Today’s edition is brought to you by Consensus Toronto (May 14-16) - the crypto conference where shit gets done. 

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GM. This is Milk Road, the newsletter that breaks down crypto conferences into bite-sized takeaways. 

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ✍️ Top takeaways from Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit

• 🥛 Milk Road PRO Portfolio updates

• 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: Everyone Missed This Fed Move — But It Could Send Bitcoin to $250,000 w/ Arthur Hayes

• 🍪 Trump media and Crypto.com are teaming up to launch a series of ETFs

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM DAS

Before you dive into this edition, grab yourself a tall glass and fill it with milk. 

Every time you read something that excites you, take a sip. 

I have two simple goals today:

• Make sure your glass is empty by the end

• Keep you hydrated

Simple enough? Alright, lessgo. 

We’ve seen some serious bullish energy coming out of DAS over the past week. 

DAS = Digital Asset Summit = Blockworks’ conference for protocol investors (aka the big boys with the big money - institutions).

We initially planned a story titled “The good and the bad from DAS” but with so many positive takeaways coming out of the conference, our hand was forced. 

So, here are the top bullish takeaways from DAS that you might have missed: 

1/ The first time a sitting U.S. president addressed a crypto conference

(You better be taking a sip just reading that sentence.)

There are a lot of people downplaying this speech because there was no “big announcement” from Trump. 

But the sole fact that the President of the U.S. took time out of his day to record a speech for a crypto conference speaks volumes already. 

It re-emphasizes the one thing the crypto space has been waiting for: The U.S. is finally opening up to crypto.

(click the image above to watch Trump’s 3-minute speech and get ready to take a few bonus sips.)

2/ 2025 = the year of crypto M&A

We touched upon this last week when we saw the largest crypto acquisition ever with Kraken acquiring NinjaTrader for $1.5B. 

But it seems like Coinbase is now asking Kraken to hold its beer:

For those of you who are visual learners, here’s an image that sums up M&A in crypto over the past 6 months:

(Still have milk in your glass? Don’t worry, scroll to the next article and it should be emptied by the time you finish...)

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM DAS (cont)

…and we’re back. Remember to refill your glass if you’re a big-sip kinda guy. 

3/ The crypto market is showing signs of maturity

Seems like we’re moving from “crypto will revolutionize the banking system” to “crypto is going to improve current TradFi systems”. 

We’re not entirely sure how to feel about this. 

On one hand, institutions finally see a real use case for crypto and are diving in.

But at the same time, it feels like Bitcoin’s original vision to completely revamp the financial system is slowly being left behind (Jeff Park from Bitwise wraps up this contrast very thoroughly here). 

4/ Institutions, institutions & institutions

This is probably the biggest takeaway from DAS: “Institutional direct allocation is real, tangible & happening very quickly”.

(If that doesn’t make you chug the rest of your milk, I don’t know what else to do.)

Big boy money is coming into the space & it’s only going to increase over time. 

“But which sectors are institutions most interested in?”
- You (probably)

The answer is short & simple 👇

(come back tomorrow to understand how to capitalize on these themes.)

Now, that was a pretty chunky edition so let me just wrap up the key takeaways:

1. The U.S. is finally opening up to crypto 

2. The M&A floodgates are wide open

3. The crypto space is evolving and maturing

4. Institutions are coming (for real this time)

Hard to be bearish after all that, right? 

(P.S. If you still are, we’d love to hear why. Reply to this email and let us know!)

“WE WILL TOUCH $100K BEFORE HITTING $80K”

When this man speaks, the entire crypto space pays attention.

Just yesterday, Arthur Hayes dropped a tweet about where Bitcoin is heading next. 

And today, he’s joining the Milk Road Show to talk about:

• That tweet 👆

• Why the memecoin frenzy is over

• The impact of Trump’s tariffs on crypto

Wanna understand the theory behind his predictions? Click below to listen! 👇

YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

MILK ROAD PRO PORTFOLIO UPDATES 📊

Green week, baaaaby!

It’s been a while since we had one but we’re not getting fooled just yet.

How long will the green last? And what’s keeping us from going full-send bullish?

We’re answering exactly that in this week’s Milk Road PRO Portfolio update! 

Go PRO and keep scrolling to find out. 👇

Disclosure: We are not a day trading portfolio so don’t expect a high volume of trades. Read our “how to build a crypto portfolio in 2024” report to learn more about our portfolio strategy.

Portfolio performance 📈 

The Milk Road PRO Portfolio saw a moderate increase over the past 7 days. Our portfolio value is at $80.7K, up 9% since last week.

Finally, a bit of relief—a green week for the portfolio. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re back on a full-blown bull run just yet.

There are still lingering macro concerns that need to play out, and the market needs a stronger dose of optimism around future economic growth before we can confidently call it a new bull trend.

Portfolio changes 👀

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

Crypto wallets just got a major UX update. With Okto, you don’t need to hold the native tokens for gas anymore. But wait, there’s more…*

You can now make deposits on Polymarket using Solana. I know I said there would be less Solana content with Chevy gone but that’s a pretty cool integration.

Blackrock continues to do Blackrock things. They’ve now launched a Bitcoin ETP in Europe. More institutional money coming soooon.

Trump media and Crypto.com are teaming up to launch a series of ETFs. Most of these ETFs will include Crypto.com’s token $CRO (no surprise here).

If you’re looking to explore leverage trading, Bybit is a top choice. If leverage is not your thing, Bybit is still a sweet spot to invest. It’s got a little bit of everything.**

*this is sponsored content.
**this is partner 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.