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GM. This is Milk Road, the newsletter that hits stronger than your Monday morning espresso, with a double shot of crypto clarity.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• WTF is Blast? 🧐

• Life in prison for a former crypto billionaire 👀

• Coinbase stock hit its highest price since May 2022 🍪

WTF IS BLAST? 🧐

Crypto investors are like 4th graders - every few weeks, they have a new crush. 

The newest crush: Blast. 

• It’s an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network. L2s are like EZ passes for toll roads - they make transactions quick, cheap, and easy.

• It incorporates native yield for ETH and stablecoins. Users deposit money on Blast and get a % yield in return. (ETH is automatically staked with Lido to earn 4%. Stablecoins are converted to DAI and staked with MakerDAO to earn 5%).

• It was founded by “Pacman”. The government calls him Tieshun Roquerre while crypto calls him Pacman, and he’s the founder of Blur (one of the top NFT marketplaces).

• It raised $20M from Paradigm, Standard Crypto, eGirl Capital, Primitive Ventures, and a few other angel investors.

Blast launched “Early Access” last week and already has $564M in total value locked (TVL).

Why this matters: Blast is one of the fastest-growing blockchains, ever. 

It reached $500M TVL in 5 days. (!!)

That’s ~3x faster than the next blockchain on the list. (Arbitrum did it in 13 days).

But many people are also pointing out Blast has a few red flags:

🚩 It doesn’t have a “live” product yet. (The L2 network is officially launching next year).

🚩 Users can’t withdraw their funds until February 2024.

🚩 Project funds are controlled by 5 unknown multi-sig wallets. 

🚩 It claims to have “risk-free returns”. (Aka the most dangerous words known to man).

🚩 There’s a rewards system where users get “points” when they deposit money and invite other people to join. Here’s what it looks like…

Looks normal, right? Well, keep tilting your head to the left and— 

**lawyer busts through the door and whispers something in ear**

Actually, don’t hurt yourself.

Our lawyer tells me we don’t have any “reader’s neck insurance”.

So, here. We’ll tilt it for you… 

Voila. A triangle. 

And many people are calling out Blast's reward system for looking “Ponzi-like”.

Milk Road Take: Crypto projects are a lot like Tinder profiles - you get just enough info to figure out whether you want to swipe left (aka pass) or right (aka it’s a match). 

Well, Blast is the hot supermodel with a questionable bio. It has 12/10 looks, but is a “Director at Herbalife”. 

And with all the red flags (no product, no way to withdraw funds, etc.), we’re swiping left for now.

BUILDING CAN BE TOUGH - HELP IS AT HAND

You don’t have to be the Milk Man to know that blockchain technology is inherently complex to build, and talent is hard to find and trust. 

And this is just to go from 0 to 1.

While UX, security, and scalability are starting to improve, developing in these areas to a high standard, and on time and on budget is a whole different can of worms. Not the worms I like to dip in my milk.

If you’re committed to success, AE Studio can help you with your next project.

• They work closely with founders and execs to deliver high-quality blockchain and AI software solutions, and crypto is one of its specialties.

• They are trusted by crypto projects such as Protocol Labs, Magic Eden, Polygon, Dapper Labs, and even the suits over at Salesforce and Scotch & Soda.

• They are well-versed in development, design, and product strategy, providing founders the full execution of their vision.

Secure Your Spot: AE Studio is offering a complimentary consultation for a limited number of builders.

Sign up here and jumpstart your project!

LIFE IN PRISON FOR A FORMER CRYPTO BILLIONAIRE 👀

It’s been a few weeks since Sam Bankman-Fried (formerly known as SBF, or fkSBF for short) was convicted of fraud. 

Well, we recently got a sneak peek into how prison life is going for fkSBF. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, fkSBF…

• Shares a dorm with a former Honduran president and a former “top cop” of Mexico (who allegedly helped the Sinaloa cartel smuggle 50 tons of cocaine).

• Uses mackerel fish as a currency to pay for stuff like haircuts, services, etc.

• Gives out “crypto tips” to the prison guards.

• Has a specialized laptop that he can only use in a room that “has desks separated by plastic dividers”. 

Crazy... a year ago, fkSBF was a billionaire that traded crypto tokens and was being called “the next Warren Buffet”. 

Today, he’s a convicted fraud trading mackerel fish and has to use plastic dividers on his desk like it was a 3rd-grade Math test. 

Life comes at you fast.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪

Bakkt® has been helping businesses navigate crypto responsibly through custody, trading, and onramp solutions. All backed Bakkt by multi-layered security.*

JPMorgan estimates that Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust could face $2.7B of outflows. JPMorgan analysts suggest that if the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust receives approval to transform into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, investors might withdraw as much as $2.7 billion. — DL News

Coinbase stock price hits highest value since May 2022. The U.S. crypto exchange’s stock is up ~250% YTD.

KyberSwap was hacked for $47M. The decentralized exchange is offering a 10% bounty to the hacker in an attempt to get the funds back. 

Do Kwon's extradition was approved by the Montenegro court. Kwon has agreed to be extradited to South Korea, but the Minister of Justice of Montenegro will make a final decision on where he will be sent (either South Korea or the U.S.).

A Bitcoin user paid a $3M transaction fee. It’s the largest Bitcoin transaction fee in history. Ouch.

UK investment funds have been given the green light for tokenization by a government working group. The UK Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and investment managers like BlackRock are all part of the collaboration. 

*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.