March 11, 2023

🥛 Down goes SVB. What now?! 👀


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GM. This is Milk Road. The newsletter that makes you feel like you’re part of the family. *raises glass of milk*… salud!

Here’s what we’re serving today:

  • Down goes SVB

  • Epic Games & Lego team up on a new metaverse

Today’s edition is brought to you by Brickkenthe go-to platform for token investments

DOWN GOES SILICON VALLEY BANK

There’s no sugarcoating: things are bad…  

On Friday, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was forced to shut down by U.S. regulators. SVB was added to the “Failed Bank List” and ~$175B of customer deposits were seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

It’s one of the worst bank failures since 2008. That’s right, it hasn’t been this bad since Twilight came out.

Why is this such a big deal? SVB has been the go-to bank for Silicon Valley tech startups for the last decade. In fact, ~50% of all U.S. venture-backed tech & life sciences companies used SVB to hold their funds.

Well, turns out SVB mismanaged those funds and now thousands of companies have lost their money and don’t know if they can meet payroll or continue running their businesses.

On top of that, only ~3% of all deposits into SVB are FDIC-insured. For reference, the average bank in the U.S. has about ~50% of deposits FDIC insured.

Damn, our expectations and trust in traditional finance were already low, but this takes it to another level…

So what’s next? It’s hard to predict how far the SVB contagion will spread or how long the effects will last, but buckle up because things will get rocky. 

It isn’t gonna affect just the stock market & startup world either, it will bleed into crypto too. And we’re already seeing it begin…

  • Circle, issuer for the USDC stablecoin, announced it has $3.3B of its reserves stuck on SVB. USDC has depegged from $1 over the last 24h as panic has caused a sell-off

  • Coinbase announced it’s temporarily pausing USDC: USD conversions over the weekend. What is this, a traditional bank?

  • Blockfi, the bankrupt crypto lender, has $227M stuck on SVB.

These might be the first companies to make announcements about their exposure to SVB, but certainly won’t be the last.

This is like if FTX and Enron had a kid –  it’s gonna cause more havoc than Dennis the Menace…

Here’s how people on Twitter are reacting:

And of course, we got some funny tweets/memes to help chuckle away the pain…

The SVB aftermath is something we’ll be keeping a close eye on and we’ll make sure to bring you all the latest news. Keep an eye on those inboxes next week!

BRICKKN – A NEW WAY TO RAISE & INVEST FUNDS

We’ve got a Public Service Announcement for all crypto investors & founders…

Founders, are you building cool sh*t and looking to raise money?

Investors, are you looking to invest in some dope projects solving big problems?

Look no further than Brickken – the all-in-one platform for token investments. Whether it’s helping companies set up infrastructure to launch a new token, or helping investors find the best new projects, they got you back.

With the Brickken dApp you can:

  • Raise capital and manage assets through automated Dividend Payouts, cap table management, and secure transmitting of relevant documents to investors.

  • Use any chain – Brikken is chain agnostic

  • Interact with current & prospective investors through KYC management, voting processes & other functionalities that allows investors to add value

Brickken makes raising public capital easier, smarter, and faster. All by using a decentralized fundraising model and blockchain-based technology

Looking to take your first step into the web3 world? Join the emerging token economy and get started now with BKN!

MILK AND COOKIES

An NFT collection tied to Vitalik Buterin is at the top spot on OpenSea with ~$13.4M in trading volume. The drop includes his project Quadratic Funding’s 2018 whitepaper and physical prints signed by Vitalik.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted a positive thread summing up why crypto matters, such as its speed and transparency. Ah, we forgot what serotonin feels like…

Lego and Epic Games are teaming up to create a new metaverse. Finally, a Lego piece that won’t kill me every time I step on one…

Meta is in the early stages of building a decentralized, text-based social network. Look out, Elon.

MILKY MEME

🤣🤣

That’s a wrap for today. Meet us on Twitter to talk all about it. It’s kinda like a family BBQ but better – no screaming kids, awkward photos, or drunk uncles telling weird stories (@MilkRoadDaily)


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A ROADER’S 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 research.