November 18, 2022

🥛FTX bankruptcy filing. The circus never stops…

GM. This is the Milk Road. The daily newsletter that comes up with a new opener each day to put a smile on your face in the middle of a crypto winter and the largest financial fraud since 2008. 

Here's how we're closing out the week: 

  • A Look Inside FTX's Bankruptcy Filing 👀

  • Bear Market Therapy with Crypto OGs

  • Funding Friday

  • Milky Memes

A LOOK INSIDE FTX'S BANKRUPTCY FILING

Another FTX bomb was dropped yesterday. 

The 30-page bankruptcy filing was released. And it wasn't pretty. 

It had more nonsense than an Eric Andre skit. 

But don't worry, the Milk Man spent his Thursday night going through the entire document to bring you the craziest parts. Let's dive in…

  • FTX had no cash management or employee record system. Aka they never knew how much cash or how many employees they had

  • Managers accepted employees expenses with EMOJIS. Yup, these things 🤪

  • FTX didn’t have an accountant or keep proper records of customer deposits. Oh, and they also used software to conceal the misuse of customer funds

  • Not only did Samuel receive more than $1b from FTX, but Director of Engineering, Nishad Singh, also received a $543 million personal loan

  • FTX never had board meetings

  • FTX built a “secret exemption” so that Alameda could avoid the auto-liquidation protocol on the app. Alameda was in god mode. 

FTX also made public statements that Samuel is no longer involved with the company in any way.

Looks like this is the end for Samuel Bankrun Fraud and his ties to FTX.

But the biggest shocker from the filing? The Bahamian government directed Samuel to send FTX assets to government wallets. 

And the Bahamian government admitted it afterward

It looks like we finally found who was responsible for the giant "hack". 

THE FTX CONTAGION SPREADS

Talk about things going from bad to worse. 

Genesis went from having "0 exposure to FTX" —> requesting a $1b emergency loan by this Monday. 

The only thing worse than a Monday morning Venmo request from your friend, is a Monday morning $1b emergency wire request from your portfolio company. 

Genesis sits under the Digital Currency Group (DCG) along with companies Grayscale and Coindesk. 

Now people are wondering if Grayscale & others could be in trouble. 

Grayscale is the custodian of two crypto trusts: GBTC and ETHE. These trusts hold

  • 635k BTC (~$13.3b)

  • 3.1m ETH (~$3.7b)

Some people are worried Digital Currency Group may liquidate assets just like they did with their Ripple crypto trust in 2021.

And according to some quick analysis, we could get stomped. 

BEAR MARKET THERAPY WITH CRYPTO OGs

Everyone wants to know. 

How does this bear market compare to crypto bear markets of the past? 

Is this the end of crypto? Are our bags going to 0? Am I going to have hide from my family at Thanksgiving? 

We saw this tweet yesterday and decided to make a new segment.

We're calling it, "Bear market therapy with crypto OGs."

Here are some milky replies to soothe the pain:

What's the takeaway? Things are bad, but they've been worse.

And this time there's one big difference…

People aren't doubting whether crypto is here to stay. And there are more people and projects in the space than ever. 

Not every crypto OG thinks were out of the bear market woods yet but better days are ahead and the Milk Road ain't leaving. 

TODAY'S EDITION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SESSION

Enough is enough. I’m done with video platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, etc. 

They’re too boring & make the meetings feel 10x longer. (I’m here for a good time, not a long time)

Well, say hello to Session a new video platform from Hopin that is lightweight, super interactive, and fun (you gotta try the confetti feature). It lets you:

  • Run interactive webinars customized with your own branding. Engage with your audience using Q&A, music, chat banners, polls, and more

  • Host virtual events. Session makes planning, producing, and reliving event experiences easier than ever

  • Get insights into analytics. You can see the data about your most engaging moments, and which attendees were interacting the most.

  • Easily share recordings. Oh, and it’s free!

The best part? The Milk Road boys will be hosting our own event on Session in the upcoming weeks! We’ll be announcing dates/times soon.

Get access at session.com

FUNDING FRIDAY

Each Friday we give you a rundown of Web3 companies that were funded during the week.

This week, we saw ~$245m get invested into crypto companies & funds. Here’s who got the money:

Anode Labs got $4.2m to build a web3 platform incentivizing energy storage. Users can receive rewards for reducing their electricity when demand is high. 

Revv got $5.5m to build infrastructure for the next generation of decentralized marketplaces. 

Heroic Story got $6m to build a multiplayer RPG game. The cool part? It was founded by a former pro poker player. 

Ultimate Champions got $4m to build a free to play NFT fantasy soccer game.

Yakoa got $4.8m to build a cross-chain NFT fraud detection tool. I guess I have to change the Bored Ape in my profile picture now 🙁

If you wanna check out the complete database of companies that raised money in 2022, we got 'em for you right here.

MILKY MEMES TO MAKE IT ALL BETTER

Tough mental picture here. 

That's a wrap for this week. Stay thirsty & see ya next week!

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@MilkRoadDaily)

A ROADERS REVIEW

VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY

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 researchBut