In today's episode Jason is joined by Bitcoin early adopters, Pete Rizzo and Charlie Shrem. They dive into the early days of Bitcoin from 2011-2014, covering topics like the origins of BitInstant, Charlie's experience being arrested, the Mt. Gox hack, and the start of the block size wars. Charlie and Pete share insider stories and insights from their unique vantage points, having been involved in Bitcoin from its very early stages. They touch on the cultural divide between the Bitcoin and broader crypto communities and look towards the future of ordinals. Stay tuned for all of this and much more!

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Follow Charlie: https://twitter.com/CharlieShrem
Follow Pete: https://twitter.com/pete_rizzo
Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel
Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod


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Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all. 

Get started at:
portal.arbitrum.io 
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Harpie is the most advanced on-chain security solution for monitoring and protecting your crypto wallet from theft in real time. Harpie detects, blocks, and recovers compromised assets from malicious transactions before they execute, and is the only security tool to also protect users from off-chain signature attacks like the recent Ledger Connect Kit exploit.

Secure your wallet for free at harpie.io.
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Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space for the EVM to support high fidelity defi, consumer facing applications, and more generally allow crypto to scale to the masses.

If you are interested in participating in Monad's journey,
follow: https://twitter.com/monad_xyz and join: https://discord.gg/monad
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(01:52) Early Days of Crypto
(12:09) BitInstant Origin Story
(23:34) Competing with Money
(36:40) Arbitrum Ad
(37:28) Harpie Ad
(38:43) The Mining Industry
(46:46) Origins of Exchanges
(52:56) Bitcoin in 2013
(01:00:08) Charlie's Arrest
(01:09:24) The 2015/16 Bear Market
(01:15:15) The Block Size Wars
(01:29:33) Ordinals

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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.