This week, we’re back with another weekly roundup to discuss why everyone in crypto feels so bearish. We then dive deep into whether stablecoins significantly improve payment rails, Robinhood’s AI agent announcement, Rob’s takeaways from a trip to D.C., MicroStrategy and RoboStrategy NAV premiums, and more. Enjoy! -- Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:50) Why’s The Timeline So Bearish? (22:12) Robinhood Launches AI Agents (32:23) Morpho Midnight (44:27) Is DeFi Uninvestable? (49:15) Takeaways From D.C. (54:14) MicroStrategy &amp; RoboStrategy NAV Premiums (58:22) Content of The Week -- 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.

Why’s Everyone So Bearish, Robinhood's AI Agent and SoFi's Stablecoin Launch 

Empire

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Empire

## Participants

- **Jason Yanowitz** (Blockworks)
- **Santiago Roel** (Blockworks)
- **Rob Hadick** (Dragonfly)

## Transcript

Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell any investments or products. This podcast is 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 the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Oh, you don't like to see that. What's up, folks? Welcome back to Empire. I click record in my MetaMask. I don't love that. Jeez. You don't love that. Oh, my God, it keeps popping up. What's going on? That's dangerous. Rob, Santi, what's up? How you guys doing? What's up, guys? You know, loving life. Short week this week.

So we will be optimistic. We should have a barometer of like how best, you know, like ultra fear or euphoria. Timeline's bleak, guys. I'm just going to ask the question. Is this better or worse than like 2018? Because I saw a really interesting tweet about this. So like someone said, this is actually, this is probably worse than other cycles.

Most recently, like when you had like FTX blow up and Luna blow up and Celsius, some of the TradFi, like you just could pinpoint like, okay, there's like a very clear like thing that is, is the reason why like prices are down or not moving. And now it's like quite the opposite. Like you have TradFi continues to be really bullish on this. I think maybe marginally less so. I'd actually be curious, Rob, I know you're in DC. So maybe we could just start there.

Like, what are you guys seeing in terms of like the conversation with the people that have been the more, the most bullish cycle have been like non crypto natives. Is that true? Like marginally less so? Is it just selling may go away? People are thinking about the summer. Like what's going on? We got like six starting questions, you know, tied into one there. Yeah. You know, I like these bundle questions, man. You know, I'm terrible at like single questions.

That's why we were so happy to have you come back, Santiago Roel, after your break was because we needed a moderator. We needed somebody to get a discussion. Somebody's like, is this cycle worse than the last two cycles? What's going on in DC? What are we doing with the market? Do we sell in May and go away? Rob, Rob hit us with the answer. Hit us with that. Man, listen, man, like people have their attention span of 30 seconds. I just want to tell them what's on my mind.

Before we talk about DC, let's try to answer that question. I would say this is a much better cycle than 2018, 2019, because I remember sitting with Mike getting beers after work one day and talking about what we would do if all of crypto failed. And I said I would go get a job at Uber. And Mike said he would go get a job at Netflix. Like we were talking about what we would...

Why’s Everyone So Bearish, Robinhood's AI Agent and SoFi's Stablecoin Launch

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Why’s Everyone So Bearish, Robinhood's AI Agent and SoFi's Stablecoin Launch

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.