
About this episode
On today's episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Santiago Roel Santos are joined by Travis Kling, founder of Ikigai Asset Management. Travis is a prolific investor who sits at the intersection of macro and crypto.
We discuss the implications of the ETH 2.0 merge, why ETH is prime for institutional capital, what a macro bear market means for crypto, Ikigai's investment strategy, and more. This is a must-listen if you're interested in the ETH 2.0 Merge and ETH's investment prospects (warning, Travis is a mega bull).
--
Travis on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Travis_Kling
Ikigai Newsletter:
https://www.kanaandkatana.com/
--
ParaSwap:
If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage.
---
Empire is brought to you by Blockworks, a financial media brand delivering breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. For more content like this, subscribe to Blockworks' free daily newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/
Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show!
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M
--
Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction
(00:58) Bitcoin's 2022 Outlook
(07:30) ETH 2.0 Merge Catalyst
(12:33) Why Is This Time Different?
(15:20) Paraswap Ad
(16:37) When Will Institutions Start Deploying Capital?
(19:36) The Bear Case
(21:31) The Merge's Perfect Timing
(23:35) Will Institutions HODL?
(28:48) Crypto's Progress and Runway
(33:00) Moving Beyond Just BTC
(39:52) The Most Important Rule In Crypto Investing
(41:00) Layer 1 Wars
(48:40) BTC As Pristine Collateral
(54:30) Bitcoin Defi
(56:00) Ikaigi's Investment Style
(57:20) Investments and Mistakes
Get every episode summarized
Each time Empire publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Empire

Memecoins Are Stress-Testing The Future Of Tokenized Stocks | Weekly Roundup
Empire
Sep 11, 202643:57completed

Cloudflare CEO: The Man Deciding The Internet’s Next Business Model
Empire
Sep 9, 20261:11:26queued

Robinhood Is Proving Distribution Captures Crypto’s Value | Weekly Roundup
Empire
Sep 4, 20261:09:44completed

Beezie & Collector Crypt CEOs on Why Onchain Collectibles Are Exploding
Empire
Aug 31, 20261:00:16pending