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GM. This is the Milk Road, we help you slice through crypto news like a game of Fruit Ninja.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• What to expect in February 🗓️

• The $400M mystery is solved 🔎

• Facebook’s metaverse losses hit $4.6B 🍪

WHAT TO EXPECT IN FEBRUARY 🗓️

February is here. And two things consistently happen this month…

a) 84% of men dash to the nearest grocery store for last-minute Valentine's Day flowers (guilty as charged).

b) BTC and ETH usually see green monthly returns. In fact…

• BTC has only had 2 red February’s in its history.

• ETH has only had 1 red February in its history.

The only other month that consistently sees as much green is October (dubbed “Uptober”).

So the million-dollar question is: will February 2024 be a green month?

We can’t predict the future, but here are a few big events that could make or break the month:

• Ethereum will go through its final test for the Dencun upgrade. If it’s successful, the real upgrade could be scheduled for the end of February or early March. 

• Hong Kong regulators could approve the first BTC spot ETF later this month. It’s estimated that there are ~10 asset managers exploring ETFs in Hong Kong. 

• Token unlocks. 27 crypto projects are expected to unlock tokens worth ~$900M this month. (Milk Road Rule #58: where there is a token unlock, there is price volatility).

P.S. - if you’re curious what else is happening this month, check out the crypto calendar below:

THE $400M MYSTERY HAS BEEN SOLVED 🔎

Back in November 2022, hundreds of millions of dollars were stolen from FTX. 

It’s been a wild goose chase trying to figure out who was behind it. 

Was it… an inside job? North Korean hackers? The crew from Ocean’s Eleven?

14 months later, the mystery’s been solved…

It was a trio of SIM swappers. 

According to the Department of Justice’s investigation:

• 3 individuals carried out SIM-swapping scams targeting multiple victims, from March 2021 through April 2023.

• One of the victims was an FTX employee.

• The attackers gained access to the FTX employee’s AT&T account by using a fake ID.

• As a result, they were able to unlock FTX’s online accounts and stole ~$400M. 

So what? SIM swaps are on the rise. At the end of last year, $13M+ was stolen across 54 different SIM swap attacks. 

Here at Milk Road, we don’t want you to become just another statistic. So here are some common tips everyone should follow: 

Stay safe out there, fam.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

Constellation Network’s Enterprise Advisory Board is shaping the way that institutions integrate blockchain technology. They’re doing so by combining some of the brightest tech and finance minds from The World Bank and companies like Microsoft and JPMorgan. Meet the board here!*

Facebook’s Reality Labs reports revenue hit $1B last quarter. The bad news? The metaverse-focused team’s losses hit $4.6B. Oof. 

Polygon Labs laid off 19% of their staff. They will also be spinning out their Venture arm and digital identity group as separate organizations.

BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF overtakes Grayscale’s GBTC in daily volume. IBIT registered $304 million in trading volume compared to $292 million for GBTC.

The U.S. Department of Justice will begin surveying the electricity use of U.S. crypto miners next week. The move follows the approval of its “emergency” data collection request.

CoinShares is sharing its ETH staking yield with its clients. Investors of the Europe-listed CoinShares Physical Ethereum ETP will earn a 1.25% staking reward per year.

The average potential crypto rug pull makes $2,600 in profit. According to the report from Chainalysis, of all Ethereum ERC-20 tokens listed on DEXs in 2023, more than half met the criteria for possible pump-and-dump schemes.

*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.