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GM. This is Milk Road, your daily crypto compass. We always point you in the right direction.

Here’s what we’re serving up today:

• The state of crypto in 3 numbers 👀

• Milk Road Court: The Netflix producer and Dogecoin ⚖️

• CNBC says Bitcoin will be more scarce than gold 🍪

THE STATE OF CRYPTO IN 3 NUMBERS 👀

I don’t know about you, but I'm a numbers guy. 

I can’t remember what I had for dinner yesterday or what my wife told me NOT to forget to get at the grocery store today. (whoops)

But numbers are my b*tch… I still remember random stuff like the first landline phone number I ever had and Kobe Bryant's stats from January 22, 2006. 

(81 points, 28/46 from the floor, 18/20 from the free throw line, and 7/13 from 3)

Weird stuff, I know. 

Well, today I'm gonna show you 3 of the most important numbers in crypto right now. Let's dive in. 

$50B - The total value locked (TVL) across DeFi protocols crossed $50B

What happened: The total value locked (TVL) across all decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols has increased from $35B in mid-October → $50B today. 

A ~43% increase in 6 weeks. Noice.  

Why this matters: This highlights two things…

1/ DeFi is seeing fresh inflows of money. Protocols like Blast, Marinade, and Jito have all seen big increases in deposits over the last few weeks. 

2/ DeFi token prices are simultaneously going up. 

Rising asset prices + more money being invested into DeFi protocols = higher TVL. 

And speaking of rising asset prices…

$700B - The market cap for altcoins hit $700B

What happened: The market cap for all altcoins (aka crypto tokens NOT named Bitcoin) just hit $700B, according to data from TradingView. 

For about 2 years, the altcoin market was stuck between ~$430B → ~$650B. It’s been one long ass game of ping pong. 

But for the first in 18 months, it’s out of that range. woogity woogity woogity

Why this matters: It could be an early sign of Altcoin Season. And crypto investors love altcoin season more than Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn love wedding season.

We’ve already seen a small taste of it too. 

A handful of memecoins and BRC-20 tokens have seen big gains recently:

• BONK: Just became the 3rd-largest dog-themed coin (behind Dogecoin and Shiba Inu).

• PEPE: Back up to $660M+ market cap.

• ORDI: First BRC-20 token to hit $1B+ market cap.

75% - Robinhood’s crypto trading volume is up 75%

What happened: Robinhood reported that crypto notional trading volumes are up 75% month-over-month. 

Vlad Tenev (CEO of the popular investment app) says the platform could eventually “reel in nine figures in annual revenue” due to the uptick in trading activity. 

And if you know anyone named Vlad, you know they mean business. 

Why this matters: The increase in crypto trading volume on apps like Robinhood shows there’s a growing appetite among retail investors. 

Coinbase is also *quietly* rising among the top Finance apps on the App Store:

• 5 days ago it was ranked #46. 

• Today it’s #26. 

Sure, all the talk about Bitcoin ETFs over the last few weeks has attracted a lot of Suits (aka institutional investors), but… 

The Hoodies (aka retail investors) are also slowly, but surely, making a comeback.

MILK ROAD COURT: THE NETFLIX PRODUCER AND DOGECOIN ⚖️

We’re back with another episode of Milk Road Crypto Court. 

It’s like Judgy Judy - except instead of dramatic financial affairs, it’s all crypto cases (still as dramatic though).

Today, we’re gonna talk about Milk Road Case #32830: The Netflix Producer and Dogecoin.

THE PLANTIFF: Carl Erik Rinsch (a filmmaker).

THE DEFENDANT: Netflix. 

Here’s the backstory:

• In late 2018, Carl was pitching the idea for a new sci-fi TV called “Conquest”. 

• All the big streaming giants were interested in buying the rights to it. Amazon, HBO, Hulu, YouTube, Netflix - you name it. 

• In the end, Netflix won the B.D. (Big Dolla) contest. They agreed to pay up to $60M for the rights to the series. 

• Carl received the first payments and the production for Conquest began. They traveled all over the world to shoot scenes for the show (i.e. Brazil, Uruguay, Budapest, etc.).

The problem? 16 months and $44M later, the show was nowhere near complete. 

They were slowly running out of money, so Carl reached out to Netflix to ask for more.

After a bunch of back and forth, Netflix agreed. But there was one condition…

The money had to be used to finish the first season of the show. Both parties agreed and Netflix wired another $11M to the production company. 

Next, Carl did the most logical thing… finish the show gamble it all. 

That’s right, according to financial statements obtained from the New York Times, Carl invested ~$6M into pharmaceutical companies and the S&P500. 

Fast forward a few months and the $6M was worth less than the lint in your pockets… $0. 

So what does Carl do next? The logical thing, duh… take the remaining $4M and finish the show invest it all in Dogecoin. 

You can’t make this sh*t up.

The good news: The Dogecoin investment jumps from $4M → $27M. The day is saved! 

Carl cashed out and wrote “Thank you and god bless crypto” in an online chat forum.

Now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for… Carl takes the money and… finishes the show goes on a spending spree. 

He allegedly bought designer clothes, high-end furniture, luxury watches, a Ferrari, and 5 Rolls Royce’s (cause 1, 2, 3, or 4 isn’t enough)!

If you need a visual, here you go:

The craziest part? Midway through it all, Netflix gave up and informed Carl they were stopping funding and support for the show.

Carl filed an arbitration case against Netflix claiming the streaming company breached their contract and owes him $14 MILLION in damages. 

The case went to a hearing before an arbitrator last month and a ruling is expected soon.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

CNBC analyst, Brian Kelly, predicts Bitcoin will become more scarce than gold. The main reason? The upcoming Bitcoin halving will limit the new supply of Bitcoin. 

BlackRock and Bitwise both filed updated applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF. (sniff sniff)… You smell that? That spot Bitcoin ETF is almost ready to be served. 

IBM launched a new cold storage product for crypto assets. It’s called Hyper Protect Offline Signing Orchestrator (OSO) and offers additional security layers including disconnected network operations, time-based security, and electronic transaction approval by multiple stakeholders.

Crypto tax evasion cases are on the rise in the U.S. According to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Criminal Investigation Unit, there’s been an increase in its caseload for crypto tax cases. 

Helium Mobile is now available across the U.S. It provides cellular phone service across the decentralized Helium network with support from T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network and lets subscribers earn crypto tokens through everyday use.

Coinbase is launching a new feature that lets users send crypto on messaging apps like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Users can share a link with friends & family that will direct them to download the Coinbase Wallet app to claim the money.

MILKY MEMES 🤣

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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.