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GM. This is Milk Road, the newsletter that drops crypto insights faster than you can say Worcestershire Sauce.

Here’s what’s on the menu today:

• Ethereum’s new roadmap 🗺️

• These NFT holders just got airdropped some company equity 💰

• “Bitcoin can’t be killed” - Jim Cramer 🗣️

• Crypto exchange volume cracks $1T for the first time since 2022 🍪

ETHEREUM’S 2024 ROADMAP 🗺️

Ethereum’s latest roadmap dropped last week. 

It’s broken up into 6 parts… The Merge, The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge. (Is this a roadmap or Dr. Seuss’ long-lost book?)

Without further adieu, here’s what it looks like:

Now, if you’re anything like me (average IQ and proud), your reaction to seeing the image above was probably something along the lines of…

… but don’t you worry. This is Milk Road. We help you get smarter about crypto, without ever making you feel dumb. 

So here’s the Ethereum Roadmap for Dummies:

1/ The Merge. Goal = move to a decentralized proof-of-stake consensus. 

This makes ETH more environmentally friendly, deflationary, and introduces a sustainable staking yield. (Btw, this happened back in Sept. 2022).

2/ The Surge. Goal = Increase transactions per second (TPS) to over 100,000.

This makes Layer 2s faster and cheaper for users and opens up unique use cases that depend on high TPS. (Many projects have been waiting for this upgrade to launch on L2s).

3/ The Scourge. Goal = mitigate centralization concerns in the Ethereum PoS design (particularly around MEV and liquid staking).

L2s and liquid staking have gotten a lot of heat for “taking away” from Ethereum’s decentralization lately. The Scourge is aimed at solving this.

4/ The Verge. Goal = make verifying blocks easier (i.e. download data, perform a few basic computations, verify, and you’re done).

This leads to more efficient data and node structure. 

• More efficient data causes less congestion on the network and allows it to scale more easily. 

• A more efficient node structure allows easier participation for the average user. Right now you need 32 ETH to run a node, or you need to pay a service fee to a liquid staking provider.

5/ The Purge. Goal = to simplify the protocol, eliminate technical debt, and limit costs of participating in the network by cleaning old history.

This purifies old network data and makes the network more efficient overall. 

6/ The Splurge. Goal = fix everything else.

This is where smaller updates will be made to ensure everything runs smoothly from previous updates. Vitalik calls this “the fun stuff” since all the hard work is done by this stage. 

This roadmap will likely take several years to complete, but it’s still pretty cool to see where Ethereum has been, where it is today, and where it’s headed in the future. 

P.S. - if you want to see what other Ethereum improvements are happening this year, you can check ‘em out here.

THESE NFT HOLDERS JUST GOT AIRDROPPED COMPANY EQUITY 💰

2 NFT projects did something really cool recently… they gave NFT holders some company equity. 

1/ The Plague NFT holders received equity as a “Christmas gift”.

Here are the details:

• The percentage of equity that holders receive will depend on stuff like the # of NFTs held, HODL duration, community contributions, PFP usage, etc. 

• To receive the equity, they will need to hold their NFTs until the shares are vested. 

• The company is being restructured from an LLC to a C-Corp and will be split into 60% preferred shares and 40% common shares. 

• The founder (“Pons”) will keep the preferred shares and 1/4th of the common shares - the rest (i.e. 3/4ths of the common shares) will be distributed to NFT holders.

• The shares do not come with voting rights, but if any dividend distributions were to happen, all common stockholders would be equally eligible for them.

2/ Rektguy NFT holders received equity in Rekt Brands.

Here’s everything you need to know: 

• People who held Rektguy NFTs at the time of the snapshot are getting equity in Rekt Brands Inc. 

• Rekt Brands owns and controls the Rektguy contract, the Rekt logo, the Rekt IP, and all the goodwill Rektguy has built.

• Trading Rektguy NFTs will not transfer any equity. Side note: The NFTs will also remain CC0, a way for creators to give up their copyright.

Pretty cool. But, I know what you’re thinking… is this legal?

Short answer: Yes. (And if you want a longer answer, check out this Q&A thread).

The key “loophole” is that no one knew about it. It was a surprise. (And one helluva surprise at that).

This means… holders didn’t buy the NFTs with any anticipation of receiving any company equity.

Milk Road Take: Many NFT collections sold out with hopes of turning into businesses or brands that are “owned by the community”, but that hasn’t really panned out… until now. 

It’ll be interesting to see if other NFT collections (finally) do it and follow in The Plague and Rektguys’ footsteps.

“BITCOIN CAN’T BE KILLED” - JIM CRAMER 🗣️

Jim Cramer is back at it. He’s talking about Bitcoin on TV again. 

Except this time, he said it can’t be killed and it’s “here to stay”...

Now, usually, people talking about Bitcoin on national TV is a good thing… but not in this case. This is an investor’s worst nightmare.

That’s because Jimbo here is known for having the Anti-Midas Touch™…

Everything he touches turns into gold sh*t.

• In 2008, Jim famously said: “Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money out.” A week later, it collapsed and kicked off a financial crisis. Bear Stearns was indeed not fine.

• In 2012, Jim predicted companies like Best Buy and Netflix would crash. They both jumped over 120% within 6 months. 

• Last year, Jim defended Silicon Valley Bank and said concerns about it were “not justified.” A month later, it collapsed and became the biggest banking failure since 2008.

Well, looks like this is might end of the road for Bitcoin. It was fun while it lasted. R.I.P.

It’s survived attacks from the media, hackers, government, and grandmas all calling it “the devil’s tech”. 

But it now faces its toughest battle yet… Jim Cramer’s bullishness. *gulp*

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

Alternative Assets are hot right now. Stay on the cutting edge with Vincent's weekly alts newsletter Spotlight. Subscribe now.*

Crypto exchange volume cracks $1 trillion for the first time since late 2022. December’s rise in volume was likely spurred by the anticipation of spot bitcoin ETFs gaining approval, according to The Block’s research director.

A crypto wallet founder lost $125,000 to a fake airdrop scam. Watch out, Roaders! Remember to double quadruple-check all links before clicking on them.

F1 team Sauber agrees to a two-year deal with crypto casino Stake. The Swiss racing team will now become “Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.”

FTX’s bankruptcy could go on for years, legal expert says. That’s because of multiple clawback claims where FTX lawyers are trying to recover the money spent by the failed exchange before its bankruptcy.

Arbitrum and Optimism tokens trade near all-time-high price levels. Business is boomin’ for the top 2 Layer 2’s.

*This is sponsored content

MILKY MEMES 🤣

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VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY

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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.