Tornado Cash Banned, USDC Blacklist and KYC DeFi | Roundup

In this episode of Empire's Weekly Roundup, Jason and Santi discuss the US Treasury's sanctions on Tornado Cash, Circle freezing USDC transfers, the future of KYC DeFi and more. Show Highlights: -- How do privacy protocols work? -- Does this ban mean crypto isn't decentralized? -- How did Circle freeze the transfer of USDC tokens? -- Should DeFi protocols be worried? - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (07:28) Tornado Cash Sanctioned By The US Treasury (14:44) How Mixers And Privacy Tokens Work (21:06) Github, Infura, AWS And Crypto’s Centralization Vectors (23:00) Core Ad (24:30) USDC Blacklist And Implications For DeFi (38:05) What Happens If All DeFi Is KYC’d (41:54) How Does The Ban Affect Other Privacy Protocols (43:40) Curve Hack, Coinbase Earnings (53:55) Uniswap Protocol Fee And Foundation Approved (58:46) ETH PoW Chain, Hot Or Not? (01:03:03) Reddit Embraces Web3 - - Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw -- Referenced in the show: Eric Peters episode https://tinyurl.com/ydfhu6fd SWIFT & OFAC episode https://tinyurl.com/yc2jhfsn - - Core, from Ava Labs, is more than just a wallet. It’s a free, non-custodial browser extension that gives Avalanche users a more seamless and secure Web3 experience. Download Core today at https://www.core.app/ -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- 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.