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GM. This is Milk Road, the newsletter that gives you the same sensation as getting double-bounced on a trampoline!

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ✍️ Top 5 fastest growing apps

• ✍️ Will a BSR really do much for crypto? 

• 🥛 PRO “Where are we in the cycle?” indicators

• 🎙️ The Milk Road Show: Crypto’s Future Explained by One of Coinbase’s First Employees w/ Dan Romero 

• 🍪 Solana surges back above $200

TOP 5 FASTEST GROWING APPS (WHERE ARE THEY NOW?) 🤔

2024 was huge.

Not just for Bitcoin. Not just for the ETFs. But also for apps. 

Apps like Polymarket and EigenLayer dominated narratives for months. 

But the biggest one this year? Pump.Fun 🧪

Raul, our intern, brought us this chart to justify why he spends half his working day on Pump.Fun. 👇

Raul did manage to give us the “aha” moment when he shared this. 

But the bigger aha for us? Seeing names like Convex Finance, PancakeSwap and Aerodrome up there. 

So, we decided to do a recap of the 5 fastest-growing apps and where they stand today:

1/ Pump.fun

• Pump.Fun started the memecoin frenzy

• Had a (pump dot) slump after launching and quickly closing its livestreaming feature

• Still generating over $2M in daily revenue consistently

2/ Ethena

We loveee Ethena (so much that we hold it in our PRO Portfolio, and will be taking profits into their stablecoin, $USDe). 

Why? We covered it all in this article right here. 

Cliff notes: the frothier the market gets in either direction, the greater yields we’ll earn on our $USDe earnings. Market pumps? Great. Market dumps. Also great.

3/ Convex Finance

Now, if you’re relatively new to the crypto space, Convex might not be ringing any bells – but back in late 2021/early 2022, Convex Finance was the thing when it came to generating yield.

To be fair, they’re still the second biggest yield generating app right now but their weekly revenue has taken a serious hit over the years. 

4/ PancakeSwap

Just like Convex, PancakeSwap was an app (DEX) that peaked in 2021. 

They tried to ramp up token incentives to boost their revenues, but to no luck (long-term).

5/ Aerodrome

PancakeSwap = a decentralized exchange on Binance Smart Chain.
Token incentives did not translate to serious revenue for PancakeSwap.

Aerodrome = a decentralized exchange built on Base.
Revenue is moving in-line with token incentives (so far). 👇

$10M in weekly revenue? Impressive. 

But as is the case with all crypto projects/products: the real moment of truth will come once they turn off their token incentives. 

In other words—have they achieved product market fit? We won’t know for sure while there are incentives muddying the data.

It’s easy to do well in the beginning (just ask Convex or PancakeSwap) but tough to sustain this momentum over the long-term (again, just ask Convex or PancakeSwap). 

WILL A BITCOIN STRATEGIC RESERVE REALLY DO MUCH FOR CRYPTO? 🤔

So everyone has been giddy about a potential US BSR (Bitcoin Strategic Reserve) ever since Trump floated the idea at Bitcoin Nashville last year…

But why? Is it really THAT big a deal?

It’s not like the US would be buying more Bitcoin – it’d essentially just be giving a new title to its current $BTC holdings (which is currently just shy of 200,000 $BTC).

We’re not so cynical about it. Because even if the US just rebrands its current holdings, and doesn’t state plans to buy any more in the foreseeable future – it will still likely kick off a new crypto arms race.

Here’s our thinking:

There are certain technologies throughout history that, if not adopted, means your country is going to be left behind.

Think: gunpowder, the internet, AI…

We believe Bitcoin is one of those technologies. It’s a verifiably scarce monetary asset that no one government entity can switch off.

So if the US adds it to its balance sheet, other global nations will be forced to adopt a similar strategy or get left behind.

In fact, there will likely be a rapid cascade of countries adding BTC to their balance if the US does so.

And for every new nation state that adopts BSR’s – the less Bitcoin there is available on the open market.

(Increased demand + lowering supply = number go up).

But we’re not alone in this theory – Dan Romero (former VP at Coinbase, and co-founder of Farcaster) shares a similar view.

We sat down with Dan on today’s episode of The Milk Road Show to talk: 

• Bitcoin Strategic Reserve

• Buying Bitcoin at $97 (not a typo)

• The changing US regulatory landscape

Dan is a GOAT of the crypto space – you don’t want to miss it! 👇

YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

PRO “WHERE ARE WE IN THE CYCLE?” INDICATORS 🤔 

Crypto moves in cycles, and knowing where we are in the current cycle is crucial for capturing the best opportunities.

The goal is to spot the bull market peak before the inevitable bear market hits your bags hard.

Since timing the top perfectly is almost impossible, we use various indicators to give us a better shot at taking profits before it's too late.

Below are the 6 indicators we track, with a color-coded system to show how close they are to signalling the market peak:

🟢 Plenty of room to run 🏄

🟡 Getting closer to the top signal, but haven’t yet reached the mark ⚠️

🔴 We’ve hit the market top indicator 🚨

Every Thursday, we update these 6 indicators exclusively for PRO members.

Our advice? Don't wait for all of them to hit 🔴. It's better to take profits as they get closer to that point.

Let's dive in and see if we're anywhere near the top of this bull market. 👇

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

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Pump.fun has raked in nearly $400M in revenue. Even after its livestream scandal, it’s still pulling in strong numbers.

Solana surges back above $200. Kicking off 2025, Solana—and the entire market—is on an absolute tear.

Crypto whale is up big on its AI position. How big? Around $11.5M on its $VIRTUAL position. Bonkers.

We’re hiring! Calling the brightest minds in crypto to join our team but hurry, there’s only 4 roles left.

Looking for the best centralized exchange? After the success of our top DEXs page, we’ve put together a similar guide for the top CEXs.

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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.