Today’s edition is brought to you by LightLink – an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain that lets dApps and enterprises offer users instant, gasless transactions.

Join LightLink’s token distribution on Fjord Foundry.

GM. This is Milk Road. We’re like that one friend who always has the juiciest gossip — except ours is all about crypto and totally legal.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• WorldChain - the first blockchain without bots? 🤖

• 3 things to know before the Bitcoin halving tomorrow 👀

• We will likely not see rate cuts in May 😢

• This ‘Big 4’ accounting firm is using the blockchain 🍪 

CRYPTO’S FIRST BOT-LESS ETHEREUM LAYER 2? 🤖

Ethereum L2s are like travel destinations – even though there are so many to choose from, you’re still excited when you find a new option.

Well, we found one — WorldChain — WorldCoin’s own L2 launching this summer. And it has a twist. It is claiming a big fat zero on the bot-o-meter. 

How it works:

1/ Everyone can use WorldChain – it is permissionless and open.

2/ Verified users get free gas (to an extent) and their transactions are processed faster, while bots are left behind – like those in crypto who aren't reading Milk Road.

3/ To be a verified user you need to scan your eyeball with WorldCoin’s Orb – once you do, you get a verified profile on the WorldID App. 

This ID-verification concept is called “proof of personhood” and over 5M folks have eyeballed their way to a WorldID, through the Orb.

4/ The result – 0 bots. And that’s why WorldChain is unique. 

🥛 Milk Road Take: This is a crazy (yet kinda cool) project…and we see 4 big winners here…

• Users – they get a blockchain with fewer bots, less friction & some gas-less transactions. Noice.

• WorldCoin – they get a new way to make some moolah once the 5M+ people use and pay up the gas on WorldChain. (Just look at Coinbase, who’s already raked in $33M+ in profits since launching their L2, Base.)

• Ethereum – because this is yet another L2 helping it scale. 

• Optimism – WorldChain is built on the OP Stack (a toolkit that allows devs to easily build an L2) – like Base, Mode, or Zora. Plus, 15% of WorldChain’s revenue goes straight to the Optimism Foundation.

We’ll be keeping a close eye to see if WorldChain ends up becoming a contender in the L2 Race.

3 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE THE BITCOIN HALVING 👀

Bitcoin’s price will be cut in half – from $60k to $30k. Just kidding, don’t freak out!

Here’s everything you really need to know:

The miner rewards will be cut in half 

Instead of issuing ~900 BTC per day, the Bitcoin network will only spit out ~450 BTC per day.

Less issuance = Less inflation 🥳

But you probably already knew that. So let's dive into the juicier bits—the supply and demand of Bitcoin. We have an in-depth PRO Report on this here.

Here’s the too-long-didn’t-read (TL;DR) version: 

Nobody is selling

• Bitcoin on exchanges is at a 5-year low

• There are more long-term holders & whales than ever

• 45% of the Bitcoin supply hasn't moved in 3+ years – an all-time high

PLUS: 7% of the BTC supply is lost forever because people lost their keys or sent coins to the wrong addresses.

Demand is through the roof 

This year, 98,512 Bitcoin has been mined, but check this out: 

• ETFs snapped up 218,500 BTC

• MicroStrategy grabbed 25,100 BTC

• Tether nabbed 17,700 BTC

Together, these three alone bagged 261,300 BTC—2.6 times the minted amount this year. 

And that's not even counting the haul from retail, other big players, or Bitcoin-loving governments like El Salvador.

Bottomline: Demand is going up 📈 Supply is going down 📉

P.S. - if you want to nerd out some more on the Halving, check out this thread.

THE FED LIKELY TO NOT CUT RATES SOON 😢

I know what you’re thinking… If everything’s so bullish, WHY THE F*CK are prices tanking? 🤬

Answer: Because of FED Chair, Jerome Hayden Powell – also known on the streets as Big Dog JHP.

Here’s the deal: No rate cuts, no party. Yes rate cuts, Valhalla, baby. 🚀

For the FED to even think about trimming rates, inflation needs to chill out. (Spoiler: It hasn't)

March's CPI hit 3.5%. The FED’s target? 2%. 

Earlier this week, JHP admitted that there’s no progress on taming inflation. So, expectations for rate cuts have hit a low not seen since last October.

Mark your calendars: the next FOMC showdown is from April 30th to May 1st – but don't hold your breath for cuts.

GET YOUR MILK READY - WE’RE HOSTING AN AMA 🥛 

You’ve got questions, we’ve got the answers (hopefully)…

Next Wednesday (April 24th) at 12PM EST, we’re hosting a PRO-only AMA in Discord — this is your chance to hang out with the Milk Road crew and get any questions answered!

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

A sustainable P2E? Nearly a year in and this P2E is still giving away $30k in tokens a day with 25k people playing daily.*

Tether announced a plan to reorganize the company into 4 new divisions. “Tether Finance” will manage the USDT stablecoin, “Tether Power” will manage investments in Bitcoin mining. “Tether Data” will oversee strategic investments, and “Tether Edu” will house education initiatives. 

Aptos Labs is teaming up with Microsoft, Brevan Howard, and SK Telecom to build a new institutional platform. ‘Aptos Ascend’ will provide the world’s financial institutions, banks, and tech-forward money markets with a performant, compliant, secure, and scalable gateway to decentralized finance on Aptos.

Kraken launched a new crypto wallet. The self-custodial wallet will initially support 8 blockchains - including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Dogecoin.

TikTok’s parent company, BytePlus, is partnering up with Mysten Labs to enhance web3 gaming and SocialFi apps on the Sui blockchain. BytePlus will collaborate with Mysten Labs to offer various services to Sui, including recommendation solutions and augmented reality products.

Ernest & Young (EY) plans to use Polygon’s proof-of-stake (PoS) for business contracts. The ‘Big 4’ accounting firm revealed an enterprise contract management service that would let clients put contracts on a public blockchain while keeping business information private through zero-knowledge circuits.

*This is sponsored content

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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.