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GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that drops knowledge like the crystal ball on New Year’s.

Side Note: In Boise, Idaho, they do something called the “Potato Drop”.

It’s exactly what it sounds like… instead of a crystal ball, they drop the biggest potato you’ve ever seen.

Side Note #2: We have begun preparation for a “Cookie Drop” next year.

We will be dunking the world’s largest cookie into a 12-foot-deep pool of milk.

Anyway, here’s what we got for you today:

• Bitcoin has a new commercial 📺

• Crypto sees its biggest influx of capital in almost 2 years 🤑

• Crypto hedge funds had a bounce-back year 📊

• Treat your bag like a bar of soap 🧼

• India bans 9 popular crypto firms 🍪

5 INTERESTING THINGS TO END THE YEAR

1/ BITCOIN HAS A NEW COMMERCIAL. 

There was a Bitcoin ETF commercial going viral last week. It featured “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”

Now, a new Bitcoin ETF is getting the attention…

Milk Road Rating: 🥛🥛🥛🥛(4 out of 5) 

• Great concept - i.e. comparing the criticism around crypto now to the criticism around the internet back in the day (too slow and complicated).

• Solid slogan - “Understanding disruptive innovation takes time. Bitcoin’s time has arrived.” 

• Could’ve used a better song at the end. It needs something that will make people jump through a brick wall just to buy your ETF. It needs… Lose Yourself by Eminem. 

Btw - at this rate, we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a Bitcoin ETF commercial at this year’s Super Bowl. 

2/ CRYPTO SEES ITS BIGGEST INFLUX OF CAPITAL IN 2 YEARS. 

PSA: Everyone remain calm… 

The crypto market is seeing its largest 30-day capital inflow since January 2022. (!!)

Money flowing into crypto: ✅

Trading volume going up: ✅

Google searches on the rise: ✅

Uncle Vinny asking me about ETH: ✅ (he pronounces it “eh-th” instead of “eee-th” though).

Buckle up. 2024 is set to be a big year. 

3/ CRYPTO HEDGE FUNDS SAW BIG RETURNS IN 2023.

2022 was a rough year for crypto hedge funds. Most were down 50-90% on their investments and many ended up shutting down. 

2023 was the bounce-back year. According to Bloomberg…

• Crypto hedge funds had an average return of +44% (rebounding from a 52% loss in 2022).

• Crypto passive funds had an average return of +265%.

Talk about a comeback! 

But here’s the craziest part… even though crypto hedge funds had an “up year,” they still struggled to outperform Bitcoin.

The lesson: you don’t need to make 1,000 complicated trades to get good returns… sometimes, you just need 1 simple one. 

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We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a quick word from our sponsor…

4/ Blockchains are like cities.

All the talk around blockchains feels so heavy lately. It’s all a BD (Big Dolla) contest… 

“My blockchain has more trading volume than yours!”

“My blockchain’s token has a higher price than yours!”

Well, check it out. This was one of the best analogies I’ve seen for blockchains and how people should view them… 

Here at Milk Road, we’re big believers that the future of crypto is multi-chain (and we wrote all about it at the beginning of the year here).

There will be different blockchains for different use cases. And that’s A-OK! There’s enough crypto pie for everyone to eat - not just one blockchain. 

So let’s just leave the whole “my coin is good, yours is evil” bullsh*t in 2023.

5/ “Treat your portfolio like a bag of soap.”

I used to make a big mistake when I first started investing:

• I’d panic sell when prices dropped 20%. I told myself I’d just “cut my losses” and buy back in at lower prices…

• The “lower prices” never came and instead, it pumped 30%. I’d end up buying back in at a higher price than before, hoping to ride the wave…

• Then the wave dies and prices drop again. I’d be back at square 1 (panic sell) and would go through the whole process again…

Well, if you’re anything like the rookie-me… here’s some good advice:

The lesson: Sometimes the best thing to do is… nothing.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

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India to block URLs of Kraken, Binance, and 7 other crypto firms. The move will block Binance, Kraken, Huobi, Kucoin, Bittrex, Gate io, Bitstamp, Bitfinex, and MEXC Global after claiming that the virtual asset service providers (VASP) were “operating illegally.”

Bitcoin options trading volume hits an all-time high as the year ends. Monthly options trading volume for BTC reached an all-time high of over $38 billion across major cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges.

zkSync outpaces Ethereum in monthly transaction volume. The recent rise in transaction volume on zkSync has been attributed to the spread of inscriptions. 

Crypto users lost $1.8 billion in 2023 hacks and scams. While that's a 54% decrease from the $3.9B lost in 2022 (woohoo!), the number of attacks increased by 90% (boo!). 

A crypto wallet linked to Donald Trump has sold off ether worth $2.4 million. According to Arkham Intelligence, he started selling after months of accumulating royalties from his NFTs. His peak balance was ~$4M.

The WebAuth Wallet has carved out a unique spot for itself, utilizing its native XPR blockchain to support cryptocurrencies across a number of different blockchains. Featuring gas-free transfer with their wrapped tokens and a system where wallet addresses are just simple text names, WebAuth has created a very user-friendly experience. Check out our review of their platform here!

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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.