Today's edition is brought to you by Blockscout - the block explorer that’s smoother than your morning milk. Browse dApps and data across 600+ EVM chains, and start your day right.

Explore like never before with Blockscout.

GM! This is Milk Road, where we bring you crypto news quicker than a Telegram bot can spam your DMs. Let’s sift through the noise and find the real alpha!

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ✍️ Telegram CEO arrested by French gov.

• ✍️ What to watch for this week

• 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: The Crypto Invention That Matters More Than Bitcoin w/ Tether co-founder

• 🥛 We’re hosting an AMA

• 🍪 PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD hit a $1 billion market cap

TELEGRAM CEO ARRESTED BY FRENCH GOV. 🚓

Centralization = Great power and great responsibility.

Decentralization = No worries.

(Shout outs to Uncle Ben, Timon, and Pumbaa).

Over the weekend, this law of nature was highlighted when Telegram’s co-founder / CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France over allegations that Telegram failed to moderate illegal content on its platform (including drug trafficking, child exploitation, and fraud). 🚨

All terrible things – and if found guilty, Pavel could spend up to 20 years in prison (!).

Right, so where does centralization come into the equation?

Telegram is a centralized platform, with a known CEO, i.e. a system with two points of failure:

1. A centralized server farm that can be switched off 🖲️

2. A CEO that can be arrested/coerced 👮🏼

So if a state power doesn’t like that Telegram’s encrypted messaging feature (which is switched off by default) offers privacy to its 900M monthly active users – they know where to apply pressure in order to get those guard rails lowered.

Which isn’t a problem suffered by decentralized systems. 

Because in relinquishing control over a system, the responsibility to oppose or cooperate with outside influences no longer falls on any one person, company, or entity 👇

Here’s why you should care (whether or not you use Telegram):

1/ This is having a direct financial impact on crypto holders

Telegram’s $TON token is already down 18% over the trailing 7 day period (...can you guess when the news broke?👇).

Even if you’re not a $TON holder, this is a stark reminder that the existence of robust decentralized systems is deeply important when weighing your crypto investment options.  

2/ A large portion of the Crypto Community lives on Telegram (second only to X/Twitter)

(For a community obsessed with decentralization, we sure do spend a lot of time on centralized platforms). 

The risk: With a handful of terms-and-conditions updates, the crypto community could have its voice and reach suppressed across the vast majority of platforms it calls home.

3/ Decentralized blockchain technology just took center stage in web2

Facebook, X, Whatsapp, Signal, iMessage…they all have the same end-to-end encryption features that made Telegram damn near impossible to moderate.

Which means embracing decentralized blockchain technology likely just went from ‘PR stunt’ to ‘method of self preservation’ in the eyes of these companies (and their CEOs).

Let’s finish up by zooming out – like, way out – beyond just crypto.

Looking at the future of online privacy, we have two clear strategies to choose from:

1. Hope: We continue to rely on centralized platforms and pray those in control don’t buckle under increased pressure from governments.

2. Certainty: We build on decentralized systems with no single point of failure and preserve our collective privacy.

(Hint: hope is not a strategy).

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK 📅 

Another week, another Macro/Earnings/Unlocks milk shake, blended to perfection! 

Here’s what’s on the horizon:

1/ Macro events 📊

Here’s the line up this week: 

• CB Consumer Confidence - Tuesday: Aka, a ‘consumer vibe check’ – are we all feeling positive about our economic outlooks (and ready to spend)?

• Q2 2024 GDP data - Thursday: Did the economy grow or contract in Q2? We’ll find out on Thursday.

• Personal Income / Personal Spending MoM - Friday: Is everyone earning more and spending less (vice versa, or somewhere in between)? 

• July PCE Inflation data - Friday: This looks for changes in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers in the United States.

Why It Matters: Last Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced he’d seen enough economic cooling to warrant rate cuts. Which is the announcement we’ve all been waiting for!

Now that rate cuts are all but confirmed – we want to make sure that the economy’s cooling doesn’t get too icey. 🧊

We want expectations to be largely met, not missed to the downside.

That way when rate cuts do show up, they’re supporting a healthy economy (instead of trying to save a broken one).

2/ Earnings Season 💣

Yep. It’s happening…

NVIDIA, the current golden child of the S&P 500, is reporting its earnings this week – and sadly for just about everyone else on this list, it’s going to gobble up the most attention.

Why? Cause investors see NVIDIA as a direct proxy for the broader tech industry. 

If NVIDIA is still kicking goals and meeting/beating its revenue targets (as a $3T company), it means there’s still a whooole bunch of demand for its computer chips (which are fueling the AI boom).

3/ Token unlocks 🔓 

Good news! We’re getting a slight breather from last week’s $210.15M in token unlocks, with $173.39M between now and Sunday.

The bulk of this is coming from:

• $SUI: $61.04M (2.5% of circulating supply) on Thursday

• $OP: $47.01M (2.6% of circulating supply) on Wednesday

• $ZETA: $29.15M (15.7% of circulating supply) on Thursday

Market absorption of $SUI and $OP’s 2.5% and 2.6% unlocks seem manageable…$ZETA’s? A little less so.

Good news is, the largest chunk is going towards the ecosystem’s core contributors, which should help fund future growth. 🚀 

PEELING BACK THE CURTAIN ON TETHER 🎙️

Fun fact: 

Did you know that Tether, the stablecoin famously known to be pegged to the US dollar, isn’t actually pegged to the US dollar??

Neither! But we learned that and a whole bunch more on the latest episode of The Milk Road Show with Tether co-founder, William E. Quigley.

In this episode, we cover:

• The impact of stablecoins on the crypto market 💵

• The relationship between Tether and the US government ⚖️

• The benefits that stablecoins like Tether bring to crypto users 🙌

Click below to stream it now! 👇

YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

ICYMI: WE’RE HOSTING AN AMA 🥛

We’re hosting a PRO-only AMA this Wednesday, August 28th, inside the Milk Road PRO Discord.

We’ll cover:

• Market Outlook and Sentiment

• Investment Strategies

• Risk Management

• Blockchain Technology and Innovation

• Macro-Economic Impact on Crypto

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

Blockscout is your next-level block explorer. Multi-chain, highly configurable, and open-source, this essential DeFi tool gives access to all chain data and dApp functionalities. *

The Tron DAO Reserve removed $732M in $BTC collateral from the $USDD stablecoin without a DAO vote, raising concerns about its decentralization. Justin Sun assured that the collateralization rate remains above 230% and hinted at future upgrades​. - DL News

PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD hit a $1 billion market cap, largely driven by its deployment on Solana. Solana now holds 64% of PYUSD's market cap. Incentives from Solana’s DeFi protocols have fueled this growth​.

Buenos Aires high schools are integrating Ethereum and blockchain into their curriculum. This initiative includes hands-on blockchain internships and Solidity programming courses. It aims to open new career paths for students​.

RFK Jr. exits the 2024 race, with Trump leading Polymarket betting odds at 51%. Speculation rises about RFK Jr.'s potential role in Trump's administration, as Kamala Harris sees her odds slip to 47%.

*this is sponsored content

MILKY MEMES 🤣

RATE TODAY’S EDITION

ROADIE REVIEW OF THE DAY 🥛

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.