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GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that gives you the same feeling as being in your friend’s Top 8 on Myspace. If you know, you know.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• The 3 most interesting things from the weekend 🧐

• 2 things to keep your eyes on this week 👀

• El Salvador is launching a new visa program for crypto investors 🍪

THE 3 MOST INTERESTING THINGS FROM THE WEEKEND 🧐

Let’s get you caught up…

1/ The bull rally cools off a little

Ok. We’ve got good news and bad news. 

The good news? Bitcoin ended the week in the green, again. 

That’s now 8 straight weeks of weekly green candles - the first time that’s happened since 2017. 

The bad news? There are signs the market could be cooling off…

• Bitcoin dropped from over $44K → under $42K yesterday. Just like that, most of Bitcoin’s weekly gains went… *poof*... and vanished into thin air.

• $320M of long positions were liquidated on centralized exchanges. 

• Most of the top 25 cryptocurrencies are in the red over the last 24 hours. ADA, DOT, and LINK are all down ~6% over the last day.

At one point over the weekend, memecoins like BONK dropped 30% in the span of a few hours. 

The big takeaway: Celebrate gains, but prepare for the rain. (Milk Road Rule #7)

Corrections and drawbacks are normal - even during bull rallies. Plan accordingly. 

2/ VanEck teases new “HODL” ticker

VanEck is: 

• An investment manager with 76.4B in assets under management (AUM). 

• One of the 13 asset managers in the race to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.

And late last week, VanEck submitted an amendment to its spot Bitcoin ETF application and revealed the ticker for it…

$HODL. 

Milk Road Rating: 12/10. Genius move. 

It’s what we call “Culture First Marketing” and whoever made this happen deserves a fat raise.

3/ Solana NFTs surpass ETH NFTs sales volume

Over the last few years, the Ethereum blockchain has been the King of NFTs. 

It’s had most of the traders, volume, and top collections (like Bored Apes, CryptoPunks, etc.).

Well, at some point over the weekend, Solana and Bitcoin both had more NFT volume than Ethereum.

It’s the flippening no one saw coming. We’ll see if the trend continues. 

2 THINGS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON THIS WEEK

We’ve got a BIG week ahead. And there are 2 things everyone should keep their eyes on…

1/ U.S. macro data

• The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) data are being released on Tuesday. This will give us a better idea as to whether the Fed will raise/lower interest rates next month.

• The U.S. Federal Reserve will decide whether to raise, lower, or keep interest rates the same on Wednesday. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, there’s a 98% chance interest rates will remain unchanged. 

2/ Token unlocks

In total, over $225M in crypto tokens are being unlocked this week. 

• APT is unlocking $192M worth of tokens.

• APE is unlocking $25.5M worth of tokens.

• CYBER is unlocking $7.7M worth of tokens.

Buckle up ladies & gents, if token unlocks had a middle name it’d be “Volatility”. 

Proceed with caution.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪

El Salvador is launching a new visa program offering citizenship to crypto investors. Applicants pay a $999 deposit in Bitcoin or Tether, undergo KYC, and, if approved, the deposit counts towards a $1M Bitcoin or Tether investment in return for citizenship.—DL News

YieldMax is planning to launch a new ETF focused on MicroStrategy’s stock price. The proposed fund would use a “synthetic covered call strategy” to offer indirect exposure to MicroStrategy’s share price.

Starknet Foundation teases a new token airdrop in 2024. The Ethereum layer-2 outlined a plan to distribute over 1.8 billion STRK tokens through various initiatives aimed at driving adoption and growth on the blockchain.

Reebok is teaming up with Futureverse to develop blockchain-based games and digital experiences. The goal? “Revolutionize fashion in the digital world.” 

Fidelity held a meeting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission late last week to talk about its spot Bitcoin ETF application. According to the memo, Fidelity provided a presentation called “Bitcoin ETF Workflows” that included slides that detailed "In-Kind" creation and redemption models. 

A U.S. judge ruled that Changpeng Zhao must remain in the U.S. until his sentencing date in February. The former CEO of Binance is facing charges for violating money laundering laws.

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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.