π₯ Is Mt. Gox dumping BTC? Here’s what happened… π§
GM. This is Milk Road, the take-out of crypto. Fast, fresh and always ready to go.
Itβs Friday yβall. Letβs GET it:
Milkbusters: Did Mt. Gox & U.S. gov wallets dump Bitcoin? π¨
Say hello to the CCTP π
Funding Friday! π°
Blur goes brrr πͺ
π€ Today's edition is brought to you by Synthetic Mind, a free A.I. newsletter. Learn how to make money using A.I. in less than 5 minutes a day! They're also giving out $250 to someone who subscribes through Milk Road here π°
MILKBUSTERS: DID MT. GOX OR THE US GOV DUMP BITCOIN? π¨
Weβre back with another episode of Milkbusters. Time to answer tough Qβs & debunk crypto myths.
And today weβre tackling 2 myths taking over the Twittersphereβ¦
The U.S. govβt & Mt. Gox wallets moving Bitcoin.
The news sending BTC down 8% in ~1 hour ($29K β $27K)
Letβs dive inβ¦
First, whatβs Mt. Gox? Itβs a crypto exchange that went under in 2014. In October, itβll return 142K BTC ($4.2B) to creditors that havenβt seen those funds in ~a decade.
Separately, the U.S. owns 214K BTC ($6.4B.) It seized a good chunk of that from the Silk Road hacker in 2022 & from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
Ok now that weβre on the same pageβ¦ what happened? Arkham (analytics firm) sent alerts Wednesday that U.S. govβt wallets and/or Mt. Gox wallets were moving large amounts of BTC.
~1 hour later, Arkham said swerve, our bad, the alert was wrong. It spread on Twitter though via DB (an account that auto-tweets major news.)
[DB] Mt Gox and US Govt Wallets Making Transactions: Arkham Alert
— db (@tier10k)
Apr 26, 2023
But then Arkham pulled another 180 – it said its alerts were actually accurate. Dun dun duuuuun
Well then, waitβ¦. if the alert was accurate, what triggered it?
The Truth: Part l – It was a total accident, thanks to a weird Arkham bug.
DB had alerts set with Arkham for any $10K+ Bitcoin transaction. DB labeled the alerts βMt Goxβ & βUS Gov,β whichβ¦kinda feels like naming your dog βfireβ & calling for him in a crowd.
But those alerts were never actually activeβ¦ until Arkham fixed a bug recently. Thatβs when DB started auto-tweeting any $10K+ BTC move with the random βMt Goxβ & βUS Govβ labels attached.
It had nothing to do with wallets linked to Mt. Gox. On-chain data shows that there hasnβt been any activity from them.
πFAKE NEWSπabout MT Gox wallets making transactions.
No activity thereβ https://t.co/mdOZv4nzI4 https://t.co/IbZKrK7BJ9
— IT Tech (@IT_Tech_PL)
Apr 26, 2023
So did this whole ordeal send BTC crashing?
The Truth: Part ll – It may not haveβ¦
Arkham pointed out that BTC started dipping between 3:17 & 4:01 PM ET. Arkhamβs alert/DBβs tweet didnβt go out until 4:07 PM ET.
CoinMarketCap
So why the dip? Well, it could have started with a $150M spot bid placed early Wednesday morning.
That caused $1.5B in derivatives bids that drove BTCβs price up big time. But shortly after, investors exited en masse, and BTC plummeted/~$80M was liquidated Wednesday afternoon. (Traders later bought the dip, sending BTC back up to $29K.)
The Milk Road Take: Take what you see on the internet with a milk carton-sized grain of salt.
Cryptoβs like one of those synchronized swim teams – it looks one way on the surface but thereβs a lot going on underneath.
LEARN HOW TO MAKE MONEY USING A.I. WITH SYNTHETIC MIND
A.I has the power to disrupt every industry.
The problem? Learning A.I. can be like learning a new language.
Thatβs why the Milk Man reads Synthetic Mind.
Think of it like the Milk Road, but for A.I: They share the best kept secrets on how to make money with A.I.
One of their weekly editions is a step-by-step breakdown of how to start a business with A.I. Hint: itβs faster and cheaper
But the best part?
Today theyβre giving away $250 to a random Milk Road reader. This money will go directly to fund the winnerβs A.I business.
All you have to do is subscribe in the next 24 hours! Stay up to date on the future of A.I.
INTRODUCING THE CCTP π
You know when that one friend messes up the group chat with their green texts? Thereβs nothing worse.
Blockchains face similar problems trying to communicate with one another. But weβre getting somewhereβ¦
The latest progress comes from Circle, the creator of USDC. They released the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP).
So what is it? A new and improved way to transfer USDC stablecoins between blockchains.
It works by removing USDC on one chain from circulation, while creating the same amount on another chain all at once. And itβs growing quickly.
It has already been adopted by companies like Metamask, who use it to allow their users to move around USDC within their app. Circle also said that it wants to roll out CCTP to other blockchains like Solana in the future.
So what? CCTP is not the only way for blockchains to interact, but the existing solution, bridges, has flaws.
Bridges have become a major target of hacks and exploits. Token Terminal estimates that half of all DeFi-related hacks occur through bridges:
This is because they use a central storage point to lock up funds that bridge to other chains.
CCTP is also a cheaper process than bridging because you donβt need to rely on liquidity providers who charge a fee. In the end, itβs really all about ease of use and adoption.
More chains β more users β more adoption AND lower fees π―
FUNDING FRIDAY π°
Itβs Funding Friday! Raise the roof.
This week, $151.4M was raised by crypto companies. Hereβs who got that bag:
Izumi Finance got $22M for its multi-chain liquidity protocol. Itβll go toward the startupβs DEX that lives on the zkSync Era network.
DFlow got $5.5M for its protocol bringing order flow payment to DeFi. Would also be a great rapper name, just sayinβ
MetaGravity got $9.5M to build out infrastructure for metaverse development. Theyβre trying to create the technical foundation for a virtual world.
Thetanuts Finances got $17M for its protocol that helps retail investors earn yield on their tokens, among other things.
Check out the full database of companies that have raised money this week, right here.
MILK & COOKIES πͺ
Unlock effortless yield in 4 steps.Β Metronome's user-friendly interface means users of all skill levels can jump in right away to optimize their yield potential and increase gains.Β Watch how here:Β [Sponsored]
Binance US pulls out Voyager assets acquisition. Pray for the Voyager creditors. They have been through the wringer.
Blurβs up ~10% after Binance said itβs launching a BLUR perpetual contract Friday. The OpenSea competitor continues to stay in the news after their initial airdrop.
Hong Kong to release digital asset guidance in May. Will the next cycle be driven by the East?
MerlinDex rug pulls for ~$2M. Even after being audited by CertiK. All victims are being reimbursed by the protocol and auditor.
MILKY MEMESΒ π€£
HIT THE INBOX OF 250K+ CRYPTO INVESTORS
Advertise with the Milk Road to get your brand in front of the Who's Who of crypto. The Roadies are high-income crypto investors who are always looking for their next interesting product or tool. Get in touch today.
ROADER REVIEW OF THE DAY
VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY
me calculating the hours left until the weekend https://t.co/Ro8Lr9InNd
— Milk Road (@MilkRoadDaily)
Apr 28, 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.