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GM. This is Milk Road, dishing out crypto tidbits tastier than your grandma's forbidden cookie jar.

Here’s what we’re serving up today:

• Crypto’s new big partnership 🤝

• The latest crypto scam 👀

• Throwback Thursday: the DOGEcoin millionaire 🤑

• Tornado Cash founders get charged and arrested 🍪 

CRYPTO’S NEW BIG PARTNERSHIP 🤝

There’s a new duo in crypto… Solana Labs 🤝 Shopify. 

We’ll save you a click and some reading, here’s the 30-second summary:

• Solana Pay has been added as a payment option on Shopify

• Users will be able to pay for stuff on Shopify using USDC (additional tokens like SOL, BONK, etc. might get added in the future)

• When paying with USDC, transactions will be settled almost instantly as opposed to most credit card payments which can take days to clear

• The partnership will also let Shopify merchants create new NFT loyalty programs (i.e. users that pay using Solana Pay can get discounts)

Milk Road Take: This could be big for crypto adoption.

Shopify makes up ~10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. and generates $444B worth of global economic activity.

Now those e-commerce stores have a new option to integrate crypto payments easily using stablecoins.

Merchants get fast settlement times and cheaper fees. Crypto gets mass adoption. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

But we’re always skeptical of these new web3 x web2 partnerships. There have been more unexpected hookups than during prom.

Some turn out great. Others not so much.

That’s life…. Or “c’est la vie” in French. (small Duolingo flex)

We’ll wait and see which bucket this partnership falls into.

THE NEW AGE OF TOKEN DISTRIBUTIONS

There are two things keeping crypto builders up at night: The SEC and the IRS.

Well, when it comes to avoiding the wrath of Gary and his minions, Milk Road turns to Pulley.

They help web3/crypto companies manage their tokens, allowing builders to keep their heads down and bases covered.

Pulley:

• Calculates token vesting, lockups, and withholdings to ensure an error-free distribution process with no manual calculations

• Works with payroll providers and custodians to keep companies compliant and integrated with their existing solutions

• Provides token holders with a personalized portal for their vesting, tax, and distribution information in real-time

• Is non-custodial, secure, and fully compliant

It’s time to ditch the messy spreadsheets, careless errors, and insecure smart contracts.

Save time & money managing your tokens with Pulley!

THE LATEST CRYPTO SCAM 👀

Check it out. There’s a new crypto scam you need to look out for…

Here’s how it works:

• Scammers will buy an ad for a legit crypto website on Google, with the proper URL

• When users click on the ad they get sent to an ad network to track the click, but that network redirects to a scam site instead

Basically, by using malicious ad networks that have been compromised, hackers can switch the URLs to redirect you to a fake website.

So, what can you do to protect yourself? A few things…

1/ Use an adblocker (like Adblock) to remove Google ads

2/ Bookmark popular sites you use vs. search on Google

3/ Double-check any links you click and look for anything out of the ordinary.

(In the example above, the fake DefiLlama site asked users to connect their wallets, but the legit site never requires that.)

Then, there’s also the emergency plan (not recommended at the moment): Unplug your computer. Turn off your phone. Bury both in your backyard. Never search the Internet again.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: THE DOGECOIN MILLIONAIRE 🤑

Meet Glauber Contessoto.

Nicknames: SlumDOGE Millionaire and Mr. Diamond Hands.

(looks more like the Hoarder of Toilet Paper to me)

Famous for: Investing his entire savings and credit card debt (~$250,000) into Dogecoin in 2021.

(Risky as f*ck, I know. My hands got sweaty just typing that one out.)

But it all worked out. The token pumped and Glauber became the first DOGEcoin millionaire in 2021.

He was rich, famous, and all over the news. The NY Times even wrote a profile piece all about him.

Life was good.

Then, the music stopped…

Dogecoin crashed. Then crashed again. And again. There were more crashes than in a Monster Jam truck race.

The big problem: Glauber never sold his tokens.

Fast forward to today, he says his investment is now worth $50,000.

From SlumDOGE Millionaire —> Slumdog BrokeBoy.

The lesson: never get married to your investments.

Because in crypto, you’ll lose a lot more than half of your money when you try to divorce your tokens.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪

Two founders of Tornado Cash have been charged with sanctions violations and laundering $1B+ in illicit funds. One of the founders was arrested and the other was put on the SDN list (a U.S. government list specifically for terrorists, cartels, and people who own Nickelback albums).

China launched a blockchain-powered data exchange platform. The new Hangzhou Data Exchange will facilitate the trading of enterprise IT data using distributed ledger technology.

Bitstamp announced it’s ending its staking services for U.S.-based users. Customers will continue earning staking rewards up until September 25, 2023. After that, all staked assets will be unstaked and rewards will be credited to users’ main Bitstamp account balances.

Binance.US is partnering up with MoonPay to introduce a new fiat on-ramp. Users will be able to buy USDT directly on the exchange using U.S. dollars.

Unstoppable Domains launched an instant messaging system for owners with Web3 usernames. Now users that own web3 usernames like .crypto, .wallet, and .polygon can message each other across apps that use XMTP.

MILKY MEMES 🤣

HIT THE INBOX OF 250K+ CRYPTO INVESTORS

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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.