Is Crypto an Investable Asset Class? | Weekly Roundup

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason is joined by Byron Gilliam - a markets strategist and author of the Blockworks newsletter. Often called the Matt Levine of Web3, Byron brings his traditional finance experience to crypto with a mix of wisdom and wit.
Jason and Byron cover this week's biggest stories and explore crypto's outlook as an investable asset class. Episode highlights include:

Why Byron frames crypto as commodities, not equities

How private markets are losing their advantage

Why crypto may be amazing for users, but a bad investment

How OpenSea's insider trading news will affect other Web3 companies

What happened with Optimism's airdrop

Can L2s find a sustainable revenue model

How BTC mining could fuel growth in renewable energy

Byron questions if MEV is crypto's only use case

Why UST's collapse was not crypto's Lehman moment

and much more!

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Follow Byron: https://twitter.com/bgilliam1982
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
- -
Referenced in the show:
Byron's Newsletter
https://blockworks.co/newsletter/
0xHamZ tweet on $100B required market inflows
https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1530222542413234176
Arthur Hayes article
https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/shut-it-down-15d230b28089
- -
BitMEX is back and better than ever. Sign up for BitmEX's new Spot Exchange for a chance to win a piece of $500,000 in BTC (new users).

Learn more about them at https://www.bitmex.com/
--
(00:00) Introduction
(01:26) Byron's Evolving View on Crypto
(05:50) Lack of moats and risk taking founders
(11:28) Byron's investment outlook
(13:30) The private market arbitrage
(16:25) OpenSea insider trading
(23:49) Optimism's Airdrop
(27:18) Bitmex Ad
(33:08) Public goods & Layer 2 tokens
(36:28) Oil companies working with BTC miners
(38:51) Is everything just MEV?
(42:39) Crypto's structural selling
(46:31) No profits, just circular pricing
(48:13) Trust in Tether
--
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 of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason is joined by Byron Gilliam - a markets strategist and author of the Blockworks newsletter. Often called the Matt Levine of Web3, Byron brings his traditional finance experience to crypto with a mix of wisdom and wit.

Jason and Byron cover this week's biggest stories and explore crypto's outlook as an investable asset class. Episode highlights include:

Why Byron frames crypto as commodities, not equities
How private markets are losing their advantage
Why crypto may be amazing for users, but a bad investment
How OpenSea's insider trading news will affect other Web3 companies
What happened with Optimism's airdrop
Can L2s find a sustainable revenue model
How BTC mining could fuel growth in renewable energy
Byron questions if MEV is crypto's only use case
Why UST's collapse was not crypto's Lehman moment
and much more!

- -

Follow Byron: https://twitter.com/bgilliam1982

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

- -

Referenced in the show:

Byron's Newsletter

https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

0xHamZ tweet on $100B required market inflows

https://twitter.com/0xHamz/status/1530222542413234176

Arthur Hayes article

https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/shut-it-down-15d230b28089

- -

BitMEX is back and better than ever. Sign up for BitmEX's new Spot Exchange for a chance to win a piece of $500,000 in BTC (new users).

Learn more about them at https://www.bitmex.com/

--

(00:00) Introduction

(01:26) Byron's Evolving View on Crypto

(05:50) Lack of moats and risk taking founders

(11:28) Byron's investment outlook

(13:30) The private market arbitrage

(16:25) OpenSea insider trading

(23:49) Optimism's Airdrop

(27:18) Bitmex Ad

(33:08) Public goods & Layer 2 tokens

(36:28) Oil companies working with BTC miners

(38:51) Is everything just MEV?

(42:39) Crypto's structural selling

(46:31) No profits, just circular pricing

(48:13) Trust in Tether

--

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.