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July 25, 2023

🥛The eye-scanning crypto project…👁

Today’s edition is brought to you by Roots – the first real estate portfolio that creates wealth for both its investors and its residents.

GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that gives you the same feeling as finding money in your old pair of jeans.

Here’s how we’re kicking off the week:

  • A new eyeball-scanning crypto project 👁️

  • MIT researchers: BTC mining has these 4 benefits…♻️

  • Visual of the day: crypto outflows are back 📊

  • BTC volatility drops to a new yearly low 🍪

Prices as of 8:40 AM ET.

WORLDCOIN’S EYEBALL-SCANNING OP JUST LAUNCHED 👁️

Crypto’s a lot like people-watching at a Taco Bell at 3 in the morning…

Every once and a while something comes along that has you like:

Today’s eye-opener is… drumroll… Worldcoin.

What is it? It’s a crypto project that developed a “privacy-preserving digital identity” that can be used to verify humans.

Think of it as a digital passport.

But there’s a twist… you first need to scan your eyeball using “The Orb”.

Source: Worldcoin

Here’s how it works:

  • To get started, users need to visit one of The Orbs to get their retina scanned. There are ~150 Orbs in 35 cities across the world.

  • Once the retina is scanned, the user gets a World ID. This provides “proof-of-personhood” that the user is a real and unique person.

  • World IDs are cryptographically secured using zero-knowledge proofs. This allows Worldcoin to verify humans while keeping their identities private. (Think of ZK-proofs as codewords to get into a club – you prove you’re legit without revealing who you are)

  • Once a user has a World ID, they can download the app to claim $WLD tokens. Except the token isn’t available for claim if you live in the U.S. (Worldcoin ain’t dealing with that regulatory landmine.)

Worldcoin has been in the works for 3 years, has raised $250M, and is being developed by smart people like Sam Altman (aka the Father of ChatGPT).

So, how is the crypto community reacting to the launch? It’s mostly negative reviews.

Our boy Vitalik wrote a blog post calling out potential privacy & security concerns. It also said Worldcoin could be too centralized.

Others have accused Worldcoin of exploiting users in poorer countries. It gave 25 WLD tokens, which were useless at the time, to people willing to have their retinas scanned in ~2021.

Here's the best from Twitter (nope, I ain't callin’ it "X"):

Milk Road Take: We’re all for building cool products in crypto, but I think I’ve seen this plot in a Black Mirror episode – and it didn’t end well.

So for now, we’re staying away from The Orbs.

(Milk Road Rule #58: Avoid questionable crypto projects like it was dodgeball – dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge out of the way.)

But we’re curious… what do you think of the Worldcoin project?

Reply to this email to let us know. We’ll share the top responses later this week!

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MIT RESEARCH: BTC MINING BENEFITS THE ENVIRONMENT ♻️

“Bitcoin mining is bad for the environment.”

We’ve all heard something like this before.

And that’s because Bitcoin mining uses a bunch of energy. (Fun fact: the only thing that uses more energy than a miner is a kid who just discovered how to flick the light switches on and off.)

Well, MIT researchers released a new study on Bitcoin mining last week.

The results? Bitcoin mining actually has a few environmental benefits.

Here are the four benefits the researchers found:

  • Bitcoin mining can help stabilize energy grids. It provides grid operators with a resource that can quickly adjust its power usage to offer stability during periods of high demand or grid stress.

  • Bitcoin mining can mitigate methane emissions. It can combust waste flare gas in electrical generators and reduce methane emissions burned into the atmosphere.

  • Bitcoin mining can be a solution to unplugged oil and gas wells. By operating near orphaned wells, miners can convert wasted energy into electricity, generate revenue, and fund well-sealing efforts to mitigate the climate impact.

  • Bitcoin mining can facilitate the expansion of renewable energy resources.

This is big.

It doesn’t necessarily put Bitcoin mining in the “Great for Environment” bucket, but it also takes it out of the “Destroying the World” bucket.

And it will only open up the conversation between researchers, scientists, and miners on how to make Bitcoin mining better and more eco-friendly.

VISUAL OF THE DAY: CRYPTO OUTFLOWS ARE BACK 📊

Ladies & gents, the latest crypto funds flow report is out.

The results? Outflows totaled $6.5M.

And just like that, the 4-week streak of inflows is over. *Womp womp*

Here are some other highlights:

  • BTC saw the majority of outflows with $13M

  • Investors also withdrew from short Bitcoin funds for the 13th-straight week (woohoo)

  • ETH topped the leaderboard with $6.6M in inflows

  • Other altcoins like XRP, SOL, UNI, and MATIC also saw minor inflows

So what? On the outside, it doesn’t look like much. (Literally, you need a telescope to see the outflows on the graph.)

But it does show an interesting trend: crypto funds are investing in altcoins.

Since the XRP vs. SEC lawsuit news broke, crypto funds have been loading up on XRP (which now represents 8% of AuM) and other tokens.

It’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues and if overall inflows can get back on track this week.

MILK & COOKIES 🍪

Backers dropped the Little Legends charitable NFT project today. Partnered with Shoes That Fit, holders benefit from unique NFTs, private events and rewards and get to help provide sneakers to those in need.*

Bitcoin’s volatility level has dipped to 0.74% – a new yearly low. It's the lowest reading since Jan. 16.

Alphapo got hacked for over $31M. It’s suspected the crypto payment platform was exploited due to a leak of private keys.

Kraken launched a new web interface. The crypto exchange simplified fiat & crypto deposits/withdrawals and redesigned its user interface to make crypto as easy as possible.

Bitcoin “long-term holders” now control 75% of the circulating supply. Long-term holders = addresses that have held Bitcoin for at least 155 days.

*This is sponsored content

MILKY MEMES 🤣

Worth the 20-second watch 😂

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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.