Today’s edition is brought to you by Toku - where industry leaders like Protocol Labs and Mina turn to administer token grants to their global workforce.
Save time and money with Toku!
GM. This is the Milk Road, the daily crypto newsletter that is NOT boring.
Because boring is a choice. And we chose NO.
Here’s what we got for you today:
- Providing liquidity 101 📖
- Crypto, luxury brands, and a $400B+ decision 👀
- CitiGroup has a new blockchain ⛓️
- A new multi-million dollar airdrop is coming 🚨
Prices as of 10 AM ET. Click here for our Fear & Greed Index
PROVIDING LIQUIDITY 101 📖
In decentralized finance (DeFi), liquidity is king.
It measures how easily an asset can be converted into cash, without causing prices to crash.
But there’s a problem: liquidity in DeFi is like a college party - everyone wants to drink it, but no one wants to provide it.
Well, here at Milk Road we zig while everyone zags.
So this week, we wanted to test out becoming a liquidity provider (LP).
Why? Because providing liquidity can:
- Decrease the slippage on crypto swaps.
- Keep asset values stable and allow for large amounts of volume to trade.
- Earn you some yield. (aka you provide liquidity and in return, you get a slice of the trading fees)
So we grabbed our Milk Road Public Wallet, picked a few liquidity pools, and did the damn thing.
We ended up providing liquidity across 3 different protocols on 3 different blockchains. Just call me Mr. Liquidity.
We…
1/ Locked up ETH and DAI (a stablecoin) in a liquidity pool on Uniswap on the Base chain.
2/ Provided ETH as liquidity to Stargate Finance’s bridge on Optimism.
3/ Deposited ETH and ARB into a Camelot DEX liquidity pool on Arbitrum.
We promised we’d bring you along on the ride too, so we created a Guide to Providing Liqudity.
You’ll get a more in-depth analysis of the game plan, why we chose those liquidity pools, and a play-by-play of how we did it.
Check it out here.
MAKE TOKEN GRANT ADMINISTRATION SIMPLE
All-in-one solutions are a complete game-changer. In the words of Milk Road: less is more.
And that’s what you get with Toku. They allow you to manage all your token grants legally with ease.
That’s less time, money, and headaches. But more confidence in the process.
Toku:
- Makes global token compensation and incentive awards simple
- Guides you through the token grant process with legal templates, vesting tracking, reporting, and tax management
- Handles all grant types - Token Purchase Agreements, Token Options, Restricted Token Grants, phantom tokens, you name it
And they don’t stop at token grants. Toku will also take care of payroll, tax compliance, and reporting needs in any jurisdiction!
Save time, money, and be compliant by working with Toku.
CRYPTO, LUXURY BRANDS, AND A $400B+ DECISION 👀
Bernard Arnault is the second-richest person on the planet.
- Net worth = $195B.
- CEO of a $400B+ luxury empire (LVMH).
- He owns all the brands that make me feel broke just trying to pronounce them - like Bvlgari, Guerlain, Louis Vuitton, Dior, etc.
And ol’ Bernie has a big decision to make…who will sit on the LVMH throne next?
Rumor has it, the successor could be one of his 5 children.
Why this matters: Well, turns out that 2 of the 5 children are pro-crypto.
Yup. There’s a 40% chance the $400B heir could be…one of us.
Meet our fellow crypto degens:
1/ Alexandre Arnault -
- Vice President of Products of Tiffany & Co.
- Bought a CryptoPunk NFT for $400K.
- Helped Tiffany & Co. partner with CryptoPunks to launch IRL pendant necklaces for NFT holders.
2/ Frédéric Arnault -
- CEO of TAG Heuer.
- Owns a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT.
- Helped TAG Heuer launch a feature that lets users showcase NFTs on the face of the smartwatch.
The two crypto bros have also quietly been convincing the rest of the family to experiment with web3 too…
Dior launched new shoes where each pair comes with a “digital twin” (aka an NFT) and an NFC chip-based authentication system that is secured using blockchain technology.
Gucci started accepting crypto payments at some of its stores and partnered with Yuga Labs to collaborate on NFT fashion in the metaverse.
Louis Vuitton dropped an NFT collection based on the luxury brand’s iconic travel trunk.
Even the 74-year-old Bernard owns a secret NFT collection and is sipping from the Crypto Fountain of Youth™.
It’s unclear who Bernard will pick (he’s like a mom who can’t choose their favorite kid), but if either Frédéric or Alexandre ends up as the successor, it could mean a whole lot more of web3 and luxury brand crossovers.
We’re rooting for our fellow degens.
CITIGROUP HAS A NEW BLOCKCHAIN ⛓️
Citigroup is a financial giant. It has $750B+ in assets under management and is one of the Big Four banks in the U.S.
(And you can always catch me ridin’ dirty on one of those Citi bikes.)
Well, the bank just made a big crypto move: it’s launching a digital token service for institutions.
Here’s everything you need to know:
- It’s called Citi Token Services.
- Institutional clients will be able to tokenize their deposits to send money across borders.
- It will use a private blockchain and smart contracts to execute transfers.
- The new service will cut down transaction processing times “from days to minutes”.
- Citigroup is also using it to pilot a global cash management system where institutional clients can transfer funds between Citi branches, 24/7.
While Citigroup is using a private blockchain (boooo!) it’s the first step in getting institutions familiarized with the benefits of blockchain transactions.
Baby steps.
BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪
Kraken Pro has become the one-stop shop for Pro Traders. Packed with new trading and analytics tools, a polished UI, and a fully customizable trading interface, it’s Kraken’s most powerful trading platform—ever. *
Optimism announced a new $26M airdrop for its governance members. It’s the popular Layer 2’s third airdrop and will be distributed among 31,870 crypto addresses.
FTX is suing Sam Bankman Fried’s parents in order to “recover millions of dollars in fraudulently transferred funds”. According to the filing, the parents fraudulently received ~$30M worth of assets. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Blockchain Capital secured $580M to launch two new crypto funds. The funds will focus on sectors that include decentralized finance, centralized finance, infrastructure, gaming, and consumer/social.
Stoner Cats NFTs have been banned from various marketplaces like OpenSea, Blur, and Rarible. The move comes after the project got sued by the SEC last week for selling unregistered securities.
A federal judge denied the SEC’s request to inspect Binance.US’ technical infrastructure. Another week, another L for the SEC in court.
*This is sponsored content
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ROADER REVIEW OF THE DAY
VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY
When you sit down at the family BBQ and the first thing your aunt asks is: "how's that little crypto hobby going?"
— Milk Road Images (@MilkRoadImages)1:43 PM • Sep 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.
