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GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that bursts with more flavor than a pack of Fruit Gushers.

Here’s what we got today:

• 146 crypto companies got put on the U.K.’s Warning List 🚨

• This pixelated toad NFT sold for $1.6M 🤑

• Graph of the Day: the weekly crypto fund flows report 📊

• Trader Joe’s sues Trader Joe 🍪

146 CRYPTO COMPANIES GOT PUT ON THE U.K.’S WARNING LIST 🚨

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates the U.K.’s financial markets.

They’re the equivalent of the SEC in the U.S. - except with way cooler accents.

And the FCA just sent out a big warning to 146 crypto companies, including Huobi, KuCoin, and others.

The warning: they’re all breaking the law by illegally promoting cryptocurrencies.

**gulp**

The good news is… the FCA isn’t suing or shutting down any companies.

• They just want the companies to register as crypto asset providers.

• They’ve already approved 40+ crypto registrations.

• They’re actively working with companies like OKX and Binance to restructure certain parts of their businesses to remain compliant.

And that, ladies & gents, is how it should be done…

U.K. regulators are getting a firm grip on crypto companies, without choking them out.

+10 points to the FCA.

-5 points to the SEC.

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THIS PIXELATED TOAD NFT SOLD FOR $1.6M 🤑

CrypToadz is a popular NFT project.

• $250M+ in all-time sales, according to CryptoSlam.

• It’s described as a collection of “small amphibious creatures”. (which also happened to be the nickname for my middle school swim team)

Yesterday, this bad boy sold for $1.6M…

The purchase has gotten some attention for a few reasons:

1/ The floor price of the collection is ~$800.

2/ It’s one of the most expensive (and random) purchases of the year.

3/ The purchase was funded by a wallet linked to Tornado Cash transactions.

4/ A six-year-old could’ve made the art on Microsoft Paint.

It’s unlikely the buyer meant to pay 2000x the floor price. So now there are two main theories…

• It was a “fat-finger” mistake. (if true, get rid of the finger, cause damn…)

• It was a wash trade. This is a way for scammers to inflate prices and/or legitimize funds from questionable origins.

Do I support wash trading? No.

Do I hope it was a wash trade? Kinda... I wouldn’t wish a $1.6M fat finger mistake on my worst enemy.

Either way, cheers to the person who sold it. You’re a millionaire and (more importantly) Milk Road’s Winner of the Day.

GRAPH OF THE DAY: THE WEEKLY CRYPTO FUNDS FLOW REPORT 📊

The latest results from the Digital Asset Fund Flows Report are in…funds invested $78M into digital assets.

That’s back-to-back weeks and the largest week of inflows since July.

 Here are some of the other top takeaways from the report:

• Bitcoin was the biggest winner. The OG cryptocurrency saw inflows totaling $43M last week and saw a 16% rise in trading volume on crypto exchanges.

• Solana had a huge week. $SOL saw its largest week inflows ($24M) since March 2022 and continues to be the altcoin of choice for investment funds.

• Ethereum struggles, again. The first Ethereum futures-based ETFs launched last week, but they’re off to a slow start. (only ~$10M worth of volume)

• Different regions, different sentiments. 90% of the inflows came from Europe, while the U.S. and Canada only saw ~$9M worth of inflows.

We’ll see if the momentum continues into next week.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪

Marinade has been establishing itself as a market leader in staking on SOL. Equipped with native and liquid staking, the ability to unstake instantly, and a recently launched Earn initiative. Check out our review of their platform!

Trader Joe’s supermarket chain sued the decentralized exchange, Trader Joe, for using its name and branding. Same name. Same colors. Only a matter of time before someone tried ordering Joe’s mac and cheese through the DEX.

Web3 communities launched a new fund called Crypto Aid Israel. The goal is to raise funds for Israeli citizens who have been displaced and are in need of aid due to the outbreak of war with Hamas.

Bitstamp revealed it’s in talks with three large European banks to start offering crypto services. The services would go into effect around the first quarter of next year.

Gemini is expanding its crypto operations in India. The crypto exchange is investing $24M into operations there and plans to increase its workforce by 42% by the end of this year.

MILKY MEMES 🤣

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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.