How Don Wilson Built His Trading Empire | 1000x

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05/25/23 • 52 min

In today's episode of 1000x, we are joined by Don Wilson, the founder of DRW and one of the world's most successful traders. Don explains how to use probability distributions to make decisions, how he founded DRW, why BTC has negative convexity, how AI will change financial markets and more!

We'll drop a new 1000x episode on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. Hit the links below and give us a follow!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:57) How Don First Became a Trader

(06:28) Custom Valuation Models and Strategies

(10:37) The Transition to Electronic Trading

(14:56) Bitcoin’s Appeal: Removing Intermediaries

(19:21) Cumberland's Origin Story

(21:15) BTC's Negative Convexity

(26:35) How Will AI Impact Financial Markets?

(30:16) Crypto’s Evolution and Market Structure

(35:15) When Will RWAs Move to Crypto Rails?

(37:50) Today’s Infrastructure Shortfalls and the Canton Blockchain

(42:54) Don’s Decision-Making Process

(47:51) Favorite Trades of All Time

Follow Don: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donwilsonjr/

Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman

Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz

Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3FuSarX

Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7

Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw

Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

Resources:

Golden Tree

https://www.goldentree.com/

Cumberland

https://cumberland.io/

https://twitter.com/CumberlandSays

DRW

https://drw.com/

https://twitter.com/DRWTrading

Digital Asset

https://www.digitalasset.com/

Canton Network

https://www.canton.network/

Disclaimer: Nothing said on 1000x 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. Avi, Jonah and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

We'll drop a new 1000x episode on Empire's RSS feed and the 1000x YouTube channel every two weeks. Hit the links below and give us a follow!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:57) How Don First Became a Trader

(06:28) Custom Valuation Models and Strategies

(10:37) The Transition to Electronic Trading

(14:56) Bitcoin’s Appeal: Removing Intermediaries

(19:21) Cumberland's Origin Story

(21:15) BTC's Negative Convexity

(26:35) How Will AI Impact Financial Markets?

(30:16) Crypto’s Evolution and Market Structure

(35:15) When Will RWAs Move to Crypto Rails?

(37:50) Today’s Infrastructure Shortfalls and the Canton Blockchain

(42:54) Don’s Decision-Making Process

(47:51) Favorite Trades of All Time

Follow Don: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donwilsonjr/

Follow Avi: https://twitter.com/AviFelman

Follow Jonah: https://twitter.com/jvb_xyz

Follow 1000x: https://twitter.com/1000xPod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3FuSarX

Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7

Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw

Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

Resources:

Golden Tree

https://www.goldentree.com/

Cumberland

https://cumberland.io/

https://twitter.com/CumberlandSays

DRW

https://drw.com/

https://twitter.com/DRWTrading

Digital Asset

https://www.digitalasset.com/

Canton Network

https://www.canton.network/

Previous Episode

Should Bitcoin Embrace New Use Cases? | Lyn Alden, Jordi Alexander

Today we are joined by Lyn Alden and Jordi Alexander to discuss the Bitcoin blockspace debate, Bitcoin's long-term security and money vs tech crypto. Lyn and Jordi are two of the most prominent macro and Bitcoin investors. You don't want to miss their hot (and often conflicting) takes on the evolution and future of Bitcoin!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Bitcoin Blockspace Debate

(10:59) The Bear Case and Long-Term Security

(36:03) Quicknode

(37:50) Kwenta

(38:45) Money Crypto vs Tech Crypto

(51:53) Bitcoin's Attack Vectors

(57:56) Incentives for Bitcoin Development

(01:09:29) Macro’s Impact on BTC

(01:14:45) The Bitcoin Halvening

Follow Lyn: https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact

Follow Jordi: https://twitter.com/gametheorizing

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel

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

Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

This episode is brought to you by Quicknode. QuickNode is an end-to-end blockchain developer platform that makes building Web3 apps easy. Go to QuickNode.com and use code Empire for a free month on their feature-packed Build Plan!

This episode is brought to you by Kwenta, the premier derivatives trading platform on Optimism that offers deep liquidity, low fees and up to 50x leverage across 24+ assets. Go to Kwenta.io and start trading today!

Resources

Lyn Alden's website

https://www.lynalden.com/

Selini Capital

https://www.selinicapital.com/

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.

Next Episode

Solana's Metaplex Sparks Heated Protocol Funding Debate | Roundup

In today's episode, we discuss how Metaplex, Solana's leading NFT infrastructure provider, surprised the community by announcing usage fees, causing a heated debate on public goods funding and protocol business models. We also explore the intersection of AI and crypto, the dangers of restaking, if crypto has PMF and Ledger's PR nightmare!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:57) Nvidia and AI Take Center Stage

(14:20) Metaplex: Public Goods and Protocol Funding

(31:26) “Valora Ad”

(32:24) Should ETH Embrace Restaking?

(38:28) Ledger’s PR Nightmare

(49:32) Does Crypto Have PMF?

(58:01) Fred Wilson: “When They Want to Shut Down, Double Down”

(1:04:41) What We’re Watching and Blockworks’ New Podcast

Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_

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

This episode is brought to you by Valora. Valora is a self-custody, mobile-first wallet and the easiest way to send, swap, collect and purchase digital goods on the Celo blockchain.

Try out Masa Prosperity Passport in Valora to claim your free 5+ character .celo domain and get additional rewards from Celo ecosystem partners. Download the app and start exploring today at valoraapp.com/empire."

Resources:

EigenLayer episode (Empire)

https://spoti.fi/45yUdr6

Shared Sequencer episode (Empire)

https://spoti.fi/3MSIw7n

Vitalik's new article on restaking

https://vitalik.ca/general/2023/05/21/dont_overload.html

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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.