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GM. This is Milk Road. The newsletter that collects the best of crypto and plays it back to you each day (like your favorite mixtape).

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ✍️ Trump’s launching a $BTC ETF

• ✍️ Is this the end of the ‘memecoin supercycle?’

• 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: 2025 Crypto Investment Thesis: How to Capture Fundamentals and Pumpamentals w/ Ryan Watkins 

• 🍪 Want to put your brand in front of 300k+ of the smartest/coolest people in the crypto industry? Apply to sponsor Milk Road here!

IT LOOKS LIKE TRUMP IS PLANNING TO LAUNCH A $BTC ETF 👀

Imagine your buddy pitched you these three business ideas:

• A puppy mill

• Purse snatching

• A gambling platform

The first two might soften the third one. 

‘Cause even if there are some potential moral/legal implications behind starting a gambling platform – they’re never going to feel as extreme as a puppy mill or purse snatching.

That’s what Trump’s new plan to launch a ‘Bitcoin Plus ETF’ kinda feels like.

Are there some moral/legal conflicts here? Probably.

But seeing as it's not another memecoin of which his companies/associates could hold as much as 80% of the total supply – it feels like the least grifty thing he’s done of late.

And on the upside: the headline ‘President of the United States Plans To Launch A Bitcoin ETF’ helps to add further momentum to the broader adoption/normalization of crypto in the US.

So here’s everything you need to know about Trump’s Bitcoin Plus ETF, as well as everything else you’ve missed in the ETF space of late…

1/ Trump Media and Technology Group’s (TMTG) Bitcoin Plus ETF

This is all centered around three trademark filings for the names “Made In America”, “U.S. Energy Independence", and “Bitcoin Plus”. 👇

Here’s our guess at what these ETFs might hold…

• Made In America: US founded/run companies that are friendly to Trump

• U.S. Energy Independence: US oil and nuclear companies

• Bitcoin Plus: A basket of cryptocurrencies, with $BTC being the dominant allocation.

2/ We now have a final deadline for a Solana ETF (and it's in Q4 of this year!)

Here’s what happened…

Here’s why it’s significant…

The SEC previously refused to even give comments on any $SOL ETF filings, because they considered Solana to be an illegal security (not a commodity). 

Giving Solana its ‘day in court’ (aka: actually working with ETF issuers to see if a $SOL fund can work within the bounds of the law) is a big step forward, and general vibe shift.

PLUS! We now have a deadline for the decision – meaning if all goes well, we could have a Solana ETF on or around October 11th, 2025. 💪

(That is – if the decision doesn’t come sooner, and/or the SEC doesn’t choose to extend the review period, which they have been known to do).

3/ Crypto ETF filings are surging!

Want a leveraged $ADA, $TRUMP, or $MELANIA ETF? 

Regardless of your answer – there’s a non-zero chance you might be about to get one. There have been a TON of new ETF filings of late! 👇

Will all of the filings listed in this article (both rumored and real) get approved? Doubt it.

Do all of these tokens need ETFs? No.

Either way, the more exposure the crypto sector gets to the institutional investor class, the better – so even if there are a few filings in there that make for better headlines than they would actual funds…

We’re still chalking this up as positive forward momentum.

IS THIS THE END OF THE ‘MEMECOIN SUPERCYCLE’? 😰

Memecoins are down bad. Like, real bad.

Since their peak in early December, the sector has lost almost all of the gains it made throughout the ‘Trump Pump’. 👇

So here’s a look at the memecoins that once ruled the timeline, but have since crashed and burned.

(Followed by an overview of the assets that have held strong over the last month’s market bleed out – you know, to keep the mood up). 👇

1/ The hat stays…off?

Dogwifhat ($WIF): $4.57B → $732M (down ~84% top to present day).

2/ The Book Of Meme botches its ending worse than Game Of Thrones

Book Of Meme ($BOME): $1.1B → $137M (down ~87% top to present day).

3/ Peanut dies a second death

Peanut the Squirrel ($PNUT): $1.82B → $160M (down ~91% top to present day).

4/ The world’s first AI agent millionaire may soon be applying at McDonald’s

Goatseus Maximus ($GOAT): $1.21B → $120M (down ~90% top to present day).

5/ The first lady is about to be shopping at the Macy’s discount rack

Melania Meme ($MELANIA): $1.94B → $221M (down ~88% top to present day).

“Cool. That sucks. Could you maybe bring the vibe back up? I’m tryna start my weekend here…” – you, probably.

Say no more.

Over the past 30 days, a handful of projects with strong fundamentals have proven their staying power! Including, but not limited to: $BTC, $SOL, and HyperLiquid’s $HYPE.

These tokens have not only weathered the recent storm, but inched out some gains in that time. 👇

Which has helped to stick a big ol’ wedge between the sentiment being felt by the big dogs (professionals), and the degens (retail). 💔

The takeaway: investing in fundamentally strong assets with a long term time horizon is not only easier and less stressful – but more effective.

P.S. Want a better understanding of why assets like $SOL and $HYPE have been able to hold their ground better than others?

We just sat down with Ryan Watkins (Co-Founder @SyncracyCapital) to talk about exactly that!

In this episode, we cover:

• Is this cycle different?

• What’s Ryan's Solana thesis?

• Why is Hyperliquid set to join the majors?

• Plus a WHOLE bunch more!

You don’t want to miss it! Click below to watch now. 👇

YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

Crypto.com is planning to launch banking services. Soon, you'll be able to manage your crypto, stocks, bank account and debit cards—all in one place.**

Ondo launches a Layer 1. This might be a hot take but there are way too many L1s in the space. We don’t need that many.

Czech Republic now exempts Bitcoin from capital gains tax (if held over three years). The Czech becoming the European crypto hub? We didn’t have that on our bingo card.

VanEck predicts Solana ($SOL) could hit $520 by year’s end. In other words: don’t. fade. $SOL.

We’re hiring a social media manager! You’ll be the voice of Milk Road across X, Instagram, Youtube and maybe even more. Oh, and we’re a blast to work with.

We reviewed the best exchanges for crypto leverage trading. Spoiler alert: We think Bybit is the best. 

**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.