Blockworks Acquires Messari

In this special episode of the Empire podcast, Blockworks co-founders announce the acquisition of Masari, a crypto data and research platform with an eight-year history of building comprehensive data infrastructure. The hosts explain that while Blockworks grew top-down through media distribution and qualitative research, Masari built bottom-up with quantitative data, covering 40,000 assets and offering one of the industry's strongest APIs spanning markets, on-chain events, fundraising, token unlocks, social sentiment, and more. The two companies are described as having attacked the same problem from opposite directions, making the combination highly complementary.

The discussion shifts to the broader state of the crypto industry, which the hosts characterize as an 'institutional bull, token bear' moment. They argue that after nearly a decade of experimentation, the winning use case for crypto is now clear: tokenizing real-world assets and rebuilding capital markets on public blockchains. Stablecoins, treasuries, RWAs, and eventually stocks and bonds are all moving on-chain, creating enormous opportunities for fintechs, exchanges, banks, and startups alike.

However, the hosts identify a critical problem blocking progress: a fundamental lack of trust in crypto markets due to absent or misleading disclosures and non-standardized data. They point out that protocol founders routinely overstate revenue by 10x, incentive campaigns are run without disclosure, and insider selling goes unreported — behaviors that would be illegal or strictly regulated in traditional finance. They argue that without standardized disclosures and accurate data, neither retail investors, institutions, nor regulators can properly underwrite crypto assets, which is stunting the industry's growth.

Blockworks' post-acquisition strategy is described as a three-layer stack: (1) a disclosure layer, formalized through the Token Transparency Framework (TTF), requiring issuers to make standardized public disclosures; (2) a standardized data layer combining Blockworks' deep on-chain coverage with Masari's broad data warehouse; and (3) a workflow and compliance layer serving financial institutions — exchanges, regulators, asset managers, brokerages — that need to monitor, diligence, and list on-chain assets.

The hosts draw comparisons to large TradFi data and ratings businesses like Moody's ($80B), S&P ($120B), and Morningstar, arguing that crypto's winner-take-all data dynamics, combined with AI, will allow an on-chain-native, AI-native information platform to outcompete legacy incumbents that rely on massive headcounts. They believe AI will dramatically reduce the cost of research, ratings, and compliance workflows, making Blockworks uniquely positioned as a nimble, data-first company.

The conversation concludes with an optimistic outlook: the regulatory environment in the US is now favorable, the core use case for crypto is validated, and Blockworks and Masari together form a system of record for on-chain businesses — from which a trusted data layer, developer API, workflow software, and distribution network can be built to connect asset issuers with the institutions and investors who underwrite them.