Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
This week, Charles Yoo-Naut joins the show to unpack Rain's explosive growth and what's next for crypto payments. We deep dive into the Rain origin story, their recent $250M fundraise, partnering with Visa, who wins the crypto card race, how Rain grew to a $2B company, and more. Enjoy!
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Follow Charles: https://x.com/cnaut
Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Empire:https://x.com/theempirepod
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Manage crypto-backed loans directly in the Coinbase app with ease. Learn more here:
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"Mantle Global Hackathon 2025 is live! Running from Oct 22 to Dec 31, Mantle invites builders to design the future of Real-World Assets (RWAs) on its modular L2 stack.
Key Highlights:
- $150,000 Prize Pool + Grants & Incubation opportunities
- Access to Bybit's 7M+ verified users
- Judges from Bybit Ventures, Spartan, Animoca Brands
- 6 Tracks: RWA/RealFi, DeFi, AI, ZK, Infra, GameFi
Join the Hackathon: hackquest.io/vi/hackathons/Mantle-Global-Hackathon-2025"
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This Empire episode is brought to you by VanEck.
Learn more about the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE): vaneck.com/EmpireNODE
An investment in the Fund involves a substantial risk and is not suitable for all investors. It is possible to lose your entire principal investment. The Fund may invest nearly all of its net assets in either Digital Transformation Companies and/or Digital Asset Instruments. The Fund does not invest in digital assets or commodities directly.
Digital asset instruments may be subject to risks associated with investing in digital asset exchange-traded products (“ETPs”), which include the historical extreme volatility of the digital asset and cryptocurrency market, as well as less regulation and thus fewer investor protections, as these ETPs are not investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”) or commodity pools for the purposes of
the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).
Investing involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of principal. Visit vaneck.com to read and consider the prospectus, containing the investment objective, risks, and fees of the fund, carefully before investing.
© Van Eck Securities Corporation, Distributor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates Corporation.
--
Uniswap’s Trading API offers plug-and-play access to deep onchain and off-chain liquidity, delivering enterprise-grade crypto trading without the complexity - from one of the most trusted teams in DeFi.
Click to get started with seamless, scalable access to Uniswap’s powerful onchain trading infrastructure. hub.uniswap.org/?utm_source=blockworks&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ww_web_bw_awa_trading-api_20251117_podcast_clicks
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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:52 The Rain Origin Story
15:23 Partnering With Visa
30:05 The Opportunity In Emerging Markets
36:48 Ads (Coinbase, Mantle, VanEck, Uniswap)
40:16 The Crypto Card Race, Agentic Payments & Onchain Credit
48:00 What Chains Does Rain Work With?
53:28 Rain's Journey To Raising $250m
01:03:00 How Rain Grew To A $2B Company
--
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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
This week, Charles Yoo-Naut joins the show to unpack Rain's explosive growth and what's next for crypto payments. We deep dive into the Rain origin story, their recent $250M fundraise, partnering with Visa, who wins the crypto card race, how Rain grew to a $2B company, and more. Enjoy!
--
Follow Charles: https://x.com/cnaut
Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Empire:https://x.com/theempirepod
--
Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto as collateral. Rates are typically 4% to 8%. Borrow up to $5M using BTC as collateral and up to $1M using ETH as collateral.
Manage crypto-backed loans directly in the Coinbase app with ease. Learn more here:
coinbase.com/onchain/borrow/get-started?utm_campaign=0126_defi-borrow_blockworks_empire&marketId=0x9103c3b4e834476c9a62ea009ba2c884ee42e94e6e314a26f04d312434191836&utm_source=empire
--
"Mantle Global Hackathon 2025 is live! Running from Oct 22 to Dec 31, Mantle invites builders to design the future of Real-World Assets (RWAs) on its modular L2 stack.
Key Highlights:
- $150,000 Prize Pool + Grants & Incubation opportunities
- Access to Bybit's 7M+ verified users
- Judges from Bybit Ventures, Spartan, Animoca Brands
- 6 Tracks: RWA/RealFi, DeFi, AI, ZK, Infra, GameFi
Join the Hackathon: hackquest.io/vi/hackathons/Mantle-Global-Hackathon-2025"
--
This Empire episode is brought to you by VanEck.
Learn more about the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE): vaneck.com/EmpireNODE
An investment in the Fund involves a substantial risk and is not suitable for all investors. It is possible to lose your entire principal investment. The Fund may invest nearly all of its net assets in either Digital Transformation Companies and/or Digital Asset Instruments. The Fund does not invest in digital assets or commodities directly.
Digital asset instruments may be subject to risks associated with investing in digital asset exchange-traded products (“ETPs”), which include the historical extreme volatility of the digital asset and cryptocurrency market, as well as less regulation and thus fewer investor protections, as these ETPs are not investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”) or commodity pools for the purposes of
the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).
Investing involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of principal. Visit vaneck.com to read and consider the prospectus, containing the investment objective, risks, and fees of the fund, carefully before investing.
© Van Eck Securities Corporation, Distributor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates Corporation.
--
Uniswap’s Trading API offers plug-and-play access to deep onchain and off-chain liquidity, delivering enterprise-grade crypto trading without the complexity - from one of the most trusted teams in DeFi.
Click to get started with seamless, scalable access to Uniswap’s powerful onchain trading infrastructure. hub.uniswap.org/?utm_source=blockworks&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ww_web_bw_awa_trading-api_20251117_podcast_clicks
--
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:52 The Rain Origin Story
15:23 Partnering With Visa
30:05 The Opportunity In Emerging Markets
36:48 Ads (Coinbase, Mantle, VanEck, Uniswap)
40:16 The Crypto Card Race, Agentic Payments & Onchain Credit
48:00 What Chains Does Rain Work With?
53:28 Rain's Journey To Raising $250m
01:03:00 How Rain Grew To A $2B Company
--
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, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
