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GM. This is Milk Road, where crypto insights are hotter than a jalapeño dipped in Diablo sauce.

Here’s what we got today:

• Say hello to crypto’s newest blockchain 👀

• Coinbase gets regulatory approval👨‍⚖️

• McDonald’s is launching NFTs 🍪

SAY HELLO TO CRYPTO’S NEWEST BLOCKCHAIN 👀

This week was filled with one thing… new blockchains.

(Turns out blockchains are a lot like pimples in high school, new ones are always popping up.)

The latest one: Shibarium.

It’s Shiba Inu’s blockchain and the team’s big attempt at going from a memecoin → a legit crypto project.

Here’s the 60-second rundown of everything you need to know:

• Shibarium is a Layer 2 blockchain. 

• The blockchain is designed to be metaverse and NFT-oriented.

• It has high network speeds, low transaction costs, and reduced transaction fees. (the 3 things on my Christmas list this year)

• The goal is to create a technical foundation and combine all the other components of the existing Shiba Inu ecosystem. This includes tokens (like LEASH and BONES), NFTs, ShibaSwap, and more.

• The ecosystem will also include “Shibdentities” - a proof of personhood solution that lets users retain control of their data and privacy.

But there’s a big problem: The Shibarium Bridge is broken.

A bridge is a way for users to transfer tokens between blockchains. Think of it as a gateway.

But right now, Shibarium’s looks like this…

As a result, users have about $2.5M worth of crypto stuck on it.

So what now? The Shiba Inu team released a blog post this morning titled “All Is Well”.

• The team says nothing is wrong with Shibarium.

• Instead, the blockchain crashed because of the “massive influx of transactions and users at the same time”.

• The team pulled an “it’s not me, it’s you”.

It’s unclear when (or if) the funds on the Shibarium bridge will get unstuck but, for now, we highly suggest all Roaders stay away until the problem is resolved.

We’ll keep you posted with any big updates.

P.S. - We emailed the team suggesting the “unplug-it-and-plug-it-back-in” method (works like a charm for my WiFi) but turns out it doesn’t fix blockchains. Shame.

HELLO SIMPLE SWAPPING

In crypto, there’s no shortage of exchanges to swap on. In fact, there’s actually too many to keep track of.

The problem? You have to trust the site you are connecting to, fees and slippage are confusing and how can you know that you are getting the best price?

In most cases, you can’t. But MetaMask Portfolio is changing up the game.

Their swap feature aggregates data from various decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and market makers to ensure you get competitive prices and low network fees.

Within MetaMask Portfolio, you can easily swap thousands of tokens with fewer approvals, slippage protection to guard against wild price swings, and the most gas-efficient route for each trade.

This saves you time, money, and sleep at night. And it’s all from the comfort of your wallet.

COINBASE GETS REGULATORY APPROVAL👨‍⚖️

After a 2 year wait, it finally happened…

Coinbase got approval to offer crypto futures trading to retail investors in the U.S.

(btw - looks like the only acronyms missing in the announcement were ”YMCA”)

But this is a big deal. Here’s why:

• U.S. retail investors can now buy/sell futures contracts in BTC and ETH.

• It opens up opportunities for U.S. retail customers to invest in the derivates market.

• It’s estimated the global derivatives market makes up about 75% of all crypto trading, with leverage futures being a big part of that.

It’s a win-win for crypto in the U.S.

Retail investors get a new, regulated platform to invest in one of the most popular markets - the derivates market.

Coinbase gets to become the first U.S.-based crypto platform to offer regulated, leveraged crypto futures and traditional spot trading. (The OnChain Summer celebrations continue)

We’ll cheers our milk to that.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪

LooksRare's Season 3 just went live. Complete Daily Quests to earn Gems and work towards a prize pool of 1,000,000 LOOKS tokens. S3 ends October 16th.*

McDonald’s in Singapore is launching a Grimace-themed NFT on August 21st. There will be 2,000 NFTs that can be claimed for free through the McDonald’s mobile app in Singapore.

Binance Connect has shut down. Binance’s one-stop shop for crypto on-ramps and payment infrastructures launched last year but is shutting down due to “changing market and user needs”.

PayPal is temporarily pausing crypto purchases for customers in the U.K. The pause will begin on October 1, 2023, and isn’t expected to resume until early 2024.

Valkyrie filed for an Ethereum futures ETF. According to the filing, almost all of the fund’s assets will be invested in exchange-traded Ethereum futures, while a small portion will be invested in collateral investments such as cash, cash-like instruments, or high-quality securities.

Helium Mobile has officially launched to the public in Miami, Florida. The crypto-powered phone carrier is priced at $5/mo and comes with unlimited talk, text, and data.

*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.