GM. This is the Milk Road - we make crypto fun and easy to follow. Like the bouncing yellow ball during a sing-a-long movie
OH LOOK! ETH shot up ~20% over the weekend. But beware, ladies & gents, Jim Cramer is ringing the bell at the stock exchange today. The last time he did that the market crashed 30% and a pandemic happened.
Here's what we got cooking for ya today:
- The Milk Road Mailbag
- Bored Apes give a sneak-peek of their new metaverse
- Chart of the day: NFTs v. DEXs
- Meme of the day
THE MILK ROAD MAILBAG
It’s Mailbag Monday! You ask questions. We answer.
QUESTION: "What do you think is the biggest blocker to mass adoption for Web 3?" - Khalid J.
I have a controversial answer.
Most people will say “it’s too complicated” or “has to be easier to use” or “not enough scalability”.
I call BS. The problem is that right now there is no killer use case for 99% of the world.
Why do I need to buy ETH? How does this NFT make my life better?
People aren’t buying $5,000 NFTs because they suddenly love the art or love the community.
Those are true, but it ain’t why they dropped 5 Gs to buy it. They bought it because they want to make money!
Today, the market size for crypto is anyone that is tech savvy and wants to gamble (imagine a casino full of nerds. Like Vegas, but replace all the strip clubs with math)
So yes - the dominant use case is speculation. This is true, but not as bad as it sounds. Haters love to say this. “It’s all speculation!”
Hell, Bill Gates just came out and said “it’s all just greater fool theory!”
But they miss the point. Speculation is the greatest marketing hack ever.
Why Speculation Is Not Just Good, But Necessary
Money is based on belief. If I try to pay my barber in cashews, he will give me a dirty look and a lopsided bowl cut.
Why? Because cashews aren’t money. Why not? Why are cashews less valid than green paper bills? After all - cashews have utility! Dollar bills are useless. You can eat cashews. They’re delicious.
But my barber won’t take cashews for payment, because he doesn’t believe that he can pay his water bill in cashews.
Money is belief. If everyone believes paper money or shiny gold rocks are valuable - then they are.
So it’s not just you that needs to believe. OTHERS need to believe. The more the better. Money is a network effect.
Think about telephones.
If you’re the first person on earth with a telephone. It’s just a useless box.
If 2 people have it, it’s still pretty crappy. You can only call each other.
But once your whole city has telephones, all of a sudden it phones become super useful.
That’s what’s happening in crypto.
If nobody owns crypto. It’s useless. But once enough people believe in it, have wallets, and have coins – it’s suddenly very powerful.
Speculation is the fastest path to get us there.
I could tell my aunt about a cool new digital ledger technology - but she’d fall asleep. But if I tell her I just made a ton of money off this coin…suddenly she’s looking at me like I’m Denzel Washington doing a monologue in John Q (top 5 movies in my books).
Speculation is the club promoter saying “ladies drink free” to turn an empty nightclub into a full one. It solves the cold-start problem.
Is it working?
Bitcoin has no marketing team. No PR agency. No advertising budget, and has managed to create a global brand recognized by hundreds of millions of people. So speculation was one of the best marketing campaigns, ever.
OK, long answer. But had to get that off my chest Khalid. NEXT!
QUESTION: “If you have to pitch Web3 to a big company (car manufacturer in my case), how would you explain the benefits to motivate them to jump in?” - Bruno L.
Here’s a simple idea:
- Every company has superfans.
- The top 1,000 fans. These are people who love you. They will line up outside your door to get your newest drop.
- I would gift them all NFTs.
- It’s a status symbol, and a membership card - all in one.
- Then I’d start giving out perks to those NFT holders. Early access. Behind the scenes. Free merch. That kinda stuff.
- And the asset is tradeable. If someone wants to show they are a top 1,000 fan, they have to buy the spot off someone else. So your current superfans get paid (and you get a cut of it too).
NFTs are an amazing “superfan” technology. It gives your super fans a status symbol, membership card, AND a collectible they can re-sell. What Gary V did with VeeFriends is a great example of this.
And if you’re a company that doesn’t have 1,000 true fans…then go work on that instead of thinking about crypto.
QUESTION: “Fellas. Love the newsletter. I was thinking about Bitcoin while eating at In-and-Out and realized they are both similar. Both have a community of maxis that won’t let you mention any competitor.. Both never change the menu/code. And the lightning network is like the ‘animal style’ menu. What do you think? Am I a genius or just high?” - Daniel J
Definitely both.
But I’m here for it. In fact, let’s do a few other comparisons:
- Bitcoin is In-N-Out. I’m with you on that.
- Solana is McDonalds. It’s fast & cheap. But Solana is down as often as the McFlurry machine.
- Ethereum is Taco Bell - Great in theory. But every time I try it, the gas is too high.
Got a Q? Hit reply and email us down below! You can be in the mailbag next week!
TODAY'S NEWSLETTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SUNDAYS FOR DOGS
Dogs are a man’s best friend.And no, we’re not talking Dogecoin. We're talking real, actual furry dogs.
So it’s only right they get the best treats. But there’s a problem…. traditional kibble is bad for your #bestie. Plus it makes their farts smell like death.
But have no fear, Sundays for Dogs is here. It’s:
- Fresh, human-grade ingredients for maximum health
- Air dried for superior nutrition, taste & convenience
- Nutrient dense & high protein
- Full of benefits, improves weight, energy, and more!
CAUTION: It’s so tasty you might even sneak a bite.
Saturdays are for the Boys. Sundays are for your Dog.
Now you can get 50% off your first order with code MR50!
SNEAK PEEK INTO THE BORED APES METAVERSE
Over the weekend, Yuga Labs gave us a little sneak peek into their new metaverse - The Otherside.
Some highlights:
- 4,300+ people tested the demo
- It looked like a cheaper version of Fortnite
- There was a Boss fight at the end. Players had to team up to take it down. Sorta like Bowser from Super Mario
You can check out some clips here.
Pretty cool but there’s still a long way to go. We’ve said virtual land only has value if two things happen:
1/ it gets popular like Fortnite (not there yet)
2/ it’s scarce, and for sale (the metaverse land just crossed $1b in sales volume)
CHART OF THE DAY: ARE PEOPLE BUYING NFTS OR COINS?
's new address NFT analysis thread gave me this idea for a Sunday morning analysis
— ElBarto_Crypto (@ElBarto_Crypto)3:02 PM • Jul 17, 2022
The flippening that no one seems to be talking about: new people are flocking toward NFTs rather than cryptocurrencies for their first action.
MEME OF THE DAY
Is this just me?
— The Milk Road (@MilkRoadDaily)6:13 AM • Jul 18, 2022
I can't be the only one like this right now 🤣
That's all for today folks. See ya tomorrow!
Shaan "Chocolate Milk" Puri, Ben "2% Milk" Levy & Diego "El Lechero" Salinas
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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.
