Today’s edition is brought to you by Stacks - the leading Bitcoin L2, celebrating the Bitcoin halving and L2 innovation with a free virtual Building on Bitcoin event.
Bitcoin is so much more than you think.
GM, this is the Milk Road. Your venti triple shot espresso of crypto.
Here’s what we got for you today:
- What happened to prices over the weekend?! 🥊
- 3 big things to watch this week 👀
- Is RWA the biggest opportunity in crypto right now? 🤑
- More Bitcoin ETFs are coming! 🍪
Prices as of 12:30 PM ET. Click here for our Fear & Greed Index
WHAT HAPPENED TO PRICES OVER THE WEEKEND?! 🥊
Crypto got hit with a haymaker…
The result? Well, here’s what my portfolio looks like right now…
So, what happened? A mix of a few things…
1/ International conflict: Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drones/missiles over the weekend.
These events usually lead to panic and big sell-offs of risky assets, like crypto. (i.e. similar price crashes happened during the Russia/Ukraine War, etc)
2/ Yearly ‘U.S. tax day’ sell-offs: It’s Tax Day in the U.S. and Americans usually sell their crypto 2-3 days before payments are due to try to raise money to pay their taxes.
3/ The Bitcoin Halving: While this is usually a bullish event for BTC, there have also historically been short-term sell-offs right before (and after) the Halving.
On top of that, there were a ton of…
4/ Liquidations: Over $2B in futures positions (mostly investors betting on higher prices) were liquidated over the weekend.
Mix the 4 events together and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. We’ll see if crypto can bounce back throughout the week….
In the meantime, let’s ease the pain with some memes:
BITCOIN HALVING VIRTUAL LIVE EVENT
This halving is different.
Building on Bitcoin has experienced a revival over the past year. New builders, investors, and users are recognizing the unique opportunity to activate and enrich the Bitcoin economy.
Consequently, interest in Bitcoin-based protocols like Lightning, Stacks, Ordinals, and others is rapidly growing.
Join us live on April 25th, 2024 for the free-to-attend virtual Building on Bitcoin event — it’s your time to dive deeper into Bitcoin + AI, DeFi, Stacking, Ordinals, rollups, and more.
The event will feature exclusive announcements about the Stacks Nakamoto Release, Bitcoin L2s, and more.
Speakers include Stacks Creator Muneeb Ali, Meltem Demirors, Rootstock's Daniel Fogg, BOB Founder Alexei Zamyatin, Near Protocol’sIllia Polosukhin, and many others.
Sign up today to reserve your spot!
3 BIG THINGS TO WATCH THIS WEEK 👀
1/ The Bitcoin Halving
Crypto’s next big event is right around the corner… The Bitcoin Halving.
It happens every 4 years and the next one is expected to happen this week, on April 20th. (also known as ‘Herbal Appreciation Day’, for those who celebrate)
OK, so what is it?
- The Bitcoin Halving is when mining rewards get cut in half.
- In 2009, you used to get 50 BTC for mining 1 block. Then it got cut to 25 BTC. Then 12.5 BTC.
- Right now, the reward is 6.25 BTC. After the Halving, it’ll be reduced to 3.125 BTC.
- This will keep happening until all 21M BTC have been mined (expected some time in 2140).
Why does the Bitcoin Halving matter? It slows down inflation from the new BTC being mined.
At current prices, the original issuance of 50 BTC would add ~$3.2M of new supply to circulation every 10 minutes. This would significantly devalue BTC.
And it’s why the Halving is such a big deal.
Now, for a lot of you, this might be your first Halving event. You might have questions. You might be scared. You might’ve just peed yourself.
Well, have no fear… here’s why we think it’s part of the bull case for Bitcoin in the near term.
2/ Key macro events
3/ Token Unlocks
A total of $390.9M will be unlocked this week...
- Arbitrum (ARB) will unlock $115.8M (3.49% of circulating supply) on April 16.
- Axie Infinity (AXS) will unlock $80.5M (7.59% of circulating supply) on April 17.
- Immutable X (IMX) will unlock $77.6M (2.40% of circulating supply) on April 18.
Check out the rest of the unlocks here.
P.S. – if you’re curious how token unlocks affect prices, check out this edition.
IS RWA THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY IN CRYPTO RIGHT NOW? 🤑
Real estate, art, stocks, and other RWAs are moving onchain because the benefits are massive: fractional ownership, instant transfer of possession, worldwide access, etc…
Even if just 1% of these assets move onchain, the Milk Man will be ballin’ and so will you! 💸
And because the opportunity is so high, we decided to sit down with John Mullin, CEO of Mantra—an L1 blockchain focusing on RWA regulation. We cover:
- The RWA narrative
- The potential for tokenized assets
- What led Mantra’s token ($OM) to go up 1,000% in Q1
- The business model of Mantra
Tune in if you want to capitalize on the opportunity of RWAs.
YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
WANNA WORK WITH THE MILK MAN? 🥛
Well, you're in luck…
We're hiring for a bunch of different roles!
If you're passionate about crypto and ready to leap into crypto full-time, check out our open positions.
1/ Crypto Newsletter Writer - We're looking for someone who's entrenched in the crypto world and has a knack for breaking down complex topics into enjoyable reads.
2/ Crypto Finance Analyst and Writer - We're looking for someone to provide in-depth financial savvy analysis and create simple yet informative written content about the crypto ecosystem for Milk Road PRO.
3/ Podcast Content Manager and Researcher - We're looking for someone to help curate and enhance podcast content, secure and manage high-profile guests for interviews, and ensure our team is well-prepared and informed for each episode.
4/ Social Media Manager - We're looking for someone to become the voice of Milk Road and lead our social efforts on X and other social platforms.
P.S. - You won't be working alone in any of these roles! We're simply looking for more brilliant minds to expand the Milk Man's army.
BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪
Honeyland just announced a Play to Earn Airdrop. The popular mobile game with over 21,000 daily players is airdropping "multi-millions" of $HXD to players in June.*
A handful of BTC and ETH ETFs in Hong Kong have received conditional approval. The news comes just months after the first spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in the U.S . (Step aside TSwift, there’s a new global star taking over)
Digital asset investment products saw $126M in outflows last week. According to analysts, “investors are seemingly hesitant since the positive price momentum has stalled”.
Adidas is teaming up with Stepn to launch a new NFT collection. The 1000-piece collection is based on some of Adidas’ “most iconic running silhouettes” and will launch on April 17.
Germany’s largest federal bank, LBBW, announced it will start offering crypto custody services later this year. The bank is partnering up with Bitpanda, which will provide LBBW with “Investment-as-a-Service” infrastructure to “store and procure cryptocurrencies” - like BTC and ETH.
Uniswap Labs hiked its swap fees from 0.15% → 0.25%. Users can also avoid the fee by using an alternative interface to access Uniswap. All other trades on mainnet and supported Layer 2 networks are subject to the hiked fee.
*This is sponsored content
MILKY MEMES 🤣
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ROADER REVIEW OF THE DAY
VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY
— Milk Road Images (@MilkRoadImages)4:43 PM • Apr 15, 2024
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.
