Today’s edition is brought to you by REX Shares - the masterminds behind innovative ETFs and ETNs.
Check out their products today
GM. This is Milk Road, the newsletter that makes complex topics feel as simple as cousin Greg.
Here’s what we got for you today:
- ✍️ Why $BTC tanked yesterday
- ✍️ Is Altcoin Season finally here?
- 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: Early Signs of a Crypto Gaming Boom: How Investors Will Win w/ Piers Kicks
- 🍪 The SEC plans to reject two of the five $SOL ETF applicants
Prices as of 2:00 PM ET. Click here for our Fear & Greed Index.
WHY $BTC TANKED YESTERDAY 😳
We said it the morning after we got drunk on wine coolers and challenged the party clown at our nephew’s 5th birthday party to a wrestling match…
And we said it again this morning…
What the hell happened yesterday?
In case you missed it, here’s a quick refresher:
Which led to this:
…so – what happened?
The exact culprit is unknown, but the story being told is one of forced selling.
Here’s how it went down:
- On Wednesday, Bitcoin’s price was hovering around $95k…
- There were a bunch of leveraged longs (people that took out loans and bet the price would go up) at around $94.5k…
- While there were also a bunch of leveraged shorts (people that took out loans and bet the price would go down) sitting at around $99.3k…
If the price hit $94.5k, those leveraged longs would be forced to sell their positions and pay back their loans (pushing the price down further).
If the price hit $99.3k, those leveraged shorts would be forced to buy back the $BTC they sold in order to short the market, and pay back their loans (pushing the price up further).
But instead of choosing a single direction, Bitcoin pulled an Old El Paso and said…
Confused? Allow us to visualize it for you…
The bright yellow lines on the chart below represent a concentration of longs (below the price) and shorts (above the price) 👇
And this presented a beautiful opportunity for market makers (aka: the folks with enough money to move $BTC up or down with a few trades) to take all of this leveraged cash for themselves.
Here’s how it played out…
- Market makers bought heavily, pushing prices up.
- $99.3k was hit, forcing shorts to buy back their loaned crypto (pushing prices up to $104k)
- Market makers sold heavily, pushing prices down.
- $94.5k was hit, forcing longs to sell their loaned crypto (pushing prices down to $92k)
- Market makers buy back in…
- Pushing prices back up to around $100k
So zooming out:
Market makers bought low (pushing prices up), sold high (locking in profits and tanking the price), and bought low again (ending up with more Bitcoin than they started the day with).
The good news of all of this?
A whole bunch of concentrated leverage has now been wiped out of the system, which means market makers have less incentive to mess with the price.
…and now we can (hopefully) continue our move upwards.
DOUBLE THE REWARDS, DOUBLE THE RISK
Whether you're bullish 🐂 or bearish 🐻 on Bitcoin, T-REX ETFs provide the first leveraged ETPs designed to give you exposure to spot Bitcoin ETPs.
Seek a leveraged position that aligns with your market outlook without directly investing in spot Bitcoin ETPs.
IS ALTCOIN SEASON FINALLY HERE ⁉️
The craziest part of yesterday’s Bitcoin dump?
Altcoins barely moved when $BTC crashed.
That’s not normal. Bitcoin tends to lead the crypto market.
So it’s worth asking: Did we just enter Altcoin Season?
ICYMI: Altcoin Season is a period of time when 75% of the top 50 coins (excluding stablecoins) outperform Bitcoin over the trailing 90 days.
Which, as a concept, feels a bit out of place seeing as $BTC just rounded $100k for the first time in its history and is up ~55% over the past 30 days…
But despite the recent milestone, Bitcoin dominance (the percentage of value $BTC holds in the total crypto market cap) is actually down of late.
Over the past month, Bitcoin dominance has dipped from 61.03% to 52.73% today. 👇
And the only way for Bitcoin dominance to fall, is if alts collectively outperform it.
…but just how much have they outperformed? (Enough to confirm Alt Season?)
Let’s check the Altcoin Season Index. If the below index is above 75, then it’s altcoin season – and wouldn’t you know it:
Ok, so the indicator tells us it’s Alt Season…now what?
Altcoin Seasons can last anywhere from several weeks to several months and if we had to guess, we’d wager that things are going to get wild until around the time that Trump takes office.
(All before tapering off).
Why? ‘Cause while nothing is set in stone, we wouldn’t be surprised if Trump entering the white house becomes a ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ event (in the short term).
Everyone gets all hyped up on what could happen to crypto once Trump gets in → once he’s in the hot seat, the hype dies down → folks take some profits, and alt prices start to calm down.
But for now, all you need to do is sit back, relax, and soak up the gains.
IS CRYPTO GAMING DUE FOR A REVIVAL?
Crypto Gaming has been hanging out in the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ for a while now…
…is it time for it to start its march towards the ‘Slope of Enlightenment’?
Piers Kicks joined us on today’s episode of The Milk Road Show.
First off: awesome name.
Second: Piers is a founding partner at Delphi Venture, and leads the gaming division at Delphi Digital.
Which makes him the perfect person to ask about the future of crypto gaming!
In this episode, we cover:
- What does blockchain bring to the table for gaming?
- Why have crypto and gaming failed to mesh so far?
- Is 2025 the year gaming becomes the next big thing in the crypto space?
Click below to watch it now! 👇
YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪
Gemini is handing out cash for free. By spending $3,000 with Gemini’s credit card, you’ll get $200 bucks straight into your pocket. Sounds too good to be true?*
The SEC just notified two of the five $SOL ETF applicants that they plan to reject them. But hey, this is still Gary Gensler’s SEC (for now). Let’s see what happens when he leaves on Jan 20.
Pudgy Penguins plans to drop their token, $PENGU, this year. Gotta say, Pengu is such a good name for their token, they’ve truly nailed it.
The US spot Bitcoin ETFs just flipped Satoshi. Seriously. The $BTC ETFs now hold more Bitcoin than Satoshi.
We’re growing our team! We have 5 open positions across Milk Road and Impact3 (our parent company). Think you’ve got what it takes? Click above to explore the roles and apply.
Ledger drops a sleek new product. With bluetooth connectivity and Kindle-like touchscreen, Ledger Stax shouts premium. Honestly, I wish someone got me this for Christmas. *This is sponsored content.
MILKY MEMES 🤣
RATE TODAY’S EDITION
What'd you think of today's edition?
Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.
ROADIE REVIEW OF THE DAY 🥛
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.
