Today's edition is brought to you by Choice -- the #1 Rated Retirement App that lets you buy bitcoin (& other digital assets) in your IRA.
GM. This is Milk Road, your backstage pass to the crypto circus. Step right up and witness the greatest show on the blockchain. Elephants not included.
It’s Wednesday. Let’s get after it:
- The TradFi’s are coming, the TradFi’s are coming 🏦
- The first SEC-registered crypto company 👀
- Web3 Wednesday: The best jobs in crypto 📝
- You can go to school to be a “Master of the metaverse” now 🍪
Prices as of 9:45 AM ET.
TRADFI’S TAKING OVER CRYPTO 🏦
Crypto reminds me of middle school lunch right now.
Every table in the cafeteria has a different clique. There's...
The "rich kid" table = BlackRock, Fidelity, and Deutsche Bank.
The "cool kid" table = Citadel & Charles Schwab
The "nerd" table = Coinbase, Binance, Bittrex, and all the other crypto companies
And then, there's the school patrol = Gary Gensler and the SEC. They just roam around from table to table pretending to be the Law of the School.
And right now, we’re seeing a bit of a cafeteria industry turf war.
The SEC has clamped down hard on crypto giants. Now, TradFi’s filling the gap:
- Citadel, Charles Schwab, & Fidelity launched a new crypto exchange yesterday
- Blackrock filed for a Bitcoin ETF; Fidelity might be next
- Deutsche Bank wants to offer crypto custody services
Roaders… welcome to the TradFi Takeover.
Let’s break it all down.
1/ TradFi’s new crypto exchange
Citadel (mega-hedge fund,) Charles Schwab (hotshot broker,) & Fidelity (mutual fund company) teamed up to launch a new platform - EDX Markets.
Here’s everything you need to know:
- It won’t hold your crypto. It’ll operate like a stock exchange. Retail brokerages will execute trades. The platform will just be where prices are agreed upon.
- It’s geared toward institutional investors. Not Joe Shmoe in his basement.
- And it’s only offering Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, & Bitcoin Cash.
2/ Big asset managers want to offer crypto services
In the last week, we’ve seen… checks notes:
- BlackRock file for a Bitcoin ETF
- Deutsche Bank (~$1.4T AUM) apply for a license to run crypto custody services
- Invesco (~$1.5T AUM) file for a Bitcoin ETF
- WisdomTree (~$87B AUM) file for a Bitcoin ETF
- Rumors that Fidelity will apply for its own Bitcoin ETF
We’ve gotta reiterate how big of a deal it is that a finance heavyweight like Blackrock (with ~$10T in AUM) is getting in on this. And at this particular point in time.
Especially with Grayscale's (digital asset manager’s) high-profile lawsuit against the SEC. The agency has rejected its Bitcoin ETF application more than my 7th-grade crush.
It’ll really be an eyebrow-raiser if the SEC actually approves BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF and not Grayscale’s.
Everyone convinced the government’s trying to kill crypto (cough Operation Chokepoint 2.0 cough) would have another big talking point.
So, now for the million-dollar question: Is all of this good or bad?
On the one hand, TradFi could legitimize crypto and open the door for more investors (all about that “M” word: mass adoption.)
But some critics are calling this a full-fledged, orchestrated takeover. They’re worried about centralized entities like Blackrock controlling technology that should be decentralized.
Either way? Crypto companies like Binance & Coinbase won’t be the coolest kids in school anymore.
MILK ROAD’S FRIENDS’ REACTIONS
Will Clemente (king of data analytics): “I don't think it's a coincidence that this announcement, in confluence with Blackrock's recent ETF filing … and rumors of Fidelity soon to follow Blackrock by launching a similar product, have come after immense regulatory pressure on the space over the last year and a half.”
EVER WONDERED HOW BILLIONAIRES BUILD BILLION DOLLAR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS?
We’ve all heard stories about people building billion dollar tax-free retirement accounts, but how? Well, most of those stories involve 2 key ingredients:
1) alternative investments (bitcoin, equity, etc)
2) self-directed retirement accounts
Legendary tech investor Peter Thiel allegedly built a $5+ billion "tax-free piggybank" in part by investing in early Facebook from a self-directed Roth IRA.
For years, you needed expert help to get the same tools, but Choice makes it as simple as downloading an app.
Check them out in the App Store (or web) and take control of your retirement.
P.S. for every $1 you deposit, you get 1 satoshi (BTC)
THE FIRST CRYPTO PLAYER REGISTERED WITH THE SEC 👀
Now, with all that said, it’s worth noting there’s one crypto player that somehow got on the SEC’s good side recently…
…one geek that miraculously was allowed to sit with the rich/cool kids…
Prometheum.
Never heard of it? Me neither.
But it’s a crypto brokerage founded in 2017. And it’s the first crypto company to register with the SEC as a broker-dealer.
That’s a big deal… on paper.
But here’s why people are hesitant about Prometheum:
- It hasn’t launched a product in 6 years
- It raised $50M from investors, without ever launching a product
- It hired multiple SEC and FINRA employees
- The CEO was recently at a Congressional hearing where he was obviously reading from a script and defended the SEC’s recent regulatory crackdowns. (He sounded like Gary Gensler’s parrot.)
- The CTO is an independent contractor that lives in the Isle of Man and has 0 internet presence. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
Prometheum has more flags than NFL Sunday but somehow, it still got approved by the SEC.
Hmm.. *sniff sniff*… you smell that? It reeks of rotten milk.
WEB3 WEDNESDAY: THE BEST JOBS IN CRYPTO
You know what day it is…. Web3 Wednesday. Where we bring you all the coolest jobs that are hiring.
Here’s what we found this week:
- Senior Full Stack Engineer, SuperRare Labs - Remote
- Senior Backend Services Engineer, SuperRare Labs - Remote
- Product GTM Manager, OKX - San Jose, CA.
- Senior Data Analyst, OpenSea - Remote
- U.S. Government Affairs Manager, Uniswap Labs - New York
- Head of Marketing, Flow Blockchain - Canada (Remote)
- Senior Backend Engineer, DappRadar - Remote
- Investigations Analyst, Coinbase - U.S. (Remote)
- Business Development Manager (Gaming), Ava Labs - Remote
P.S. - Are you trying to hire in Web3? Learn how to get your open jobs in front of 250K+ crypto enthusiasts here.
MILK & COOKIES 🍪
The University of Nicosia in Cyprus is launching a new master’s program for metaverse experts. The official title will be the Masters of Science (MSc) in Metaverse degree. You can’t make it up…
FIFA has filed 9 metaverse trademarks that include virtual clothing, footwear, entertainment services, and more. It’s a big “goooooooooal!” for future crypto adoption.
The U.K. House of Lords approve a financial markets bill that would also bring regulation to crypto. Next, it will need to pass the Houses of Parliament before Royal Assent to the king. (BRW - House of Lords? Royal assent? What year are we in - 950 A.D.?)
MILKY MEMES 🤣
HIT THE INBOX OF 250K+ CRYPTO INVESTORS
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ROADER REVIEW OF THE DAY
VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY
#mood
— Milk Road Images (@MilkRoadImages)1:53 PM • Jun 21, 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.T
