GM. This is the Milk Road, the daily newsletter that makes crypto as fun as a weekend in Vegas. (Remember: What happens here, stays here.)

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• Hong Kong might let retail investors back in the game

• Hackers are phishing people going to this major crypto conference

• Crypto funds sold more crypto than they bought this week

• A blockbuster NFT trade

HONG KONG’S NEW PROPOSAL MIGHT LET RETAIL INVESTORS BUY CRYPTO

Hong Kong just dropped a massive crypto proposal. In a 361-page document, Hong Kong’s Security and Futures Commission (SFC) proposed some new rules for crypto trading platforms.

Lucky for you, the Milk Man spent all afternoon reading the proposal so you wouldn’t have to. Here are the highlights:

• Crypto trading platforms will need to apply for a special license. The proposal outlines that any person or business that provides crypto-related services will need to apply for a license from the SFC. (Currently, there are only two exchanges that are licensed to trade.)

• Crypto trading could open for retail investors. Exchanges might soon be able to offer crypto trading services to retail investors. First, though, the SFC is looking for comments from the public on whether it should be allowed or not.

• Investors would only be able to trade “large-cap tokens.” The crypto exchanges would only be able to list tokens that are “included in at least two ‘acceptable indices’ issued by at least two independent index providers.” This could potentially include cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH.

The new set of rules will take effect on June 1st.

Why this matters: If Hong Kong does end up allowing retail investors to trade crypto, it could be big for adoption in mainland China.

China’s relationship with crypto has been complicated, to say the least. One day, crypto is banned; the next day, it’s unbanned. (As of this newsletter, it’s banned again.)

But things are different in Hong Kong because it’s a Chinese SAR, or special administrative region. Since 1997, Hong Kong has enjoyed separate governing and economic systems from the rest of mainland China. (Or “one country, two systems,” per China’s constitution.)

Here’s what the crypto landscape in China looks like right now.

Will Hong Kong’s moves have any impact on mainland China’s position on crypto? We’ll see.

THE NEXT BIG WEB3 VIDEO GAME – DIMENSION X 

Everyone is wondering… when is Web3 gaming going mainstream?

The answer is now and here’s a little secret.

If you want people to play Web3 games, you gotta make them fun to play.

I know it’s, f****** wild.

This is why we are introducing our friends over at Dimension X.

Dimension X is built by Crypthulhu Studios.

A game studio that knows good gaming first, crypto second.

Here’s how Dimension X works:

• You create an account with an email via Dapper Wallet

• You create teams using free “account-bound” sidekicks and NFTS that attack the boss.

• If you beat the boss you can unlock more account-bound sidekicks and earn THUL (the in-game currency) to mint new NFT heroes that can be staked in-game or sold on the secondary marketplace

Each season has new sidekicks and a specialty event.

And you can cop an NFT hero on the Gaia marketplace – the same marketplace that hosts NBA Top Shot and other Web3 games.

Dimension X has new game features every 3 months, so you never get bored.

And they are expanding to Ethereum in Spring 2023.

HACKERS ARE PHISHING ETHDENVER

The crypto hacking business is booming. It’s estimated that hackers stole $3.8B from crypto users & companies last year. And they aren’t slowing down.

Hackers have a lot of different techniques, but the latest weapon of choice is: phishing sites. This is when attackers create fake websites to mimic popular ones like OpenSea, or MetaMask.

And they have a new target: ETHDenver.

The popular conference had its website duplicated in order to trick people into connecting their MetaMask wallets. Once connected, the hackers would then drain the wallet.

But not only did the website look identical to ETHDenvers, but the hackers sprinkled a bit of the internet’s black magic… SEO. Hackers paid Google Ads extra moolah to promote the malicious website above the real one. (Undoubtedly a violation of Google’s terms of service.)

The smart contract associated with the attack has reportedly accessed 2,800+ wallets and stolen $300k+ in crypto so far.

The lesson: Double check websites the same way you double check a Tinder profile before going on a date. You never wanna fall for the Tinder Swindler.

MILK ROAD QUESTION OF THE DAY: With all the recent hacks, we wanna know: How concerned are you about your crypto getting hacked?

• Not at all: Momma didn’t raise no punk

• A little bit: I peed myself reading this

• A lot: Terrified, tbh, find me in my underground bunker

Reply and let us know.

GRAPH OF THE DAY: WEEKLY CRYPTO FUNDS REPORT

Another week, another crypto funds flow report. This week, digital asset investment products saw outflows totaling $32M—the largest weekly outflow of the year.

Here are some other takeaways:

• Bitcoin saw the biggest outflows. It totaled $25M for the week, signaling a negative sentiment towards the oldest crypto.

• Blockchain equities continue their streak of inflows. This week $9.6M was funneled into blockchain equities. That’s six straight weeks of inflows.

Altcoins see mixed signals. Some altcoins like Fantom and XRP saw small inflows while other tokens like Polygon, Avalanche, and Cosmos saw outflows.

MILK AND COOKIES

NFT Trade Alert! An Ordinal Punk (Bitcoin NFT) was recently traded for a CryptoPunk worth $100k+. Talk about a blockbuster trade.

It’s closing time for a crypto hedge fund. Galois Capital has announced that it will be shutting down its flagship fund due to the “severity of the FTX situation”. The crypto hedge fund apparently had about half of its asset stocks on the bankrupt crypto exchange.

Bitcoin loses another key developer. According to Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Van der Laan voluntarily gave up his access to the bitcoin client software last week. Van der Laan was the second successor to Satoshi Nakomoto and has been in charge of helping maintain the Bitcoin network for the last nine years.

MILKY MEMES

🤣🤣

That’s a wrap for today. Stay thirsty & see ya tomorrow! If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@MilkRoadDaily)

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VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY

Got Milk? https://t.co/xUzIxtfHe5

— Milk Road (@MilkRoadDaily)
Feb 21, 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.