GM. This is Milk Road, the daily newsletter that's the snowplow clearing the road through crypto chaos.
Hereโs what weโve got for you today:
- โ๏ธ 140 firms gang up on Coinbaseโs cash cow.
- ๐๏ธ The Milk Road Show: Bittensor Could Become the "Bitcoin of AI" w/ Karia Samaroo.
- ๐ช Michael Saylor: There will be a โWarren Buffett momentโ for BTC.
Perpetual futures (perps) are now live on Kalshi. Try Kalshi Perps today.
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140 GIANTS JUST CAME FOR COINBASE'S CASH COW ๐
Our lead analyst M0xt just sold a sizable chunk of his Coinbase (COIN) stock.
COIN's been one of crypto's blue-chip stocks for years, so this turned a few heads around the office.
Here's what spooked him:
A new company called Open Standard (run by Zach Abrams) just launched a new dollar stablecoin called Open USD (OUSD if ya nasty).
Thereโre loads of these floating around already, but what sets this one apart is who's standing behind it.
Over 140 of the biggest names in finance and tech signed on. Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY, Google, Shopify...
This is an industry supergroup teaming up to own the default rails for the internet economy, and M0xt thinks it's got a real shot at winning the next decade.
So why does a rival stablecoin matter so much to Coinbase?
Because stablecoins are Coinbase's fastest-growing and fattest-margin business, making up around 20% of its 2025 revenue.
Nearly all of that traces back to one deal: a revenue-share with Circle (the company behind USDC) where Coinbase pockets a slice of the interest earned on the dollars backing USDC.
Open USD aims straight at that setup - and the terms are aggressive.
Businesses can mint and redeem OUSD for free, with no caps on volume. And the partners using Open USD keep the interest on those backing dollars themselves.
(With USDC, Coinbase and Circle keep that interest โ with OUSD, it flows to the businesses instead.)
If dollars start sliding out of USDC and into Open USD, Circle (CRCL) takes the most direct hit, and Coinbase catches it second-hand through its USDC cut.
Which makes this look like a clean sell signal.
... except there's a wrinkle that turns half the bear case on its head.
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140 GIANTS JUST CAME FOR COINBASE'S CASH COW ๐ (P2)
The twist here: Coinbase is one of Open USDโs 140+ partners.
That hedges it right into the new system.
No doubt it softens the bear case - but M0xt doesn't think a seat at the table fixes the deeper problem.
USDC's economics just got squeezed, and the long-term growth story for Coinbase's stablecoin business looks harder to defend than it did a week ago.
Then there's the catalyst he'd been banking on, which just stalled out mid-flight.
The CLARITY Act (the big U.S. bill meant to set clear rules for crypto markets) looks like it's about to officially blow past its July 4 deadline.
Odds of it passing in 2026 have been slipping day-by-day, with ethics and law-enforcement provisions still stuck heading into the August recess. ๐
I.e. Thereโs likely no regulatory tailwind swooping in to lift COIN stock any time soon.
So why is M0xt trimming and not dumping the whole position?
Because COIN's already beaten down on soft crypto sentiment and a weak Q4, so a good slice of this is probably baked into the price already.
That's why M0xt trimmed rather than bolting for the door (he's still holding the rest).
How big was the chunk he sold, and how much COIN is he still sitting on?
His exact trade size, remaining position, and every other trade he has lined up sits inside Milk Road PRO - try it for a buck for 7 days, here!
BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD ๐ช
Another crypto IPO! Securitize is now officially a public company under the ticker $SECZ. (great ticker tbh).*
Michael Saylor: There will be a โWarren Buffett momentโ for Bitcoin.
Kevin Warsh: โSince 2011 through now, I wanted the Fedโs balance sheet to be smaller.โ
Raoul Pal: What if anyone could become a hedge fund without any of the infrastructure?
Bitcoin lending is making a comeback. Several major US banks (like Ledn) have begun offering Bitcoin-backed credit lines.**
*this is sponsored content. **this is partner content.
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