Markets Bounce Back, The Hyperliquid Thesis and Kraken Raises $200M

Markets Bounce Back, The Hyperliquid Thesis and Kraken Raises $200M

From Empire by Blockworks

April 17, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the current state of markets, Tether's recovery plan, Kraken's fundraising, and the performance of Layer 2 solutions.

This week, we’re back with another weekly roundup to discuss the current state of markets as the S&P hits a new all time high. We then deep dive into Tether's $150M recovery plan for Drift, Kraken's $200M raise, the impact on Microstrategy's $STRC, why have L2s underperformed and more. Enjoy! -- Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod -- ZKsync is the Bank Stack of Ethereum. It is a network of chains secured by cryptography, not validators. Its cutting-edge ZK innovation enables the privacy, performance and connectivity that businesses need to thrive in the digital assets economy. To find out more visit: https://www.zksync.io/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (03:11) State of The Market (12:40) The Hyperliquid Thesis (25:18) ZKsync Ad (25:52) Tether’s $150M Drift Recovery Plan (28:17) The SEC’s New DeFi Guidance (32:05) Microstrategy's $STRC (34:50) Kraken Raises $200M From Deutsche Börse (40:53) Why Have L2s Underperformed (53:19) 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…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jason Yanowitz, Santiago Roel

Topics covered

  • market analysis
  • cryptocurrency
  • fundraising
  • DeFi
  • technology
  • investing

Keywords

  • S&P 500
  • Tether
  • Kraken
  • Microstrategy
  • Layer 2
  • DeFi
  • fundraising
  • cryptocurrency

Sponsors

ZKsync

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Tether, Drift, Kraken, Deutsche Börse, Microstrategy, SEC

Products: $STRC

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