
Current market apathy and "bull capitulation" signal a high-conviction entry point for long-term investors, backed by the institutional floor provided by BlackRock and Coinbase. The most actionable strategy is a "pair trade" that involves going Long on high-quality applications with sustainable revenue while remaining Short/Underweight on overvalued Layer 1 blockchains. Aave (AAVE) is a top pick, viewed as a global borrowing monopoly that is significantly undervalued compared to fintech peers like Revolut. For decentralized derivatives, Hyperliquid (HYPE) is identified as a primary threat to centralized exchanges due to its massive annualized revenue and liquidity network effects. Within the Solana (SOL) ecosystem, Kamino Finance is highlighted as a "criminally undervalued" protocol for those seeking exposure to real-world asset adoption and decentralized lending.
The discussion suggests the market is currently in a state of apathy and capitulation, which historically signals the later stages of a bear market. While prices could still drop, the speakers believe the industry has reached a "0% chance of failure" due to institutional adoption by major asset managers and regulators.
A central thesis of the discussion is that the market is "wrong" in its current valuation of the crypto stack. Applications currently capture approximately 60% of the value/revenue but represent a minority of the total market cap compared to L1 blockchains.
Aave is highlighted as a "natural global monopoly" for decentralized borrowing and lending. It is contrasted with fintechs like Revolut.
Hyperliquid is identified as a top revenue generator in the space, currently annualized at hundreds of millions of dollars.
The discussion focuses on the disconnect between Helium's fundamental growth (MVNO subscribers, data offloading) and its token price.
Solana is praised for its efficiency, particularly in the context of AI agents and stablecoin payments.
The speakers believe AI will be the primary driver of the next economic cycle, and AI agents will naturally prefer crypto rails.

By Blockworks
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.