GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that feels like showing up early to the party… and then watching 3 billion guests walk in behind you.
Here’s what we’ve got for you today:
- ✍️ 3B+ Meta users coming to crypto?
- 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: Bitwise’s Bull Case: Why Crypto Fundamentals Are Stronger Than Ever w/ Matt Hougan & Ryan Rasmussen.
- 🍪 MetaMask and Mastercard just launched a crypto debit card.
Aligned is a full-stack infrastructure suite that lets businesses launch, operate, and scale on Ethereum. Join the whitelist on their campaign page.
Prices as of 2:00 p.m. ET. Trade today with Milk Road Swap.
META TO BRING IN 3B+ NEW POTENTIAL CRYPTO USERS? 🤔
Have you also been hit with consistent “this news would be MASSIVE if we were in a bull market” moments lately?
(I’m up to like one-per-day at this point.)
The biggest/most slept on story of the past week?
Meta is reportedly bringing stablecoin payments to Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook - having just sent out an RFP for stablecoin payment infrastructure. 👇
Translation: they’re quietly shopping for a third-party to help launch stablecoin payments to their 3B+ users.
If you’ve been around long enough, you probably have deja vu right about now…
Meta tried this before and got destroyed:
- In 2019, they announced the Libra stablecoin project (later renamed Diem).
- Congress hauled Zuck in for hearings / regulators swarmed.
- The project died a quiet, whimpering death in 2022.
- The Diem team left Meta to create Aptos & Sui.
But now Meta is back with a completely different approach.
Here's what has changed…
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If you're serious about building on Ethereum, this is worth a look.
Join the whitelist on their campaign page.
META TO BRING IN 3B+ NEW POTENTIAL CRYPTO USERS? (P2) 🤔
Meta isn’t building their own stablecoin this time - instead, they're partnering with existing infrastructure providers.
(And according to sources, Stripe is the leading candidate.)
Our Head of Research, Kyle Reidhead, disagrees:
But I think it’s fun to wind him up, so I’m going to take the other side here and argue that Stripe as a partner also makes sense…
They have their own stablecoin platform (Bridge), are a giant in the payments industry, and Stripe's CEO (Patrick Collison) is on Meta's board.
… that said, I’m also a Coinbase bull - so I hope that argument falls flat on its face.
Regardless of who wins it - this would be huge for both crypto and Meta users alike!
Here’s why:
Stablecoin payments across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook would give users access to instant cross-border transfers without traditional banking fees (we love that).
… all while providing the crypto sector with 3B+ (potential) new users, almost instantly.
That’s the kind of distribution that changes adoption curves - FAST.
For context, the stablecoin market is currently worth $297.58B with 229.15M total holders (according to RWA.xyz ). 👇
And every time a stablecoin transaction is made (large or small) - the fees are paid in native tokens.
(E.g. Sending USDC on Ethereum? You’ll need to pay fees in ETH.)
Right now, Meta has ten times more users than stablecoins have holders.
So by integrating stablecoin payments across Meta platforms, the entire stablecoin user base has the potential to 10x.
More stablecoin users = more transactions = more demand for native tokens = number go up over time.
BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪
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Wooorld Staaar: ZachXBT just dropped what is one of his most anticipated investigations yet.
Pilot test completed - MetaMask and Mastercard just launched a crypto debit card across the entire U.S.
The U.S. stock market sucks: here’s why the U.S. is getting destroyed by everybody else right now.
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