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GM. This is Milk Road, the daily crypto newsletter that’s all hugs, no rugs.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ✍️ Did Base just rug its users?

• ✍️ Things aren’t as bad as they feel

• 🥛 PRO “Where are we in the cycle?” indicators

• 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: This Market Is Built on Hope (And That’s a Problem) w/ Lord Fed & Kyle Reidhead

• 🍪 We have a rate cut!

THE “BASE IS FOR EVERYONE” MEMECOIN DEBACLE 🥴

Did Base just RUG its community w/ a memecoin?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: no – but it’s MURKIER than we’d like it to be…

Here’s everything that just went down.

1/ Yesterday afternoon, Base tweeted this…

Totally harmless…

2/ Sixty seconds later – a Zora post was linked in the comments, by Base

Zora is a content tokenization platform. 

Think: onchain Instagram. You post content to the feed → people can buy its token.

I.e. Base, one of the most recognizable brands in crypto (which is famously WITHOUT a token) links to a tokenized post, made in its name…

(One guess at what’s going to happen next)

3/ The “Base is for everyone” token RIPS, DIPS, RECOVERS n’ PLATEAUS

→ Market cap rips from $0 to $17M in a few hrs 🍾

→ Dips 94% shortly after (down to a market cap of $1M) 🤬

→ Recovers over the next few hrs, getting as high as $20M 😏

→ Drops from its peak and plateaus at ~$11.5M as of this writing 🤷‍♂️

So…was this a RUG PULL from Base?

We’re comfortable locking in ‘No’ as the answer here.

We can’t imagine Base is going to intentionally tank its reputation for a slice of a $20M marketcap memecoin. We believe them when they say:

“Base is posting on Zora because we believe everyone should bring their content onchain, and use the tools that make it possible.”

But at the same time:

It’s not like this was hard to see coming / avoid altogether.

Sure, Base says Zora is a content platform that brings ‘Memes, Moments, and Culture’ onchain.

But if I ask my gambling addicted uncle (shout out to Steve) if he wants to go on a ‘cultural tour of Las Vegas’ – I know what the outcome is going to be.

If you’re Base and you post a link to a tokenized piece of content in your comments, you can probably make similar assumptions re: outcome.

COTD: THINGS AREN’T AS BAD AS THEY FEEL 📊

I don’t want to sound like a mid-western parent asking their clinically depressed kid ‘Have you tried going for a walk? A bit of fresh air will fix you right up!’

…but I’m going to do it anyway.

First off, I hear you: 

The market vibes are in the gutter right now – prices are down, most assets are struggling to recover, and an end to the uncertainty feels far off…

But have you tried going for a walk looked at this chart?

Over the past five bull cycles it’s been a standard to see 36%-72% pullbacks before new all-time highs are hit!

And so far, this cycle’s pullback is the lowest of them all, coming in at 33%!

Plus – zooming out – Bitcoin is still up 39% over the last twelve months!

Moral of the story: 

Things aren’t as bad as they feel. 🤝

Want some more Bitcoin related feel-good news? 

Go PRO and keep scrolling to the next section to get just that…

PRO “WHERE ARE WE IN THE CYCLE?” INDICATORS 🤔 

Bitcoin looks like it’s ready to reverse…but it’s likely going to need some macro catalysts to do so.

We’ll be covering what those catalysts are (and more) in today’s “Where are we in the cycle” PRO section!

ICYMI: crypto moves in cycles, and knowing where we are in the crypto cycle is crucial for capturing the best opportunities.

Here are the 6 indicators we track, with a color-coded system to show how close they are to signaling the market peak:

🟢 Plenty of room to run 🏄

🟡 Getting closer to the top signal, but haven’t yet reached the mark ⚠️

🔴 We’ve hit the market top indicator 🚨

Every Thursday, we update these 6 indicators exclusively for PRO members.

Our advice? Don't wait for all of them to hit 🔴. It's better to take profits as they get closer to that point.

Let's dive in and see if we're anywhere near the top of this bull market. 👇

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

What’s the best platform to lend your Solana? We’ve put together a page on Solana lending that answers exactly that.

Trump to launch a Monopoly-style crypto game. We’ll just go ahead and add blockchain game to the growing list of Trump’s crypto ventures: NFT collection, memecoin and DeFi project.

What’s the similarity between $SOL and $TRUMP? They both have token unlocks this week.

We have a rate cut! Nope, not from the US but from the ECB. This is now their 7th consecutive rate cut.

We’re hosting meetups, baaaby! In case you’re heading to Consensus Toronto or Permissionless in New York, come grab a beer with the Milk Road crew. We’ll see you there!

Whether you’re interested in trading spot, futures or even options - OKX is the place to be. They’ve got something for everyone.**

**this is partner content.

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VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY (FROM THE LATEST MOVIE)

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