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January 17, 2023

🥛 Bye FTX, Hello GTX

GM. This is the Milk Road, the daily newsletter that makes you a fresh sandwich filled with the best from crypto each day. 

And we even cut the crust off for you, just the way you like.

Here’s what we’re serving today:

  • There’s a new crypto exchange in town 

  • How Lowes is using the blockchain to fight retail theft

  • Polygon is getting hard forked

  • McDonalds is celebrating the Lunar New Year in the metaverse

NEW CRYPTO EXCHANGE COMING SOON

For the last 10 weeks eternity, FTX has consumed all the headlines. It’s been FTX this…. FTX that….

But yesterday, we finally got a breath of fresh air. And that’s because a new exchange was the talk of the [crypto] town. It’s called….*drumroll*….

GTX

GTX is a new exchange that lets customers from bankrupt crypto firms (i.e Voyager, Celsius, FTX, Mt. Gox, etc.) trade their bankruptcy claims.

It looks something like this:

You put your money on FTX —>  They lose all of it and give you a bankruptcy claim (aka an IOU) —> GTX comes along and lets you monetize that IOU by selling it to others that expect the claim could be worth more in the future (when the bankruptcy is done).

Basically, it gives people the option to monetize their bankruptcy claim before their hair turns grey.

So, why did Crypto Twitter go wild?  Because the GTX founders have led previous crypto companies to bankruptcy. 

No, seriously. You might even recognize ‘em…

That’s right. The founders of 3AC are teaming up with the founders of CoinFlex. And although the slide looks good, we all know there’s some key info missing. So, the Milk Man fixed it up for us…

So, the same founders that led a billion dollar crypto company to bankruptcy are now looking to raise $25m to build a new exchange that trades… *wait for it*… crypto bankruptcy claims. 

Looks like Su Zhu & Kyle Davies have been watching too much Fast & Furious lately.

giphy.com

Crypto Twitter had some things to say about the new crypto exchange too. Here’s the best:

Never a dull moment in cryptoland…

TODAY'S EDITION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ROOFSTOCK

Most people buy crypto to invest. They want to see their money go from $1,000 to $5,000.

They want to go from crashing at their parent’s place to buying the house at the end of the cul-de-sac.

The truth is crypto wasn’t made to get people rich. Crypto was made as an alternative to our current financial system. However, it still hasn’t touched one of the largest parts of the financial system… real estate.

Right now buying a home has more hoops to jump through than the Westminster Dog Show.

But a company that has done $5b in transactions since 2015 is changing how we buy homes.

The company is called Roofstock On-Chain and they are making it easy to buy Real Estate on the blockchain.

Roofstock says on-chain real estate makes sense if you:

  • Have money in crypto and are looking for a safe place to invest it

  • Want to get an on-chain mortgage using your tokenized home as collateral

  • Want everything in one central place without 100 message-long email chains of documents

Learn how you can buy or sell your next home on the blockchain with Roofstock.

Buy or sell your first home on the blockchain

HOW LOWES IS USING THE BLOCKCHAIN TO COMBAT RETAIL THEFT

The blockchain has a lot of use cases. We’ve covered:

  • Cancer research

  • Selling homes

  • Pooping (wait, nope… still can’t poop on the blockchain)

And today, we have a new use case for you… Lowes is using the blockchain to fight retail theft. That’s right, the Disneyland for 45-year-old men is the latest retail store to experiment with the blockchain.

Lowes is implementing a proof-of-concept called Project Unlock. It uses a combination of RFID chips, IoT sensors, and blockchain technology. [WARNING: Legend has it if you say all 3 in front of mirror, a Venture Capitalist from Silicon Valley will appear]

Here’s how Project Unlock works:

  • Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips are inserted into power tools

  • Internet of Things (IoT) sensors are used to activate those RFID chips at the point of purchase. Activating the RFID chip is like turning the “on” button. (i.e if a power tool is stolen, it won’t turn on)

  • All transactions are recorded on the Ethereum network. This provides a transparent, tamper-proof record of every purchase and helps retailers account for all stolen items

  • Every physical product has a corresponding NFT. The NFT will receive a status change once its purchased, which helps identify if items were sold by Lowes or stolen

Why do we care? Because retail theft is huge (losses from stolen goods increased to $94.5 billion in 2021).

Lowes is trying to bring that number down using a combo of RFID chips that won’t power up a tool if it’s stolen and blockchain tech for a transparent, tamper-proof record of all transactions.

The blockchain can now add fighting crime to its resume.

MILK AND COOKIES

Upgrade Alert: Polygon is going through a hard fork today. The goal of the network upgrade is to reduce gas fee spikes, add more security and improve overall network performance.

Revenge! 800 victims will receive over $17m for their losses in the Bitconnect ponzi scheme. In 2016, the founders of Bitconnect fraudulently marketed BitConnect’s initial coin offering and digital currency exchange as a lucrative investment. Last Thursday, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled in favor of the victims. 

Ronald McDonald x Metaverse: McDonald’s is partnering with artist, Karen X Cheng, to create a Metaverse experience for the Chinese New Year. 

A first for Congress: US Congress creates first congressional subcommittee for digital assets. The goal is to create a regulatory legal framework for digital assets, make America a leader in innovation, and protect consumers and investors. Better late than never. 

Watch out! New crypto attack: MetaMask warned of a new scam called, ‘Address Poisoning.’ A scammer creates a wallet address similar to your friend’s address and sends you crypto from the new wallet, so the next time you send crypto to your friend you may accidentally send it to the scammer’s wallet address. Triple-check those addresses! 

Tea of the day: Former FTX U.S President, Brett Harrison, shares details from his experience at FTX. He says he left FTX, because of disputes over management practices with Samuel. Oh, and he’s raising $25m for a new company.

MILKY MEME

🤣🤣

That's a wrap for today. Stay thirsty & see ya tomorrow! If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@MilkRoadDaily)

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.