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GM. This is Milk Road, the daily newsletter that brings you all the “oooh”s and “aaah”s of crypto.
Here’s what we got today:
- Is crypto funding terrorism? 💰
- Use case of the week: blockchain-based purchase orders 👀
- We tried a new network this week… 🧐
- Bitcoin has stablecoins now 🍪
Prices as of 10:30 AM ET. Click here for our Fear & Greed Index
IS CRYPTO FUNDING TERRORISM? 💰
You’ve probably seen all the headlines recently…
“Cryptocurrency feeds terrorism”
“Terrorists are using crypto to fuel their attacks”
All the major media outlets are reporting something like this…
But, is it true? Let’s look at some of the Cold-Milky-Facts.
1/ Hamas terrorists stopped accepting Bitcoin earlier this year
In April 2023, Hamas announced it would stop using Bitcoin to raise funds from donors.
Why? “Out of concern about the safety of donors and to spare them any harm”
- Governments started tracking transactions on the blockchain to identify donors
- Millions of dollars worth of crypto held by terrorists were seized
As a result, the amount of crypto received by terrorist groups has plummeted over the last months. Check it out…
2/ Some of the wallets flagged belong to service providers, not individual terrorists
Many media outlets reported that $130M+ worth of crypto was funneled to terrorists.
Well according to Chainalysis (a blockchain analytics firm), those numbers are likely inflated.
For example, it was reported that ~$82M worth of crypto was sent to a crypto exchange in Gaza called Buy Cash.
Well, turns out only a small fraction (~$450K) of this was actually transferred by terrorist-affiliated wallets…
3/ Some of the flagged wallets haven’t been used in years…
Remember that crypto exchange I mentioned above, Buy Cash?
Well yesterday, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on “ten key Hamas terrorist group members, operative, and financial facilitators”.
Buy Cash was one of them. But here’s the kicker…
- The wallet associated with the exchange hasn’t had a transaction in 18+ months.
- The wallet holds $16 in it…
$16?! That can’t even fund lunch at Chick-fil-A…
LEARN FROM THE BRIGHTEST MINDS IN INVESTING
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The webinar is only available for a limited time. And spots are filling quickly.
USE CASE OF THE WEEK: BLOCKCHAIN-BASED PURCHASE ORDERS 👀
There’s one question that will make the mightiest of crypto investors crumble…
What’s a real-world use case?
Well, today we’re gonna talk about how one of India’s largest oil and gas companies is using blockchain technology.
The goal? Help verify purchase orders.
- Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) is a state-run refiner in India.
- It partnered up with Zupple Labs (a blockchain software firm) to integrate a blockchain-based digital credential system into HPCL’s purchase order system.
- For HPCL, this will make it easier to issue digital purchase orders to its vendors, without having to manually verify the purchase order requests.
- For third-party verifiers, this makes it easier to check the validity of purchase orders by directly verifying the purchase orders on the blockchain.
The result? HPCL’s purchase order system becomes…
1/ More efficient - HPCL and its vendors don’t need to go back and forth and manually verify purchase orders and other data, they can just check the blockchain.
2/ More secure - purchase orders were previously vulnerable to fraud and forgery, but using the blockchain to issue tamper-proof digital ones makes it harder to fake those purchase orders.
It’s a win-win.
WE TRIED A NEW NETWORK… 🧐
We launched our Milk Road Public wallet 3 months ago.
(Fun fact: if you’ve been with us during that whole time, congrats - we’ve officially lasted longer than 70% of relationships. It’s meant to be.)
And over that time, we’ve:
- Swapped tokens on DEXs ✅
- Staked ETH ✅
- Tried LSD-Fi ✅ (don’t worry Mom, not a drug)
- Borrowed/lent crypto from various protocols ✅
- Traded perpetual futures ✅
- And a lot more cool stuff you can check out here…
But here’s the thing… everything we’ve done so far has been within the Ethereum ecosystem.
We’re like my wife when she orders at a restaurant - says she’s gonna try something new, looks at 6 items, and then orders the same thing she always does.
Well, that all changed this week.
We took another trip up Figure It Out Mountain™, but this time it was to uncharted territory… Constellation Network.
Constellation is a decentralized network that…
- Can validate multiple transactions simultaneously
- Has no transaction fees (I repeat, no transaction fees)
- Is working with the U.S. Department of Defense to build secure and interoperable communications
In the near future, we’ll be diving in head first to give you the full tour. And it all starts with Stargazer - a native wallet for the Constellation Network equipped with…
- Multi-chain functionality (i.e. you can see all your assets in one interface)
- Built-in buy/swap features (i.e. you can buy crypto directly from the wallet app)
- A contacts page that lets you save crypto addresses as “contacts” instead of having to manually enter them
If you wanna explore Constellation yourself, we created a whole guide here. (free of charge, just for you)
P.S. - we’re also curious… are there any other networks that you wanna see us try next?
Hit “reply” to this email and let us know!
BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪
Coinbase has picked Ireland as its new regulatory hub within the European Union. Irish whiskey, Irish coffee (aka more whiskey), the Riverdance, and crypto. What’s not to love?
Lightning Labs launched a new protocol, Taproot Assets, on Bitcoin. The new protocol enables the issuance of stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies on Bitcoin, making it a multi-asset network.
Gemini, Genesis, and DCG have been sued by the New York Attorney General. The NYAG alleges the firms defrauded more than 230,000 investors for more than $1B+.
The largest telecom company in South Korea (SK Telecom) launched a new crypto wallet. That wallet lets users store tokens and assets (duh) and also comes with “on-chain analysis tools” that can help users with their investment decisions.
The Aptos blockchain suffered a 5-hour outage during its 1-year anniversary. Aptos is a lot like a 21-year-old… they both blackout on their birthdays.
MILKY MEMES 🤣
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ROADER REVIEW OF THE DAY
VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY
"Dude... what if we put poop...on the blockchain..." It's only a matter of time before we see someone try 😂
— Milk Road Images (@MilkRoadImages)3:52 PM • Oct 19, 2023
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.
