GM. This is Milk Road, your one-stop shop for crypto news and insights (order up!)
Here’s what we got for you today:
- ✍️ Make or break? Alts on the brink
- ✍️ The ‘universal remote of crypto’
- 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: Coinbase’s Q4 Crypto Survey: Is the Crypto Bull Run Over? w/ David Duong
- 🍪 Ripple’s getting in on the DAT boom
Bridge helps businesses send, store, accept, and launch stablecoins instantly. Learn how Bridge is powering stablecoin-backed money movement.
Prices as of 2:00 PM ET. Buy today with Milk Road Swap.
BREAKOUT OR BREAKDOWN? ALTS ON THE BRINK 🧗♂️
That’s weird…
The TOTAL3 (i.e. the crypto market cap, minus $BTC and $ETH) hasn’t had a face-melting ‘holy hell what is going on??’ breakout against Bitcoin this bull run.
Translation: the altcoin market hasn’t had a moment where it has massively outperformed compared to Bitcoin.
E.g. Below is the TOTAL3 priced in Bitcoin, from 2021-2023. When the price moves up, the TOTAL3 is outperforming $BTC. 👇
Though…
Now that the $ETH and $BTC ETFs are gobbling up investor dollars that may have previously been absorbed by the TOTAL3, a violent breakout may not happen this time around.
Our guess is: a softened (less violent) breakout is still likely to happen at some point, but it will be a handful of leading alts within the TOTAL3 that soak up most of the gains.
(Instead of any/every alt token ripping up n’ to the right.)
Now, historically – this breakout should have already happened…
But we believe we’re on the brink of an extended bull cycle that will continue into 2026 – which, if true – could be a great thing for the TOTAL3.
Because when the TOTAL3 has broken out against Bitcoin (i.e. has begun to massively outperform Bitcoin) – Q4 has historically marked the starting line.
Check this out…
The takeaway:
If history is anything to go by, Q4 tends to be the make or break moment for the TOTAL3 in bull markets.
And with the potential for an extended cycle on our hands, Q4 2025 is looking like a solid contender for that breakout moment to materialize.
(Brb, crossing my fingers/toes/eyes while making a blood sacrifice to the crypto gods.)
STRIPE JUST BET BIG ON STABLECOINS
Stablecoins are arguably the biggest use case in crypto right now.
But let’s be real, using them onchain is still way too complex.
That’s exactly the problem Bridge is solving.
Recently acquired by Stripe (yep, that Stripe) — Bridge helps businesses send, store, accept, and launch their own stablecoins instantly.
Here are the three facts about Bridge:
- Users can seamlessly transition between fiat and stablecoins
- Businesses can launch a custom stablecoin in as little as one day
- All Bridge-built stablecoins are interoperable with one another
Stablecoins are going global, Bridge is powering that shift.
👉 Learn how Bridge is powering stablecoin-backed money movement.
WHY OUR LEAD RESEARCHER IS GIDDY OVER NEAR INTENTS 🕵️♂️
I’ve created a monster.
Last week I shouted out our Lead Researcher, Martin, as our ‘DeFi nerd in residence’ – praising him for putting interesting stuff on my radar (that I might usually miss).
And now he won’t stop.
Problem is – every time I read his research, I can’t help but want to write about it.
On Tuesday, it was Hyperliquid’s ‘App Store moment’… yesterday it was the Alipay L2 story…
And for every new story published, there’s another waiting in the wings:
Welp. You heard the man! Today we’re talking ‘Near Intents’.
Here’s what they are / what’s cool about them:
Say you want to have some fun and make a dumb decision or two onchain – e.g. swap some Bitcoin for Fartcoin.
You’d need to send your Bitcoin through a bridge → which ‘wraps’ your Bitcoin and puts it on Solana → then sell a bit of that wrapped $BTC into $SOL (to cover gas fees) → then swap the remaining wrapped $BTC into Fartcoin…
If some or all of that makes little-to-no sense: you’re not alone! It’s confusing as hell, and a fierce contender for ‘worst user experience in tech’.
If we want a crypto ecosystem that ‘just works’, we’re going to need to simplify this process – and that’s why Martin’s all hopped up on Near Intents.
Here’s how they work:
- You make a request on Near, describing what you want to do (e.g. swap $BTC for Fartcoin)
- A network of market makers, AI agents, and other specialized services compete to fulfill your request in the most efficient (cheapest) way possible
- Near's "Verifier" contract executes everything atomically (meaning either the entire transaction happens exactly as agreed, or nothing happens at all)
The result? All of the confusing processes between clicking ‘swap’ and the final transaction confirmation happens in the background (unbeknownst to the user).
And – big picture – this technology could allow crypto (as a whole) to better expand into real-world, everyday use. 👇
The secret sauce behind this functionality? Near’s ‘Chain Signatures’.
They allow Near to directly sign transactions on other blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana – anywhere) without needing end-user input.
Turning your Near account into something of a ‘universal remote, for crypto’.
(Shoot. I hate to encourage him, but Martin’s gone and piqued my interest, again.)
CRYPTO PRO “WHERE ARE WE IN THE CYCLE?” INDICATORS 🤔
Looking back, this latest market dump has doubled as a reminder to: Hold spot majors, zoom out, n’ chill.
Looking forward? Well, to look forward, we need to check in with our cycle indicators.
The goal here is to spot the bull market peak before the inevitable bear market hits your bags hard.
Since timing the top perfectly is almost impossible, we use various indicators to give us a better shot at taking profits before it's too late.
⚠️ CLICK HERE to view the Crypto PRO “Where Are We In The Cycle” Indicators.
If you’re not Crypto PRO… you can upgrade today at a 20% discount. But that’s not all. If $ETH doesn’t hit an ATH by the end of the year, simply cancel and we’ll give you your money back.
Why are we doing this? Well, after last weekend’s madness, our PRO team sat down to discuss the liquidations and everyone agreed we’re still bullish and willing to put our money where our mouth is.
GO CRYPTO PRO AT 20% OFF AND UNLOCK:
- Full access to the 6 bull market peak indicators above to help you spot the bull market top before it’s too late 📈
- Weekly reports that help you spot early trends, navigate the markets by limiting risk & catch those sweet cha-ching moments 💰
- Access to the PRO Community, where the Milk Road crew & 1000s of fellow PROs talk crypto. 🫂
CRYPTO PRO REVIEW OF THE WEEK
BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪
Want to build a web app without having to code? Biela.dev is a fast AI builder that lets you build products by just prompting.*
Small business stablecoins: Coinbase is launching an all-in-one financial platform allowing small & medium sized businesses to receive & earn yield on $USDC.
The big rare earth problem: what's happening and why everybody is worried about them.
Ripple’s getting in on the DAT boom — they just acquired a treasury management firm for $1B!
ICYMI: KGeN, the platform that acts as a match maker between digital products and their ideal users, recently launched their $KGEN token.
The lines between crypto and TradFi continue to blur. The crypto yield platform, Nexo, just added leverage trading across stocks, gold, oil, forex, indices.**
*this is sponsored content. **this is partner content.
RATE TODAY’S EDITION
What'd you think of today's edition?
MILKY MEMES 🤣
ROADIE REVIEW OF THE DAY 🥛
VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY
