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GM! This is Milk Road—Thursday vibes are here, and so is the SEC. OpenSea’s on the hot seat, and we’re sipping on the drama!

OPENSEA IS ABOUT TO BE SUED BY THE SEC ⚖️

OpenSea just entered a super exclusive club of heavy-hitting crypto companies!

The price of entry? A Wells notice from the SEC. 

(Which is kinda like an RSVP link sent by the SEC, saying “We’re planning to sue you in the near future, see you in court – xoxo, Gossip Gary.”)

It’s not what you want to see as a company.

But when you look at those that have received Wells notices before you (Uniswap, Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Robinhood, Metamask, Consensys), it almost becomes a badge of honor. 🥇

Now, Wells notices don’t lay out any charges or allegations (they’re just a warning of upcoming enforcement actions).

But given they’re sent by the Securities and Exchange Commission, it’s safe to assume that OpenSea is about to be accused of some sort of securities violation(s).

Meaning they might have had some involvement in the ‘unauthorized public sale of investment contracts.’

To put that into an NFT-centric context: 

The SEC may allege that some people are using OpenSea to sell NFTs that promise a chunk of their future business (in equity, dividends, or both) to buyers. 🖼️

(And we wouldn’t be surprised if they were right!)

Hell, Impact Theory’s ‘Founders Key’ NFT sale seemed like a pretty cut n’ dry case. 

(When you’re telling your Discord that “Buying a founders key is [l]ike investing in Disney, Call of Duty, and YouTube all at once” – you’ve definitely gone a step too far).

But while it happens, it’s very rare in the broad scheme of things (NFTs are mostly just digital art and collectibles).

And when you think about it through the lens of traditional art and collectible sales, it begins to feel like a strangely niche case for a regulator to pursue.

Ok, so where to from here?

Nothing is set in stone, but here’s what often tends to happen in these situations:

The SEC brings enforcement action against a crypto company → the company in question opts to settle, instead of entering a long/drawn out legal battle → they pay a fine → The SEC raises some revenue for the government → SEC chair Gary Gensler takes a victory lap on Twitter.

We wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happens with OpenSea – which would essentially amount to them ‘taking one for the team.’ 🫂

Because by settling out of court, no rulings will be made – meaning there will be no legal precedent set that says some/all NFTs are considered securities.

And if that happens, we’ll all owe OpenSea a beer.

CRYPTO IS BEING BUILT BY LESS THAN 8,000 FULL-TIME DEVS 🤯

You know those weirdly mesmerizing TikTok videos, where people will organize their kitchens with extreme efficiency?

This is like the crypto version of that 👇

Yup! A $2.2T asset class is being built/maintained by just 7,661 full-time devs!

(Mind. Blown. Brain. Leaking).

Wanna take it a step further? Check this out: 👀 

Crypto is outpacing Google, Amazon, and Meta by market cap, with ~70-80% less developers (that is some ungodly efficiency)!

And it gets even wilder when you break crypto’s small developer pool out across projects…

Out of the top 10, only Ethereum has more than 1,000 full-time developers – with the broader Ethereum ecosystem controlling 75%+ of overall developer focus in crypto. 🤯 

Ok, but how are crypto developers achieving such efficiency? 

(And why aren’t big tech companies trying to emulate it?)

Both the solution and problem is: open source development.

Most crypto software is open source, meaning once it has been written, anyone can copy/paste/tweak/build upon it – giving crypto devs the opportunity to borrow/iterate on market-tested designs, instead of starting from square one.

(We recently wrote about how Spark is a friendly copy/paste of Aave in our recent PRO Report)

Problem is, this open source approach doesn’t tend to gel with legacy tech companies.

Most of the big-dogs like their software to be closed n’ proprietary – meaning they’re in full control over who can use and build upon it.

And as long as this method continues to ensure they can maintain/grow both their market dominance and proprietary software offerings – it’s something they’re unlikely to change.

Meanwhile, crypto will likely continue to gobble up tech sector market share with ninja-like efficiency. 🥷 

(No complaints from us!)

MILK ROAD PRO PORTFOLIO UPDATES 📊

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… the Milk Man sharing his latest portfolio changes.

Like clock-work, every Thursday, we’re here to share our updated list of investments from the Milk Road PRO Portfolio. 

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 significant decrease over the past 7 days. Our portfolio value is at $88.4K, down 5.4% since last week.

We were a bit naive last week, hoping to finally see some green candles. Instead, the markets continue to trade in a range, perhaps quietly waiting for the storm to hit.

With U.S. Treasury buybacks underway and the Fed signaling that the time to lower rates is approaching, when can we expect new ATHs for crypto?

Or at least some solid double-digit gains from current levels?

We hope it’s soon! 🤣

Portfolio Changes 👀

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

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Binance has introduced BNSOL, a new liquid staking token powered by the decentralized Sanctum protocol. This initiative aims to enhance the liquidity of staked Solana tokens while continuing to earn rewards, which could boost the Solana network's decentralization and security​.

BET on DRIFT, the prediction market platform on Solana, surpassed Polymarket in 24-hour trading volume, reaching $20M. This surge in activity, driven by high-stakes political betting, highlights the competitive edge provided by Solana’s low fees and fast transactions​.

Sony's blockchain project Soneium has partnered with Transak to provide fiat on-ramp services. This collaboration is expected to facilitate broader adoption of blockchain technology in the gaming industry by allowing users to purchase, transfer, and trade in-game assets and NFTs.

Join forces with the Milk Man! We’re looking for a Twitter Specialist + Content Creator who can mix crypto knowledge with top-notch tweets. Think you’re the one? Apply today and let’s get this show on the road!

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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.