GM. This is Milk Road, the happiest place in crypto. We make every day feel like Disneyland.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• Bitcoin is up big, is altseason coming soon? 👀

• Signature Bank gets acquired 💰

• Polygon and Immutable team up to create a new gaming network 🎮

Today's edition is brought to you by Arthouse Spirits DAO, an exclusive community with NFT memberships.

CRYPTO PRICES ARE IN THE GREEN, IS ALTSEASON COMING SOON?

Ladies & gents, crypto is on a roll. Prices are green, greed is in the air, and bags are being pumped…

• The Fear & Greed Index hit a 16-month high (68). Investors haven’t felt this greedy since Thanksgiving ‘21 when everyone was eating turkey with a side of BTC.

• Bitcoin closed the week at $28k+ for the first time in 9 months.

• Bitcoin had its biggest weekly gain (+26.11%) since April 2019. It’s been 4 years... *queue Titanic music*

If crypto was the Empire State Building, it’d be covered in green baby! 🤑

So what? Well first of all, if you’re a Bitcoin investor - congrats, you’re up big.

If you aren’t, don’t worry because Bitcoin pumps like this are sometimes followed up by….

Altseason. This is a function of the market due to new participants flooding into crypto around the same time, and can be triggered by stuff like BTC halving events or a sudden loss of faith in centralized financial systems. (*cough*.... the U.S. Federal Reserve… *cough*)

And crypto investors love altseason more than Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn love wedding season.

The Path to Altseason can be split into 4 phases:

Right now, we’re probably in the overlap part between phase 1 and phase 2. ETH is also up big (~20% over the last 7d), but it hasn’t outperformed Bitcoin yet. But we could see a bigger flow into ETH as the Shanghai upgrade gets closer & closer…

Who knows if this is exactly how it’ll play out but, buckle up crypto investors - Altseason could be coming soon.

DAOS, NFTS, AND RUM

There are three things the Milk Man loves:

• Networking with cool people

• NFTs

• A nice glass of rum

Introducing Arthouse Spirits DAO - an exclusive community with NFT memberships. Holders get access to luxury events, physical prizes, and more.

The DAO treasury is backed by real-world assets (worth $1.5m now).

Oh, and members have the option to stake their NFTs for additional yield or redeem them for a physical bottle of Dictador rum.

Looking to join?

SIGNATURE BANK GETS ACQUIRED

Signature Bank is being bought for $38.4B. And in case you missed it, the crypto-friendly bank has been through the ringer lately…

It went from being a major bank fueling crypto → getting shut down by regulators & becoming a poster child for the government’s anti-crypto crusade → getting acquired by another bank.

(*queue Jay -Z - “It’s a Hard Knock Life”*)

Who’s the buyer? Flagstar Bank - a new-ish subsidiary of the 172-year-old New York Community Bancorp.

Flagster will now be in control of almost all of Signature’s deposits, take over all 40 of the Signature locations, and get some of the loan portfolio ($60 billion of loans and $4 billion of deposits will remain with FDIC.)

But here’s the kicker: Signature’s digital asset business isn’t part of the deal.

Signature’s Signet network (how crypto companies transferred funds to fiat) is staying with the FDIC under receivership.

And someone needs to get the Febreze because something smells fishy…

There were rumors Signature was being shut down to target crypto. Regulators denied it. Now regulators have approved an acquisition for everything except the crypto business.

That’s right, folks. The FDIC got its way. Another L for us… Crypto: 0 - Regulators: 1057

But on the bright side, crypto customers will at least get their deposits back. The FDIC will use $2.5B of its Deposit Insurance Fund to pay them back directly.

Phew.

BITE-SIZED TREATS

Polygon and Immutable are teaming up to create a new gaming network. The goal? Make web3 games faster, easier, and less risky for gaming studios and developers to get involved.

Goldman Sachs has highlighted Bitcoin as the best-performing asset year-to-date. Goldman Sachs reminds me a lot of my middle school girlfriend - first, they ignore you, then they talk to their friends about how much they love you.

Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, has proposed a law to ban CBDCs. If the U.S. government does end up creating a CBDC, Florida wants no part of it.

The latest Weekly Crypto Fund Flows Report is in: a total of $95M in outflows. This is the 6th straight week funds have sold off more crypto than they bought. Ouch.

DefiLlama, a popular crypto analytics platform, has resolved its issues: the team won’t move to a new forked protocol and there won’t be a token drop. No more DefiLlama Drama.

MILKY MEMES

🤣🤣

That's a wrap for today. Meet us on Twitter to talk all about it. It’s kinda like a family BBQ but better - no screaming kids, awkward photos, or drunk uncles telling weird stories (@MilkRoadDaily)

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.

A ROADER'S REVIEW

VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY

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.