🥛4 KEY reasons why BTC's stalled... 🤔

PLUS: Where's all the ETH going? 😶‍🌫️                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 May 27, 2023 | [Read Online]( Today's edition is brought to you by [MetaMask Learn]( - boost your crypto skill set and get smarter about crypto now for free! 🤓 GM. This is Milk Road, the 2nd best part of your weekend - the 1st is the fact that it lasts 3 days. Happy Memorial Day. It’s Saturday. Giddy up: - Why hasn’t BTC moved for weeks? 🛑 - ETH is flying off exchanges 🔢 - NFT ticket to paradise 🎟️ - Binance’s new Thailand exchange 🍪 Prices as of 9 AM ET. WHAT’S STALLING BTC’S PRICE? 🛑 Look y’all, I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer on a Saturday… But we’ve gotta talk about how BTC’s price has been bouncing between ~$26K & ~$28K for weeks now. It’s more stagnant than the Everglades. And instead of gators… it’s the bears’ world, we’re just living in it. Here’s why we might not see a bull market for a while now: 1/ There’s economic uncertainty with the debt ceiling stalemate Lawmakers can’t agree on a deal to raise the debt ceiling (they’re making progress though.) And until they do, the government won’t know if it can pay its bills. Neither do I, for the record - way too much Taco Bell this month. Janet Yellen (U.S. Treasury Secretary) said Friday the U.S. could “run out of money” by June 5. Yikes. 2/ The Fed can’t agree on if we need more interest rate hikes Federal Reserve policymakers met Wednesday and were divided on if they should: - Raise interest rates - Or pause them The threat of higher interest rates = people less likely to buy risky assets like Bitcoin. (The next decision is in mid-June.) 3/ UK inflation is hella high Its core inflation hit 6.8% in April. That’s the highest it’s been since 1992. Inflation = people less likely to invest in risky assets like crypto/Bitcoin. 4/ $2.2B+ worth of 85K Bitcoin options expired yesterday This usually makes BTC’s price volatile for a while - investors either buy or sell. And if they go with the latter, that means more Bitcoin floods the market. Less scarcity = lower price Milk Road Take: Go buy some bear spray - they might be around for a while. [GET SMARTER FOR FREE]( To unlock web3’s potential, you need a [crypto wallet.]( The world’s leading self-custodial wallet, MetaMask, wants to help you understand what a crypto wallet is, how you exercise authority in web3, and the things you can do with a crypto wallet when you transfer your assets out of a centralized exchange. Similar to how browsers serve as your gateway to the internet, wallets serve as your gateway to interacting with crypto apps, also known as [dapps.]( In less than five minutes, you can experience an interactive [MetaMask Learn]( lesson designed for beginners, try out core features in a simulated wallet environment, and be equipped to participate in the world of tomorrow. Ready to explore what that’s like? [Learn about crypto wallets]( NUMBERS OF THE DAY 🔢 ~$6M - The amount stolen from users in a new scam It’s a phishing scam that creates fake, malicious websites for cyberattackers. Then it charges them 20-30% of the assets they steal from people. ~5K victims have had their funds stolen on Ethereum, Arbitrum, & other chains. Think of it as a scam-as-a-service. It’s called Inferno Drainer which… also kinda sounds like an underground Berlin club. $173M - The amount in NFT transactions processed on Bitcoin That makes Bitcoin the 2nd biggest NFT blockchain. Ethereum’s No.1 - it processed $390M worth of on-chain NFT transactions over the last 30 days (Solana processed just $49M.) So what? Ordinals, baby! The protocol has made Bitcoin NFTs a thing. Now the network is known for something other than just sending money back and forth. And quickly too - Bitcoin has processed ~320K NFT transactions since Ordinals launched in January. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to Ethereum’s all-time 38M figure, but still. Not too shabby. 17.86M - The amount of ETH currently held on exchanges This is the lowest level recorded since April of 2018: ETH exchange balances have been declining since 2020. And things have accelerated since [the Merge]( transitioned the network to proof of stake. The two main reasons for this? 1/ The ability to stake ETH Investors are chasing the [attractive yield]( that comes with staking ETH, which is something you can’t do on a centralized exchange. And when you account for liquid staking derivatives and an open withdrawal queue, staking ETH has become more accessible than ever. 2/ Events like FTX have spooked investors The collapse of centralized entities was a wake up call for the industry. More people than ever are seeing the importance of taking control of their own assets. 65 - The number of countries Strike is expanding to Strike is a global money app that leverages Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. They’re like a crypto-powered Venmo. Right now, they are only in 3 countries: El Salvador, Argentina, and the U.S. But Strike has BIG ambitions: make BTC a global currency. And this move will expand their services to almost 3B people worldwide. USE CASE OF THE WEEK: TICKETS 🎟️ Here’s a hard pill to swallow: A lot of crypto projects lack a true use case. And many founders are trying to find solutions to problems that don’t even exist. But there’s one use case that doesn’t have many critics: NFT ticketing. Why put tickets on the blockchain? - Digital collectibles: People love collecting and remembering events they have attended. Imagine a digital passport of all of the events you’ve attended.. 👀 - Authentication: Being able to track the ticket back to its creation allows fans to know their ticket is legit ✅ - More revenue: Event organizers can profit on ticket resales and everyone benefits from lower fees 💵 - New experiences: Fans can be rewarded for their loyalty and engage in new digital experiences 🎉 So what? There’s been two big developments recently. 1/ The Professional Fighters League announced it will use NFT tickets They are adding to their Web3 efforts and using NFTs for their VIP ticket experience. This could grant holders cage-side seating, attendance to pre-fight weigh-ins, and meet and greets with the fighters. 2/ Sports Illustrated dropped an NFT ticket platform Built on Polygon, [“Box Office”]( will be the first complete NFT ticket service. It will allow event organizers and promoters to build enhanced experiences into collectible tickets. Antique barcode → Engaging and collectible content MILK & COOKIES 🍪 [Binance is launching a new crypto exchange in Thailand.]( It partnered with Gulf Innova to secure a digital asset license for the operation that’ll launch in Q4. [Gemini (the Winklevoss twins-owned crypto exchange) said its European HQ will be in Dublin, Ireland.]( 🇮🇪 The U.S. → overseas crypto pipeline continues… [Starbucks will airdrop more NFTs in June in its Odyssey rewards program.]( Caffeine addicts 🤝 Web3 proponents. [Blur’s NFT lender Blend has facilitated $225M in loans since it launched on May 1.]( About 85% of all loan volumes in the past month have happened on the platform. MILKY MEMES 🤣 Share Milk Road You currently have 0 referrals, only 1 away from receiving The Next 10x Opportunity in Crypto for 2023. [The Next 10x Opportunity in Crypto for 2023]( [Click to Share]( Or copy and paste this link to others: 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](. What'd you think of today's edition? - [🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛 F**king great]( - [🥛🥛🥛 Meh, do better]( - [🥛 You didn't bring the heat]( ROADER REVIEW OF THE DAY VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY [tw profile: Milk Road Images] Milk Road Images @MilkRoadImages [tw] GM Roadies. Happy Saturday May 27, 2023 0 Likes 0 Retweets 0 Replies 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. [tw]( [ig]( [yt]( [tk]( [in]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here]( © Milk Road 603 Munger Avenue Suite 100 #1006 Dallas, Texas 75202, United States