto-backed loans directly in the Coinbase app with ease. Learn more here: 

https://www.coinbase.com/onchain/borrow/get-started?utm_campaign=0126_defi-borrow_blockworks_empire&marketId=0x9103c3b4e834476c9a62ea009ba2c884ee42e94e6e314a26f04d312434191836&utm_source=empire 

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Timestamps:

(01:50) BitGos IPO & Early Supporters

(07:22) Why go public

(09:45) The IPO Process

(30:39) Determining Allocations

(37:49) Ads (Coinbase)

(38:41) BitGos Role as an infrastructure company

(46:15) BitGo's Fastest Growing Products

(58:20) BitGo going forward

(01:02:37) Web2 vs web3

(01:06:41) BitGo's Journey & Lessons Learned

(01:14:39) Replacing the Incumbents

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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.