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GM. This is Milk Road – a ragtag team of nerds, scouring news feeds and events to bring you the inside word on crypto.

Here’s what we got for you today:

5 TAKEAWAYS FROM PERMISSIONLESS III 🧐

Ah, crypto conferences…

The events we go to in order to glean insights from the greatest minds of our industry.

(And then watch a few of them fight in a three round kickboxing event for some reason).

Last week we were at Permissionless III, in Salt Lake City – here’s everything you missed, that’s worth knowing:

1/ Gaming isn’t back…but it also isn’t dead

There was a huge gaming presence at the conference, and while we didn’t have any “oh, we’re so back!” moments – it was clear that the web3 gaming sector still has a bunch of money and developer focus behind it.

The standout for us was The Readyverse (made in collaboration with the guy that wrote Ready Player One).

Think of it like Roblox for adults. An open world metaverse with triple A graphics, where you can play games made by third party developers. 

This is the toned down demo that we played 👇(sparse, but still better than anything Zuck has given us).

2/ There’s growing consensus that all successful L1s will eventually get L2s (yes, even Solana)

The basic gist here is:

Some will use L2s to scale transactions (Ethereum), while others will use them to add functionality (Solana). 

Solana is fast enough for most use cases right now, but for builders that need new and very specific functionality from the Solana blockchain – they have two options:

3/ No new frens

We were watching the live edition of the 1000x podcast and Mike (the moderator/co-founder of Blockworks) asked everyone to raise their hands if they were new to the space (within the last 1-2 years).

In a room of 200 people, no one raised their hands.

4/ ChatGPT is swallowing Google Search

Same room, different question: 

“Who here uses ChatGPT to search the internet more than they do Google?”

~50% of the room raised their hands.

5/ Institutions are entering the community (but not the market)

BlackRock's CIO, Samara Cohen, gave us the inside word on institutional investment in the blockchain space.

She says that most institutions are yet to take a position in either of the US-based crypto ETFs, saying we should expect them to enter 6 months, to 2 years from now.

And while a lot of big names are building in the space, they’re mostly just experimenting – not actually launching (thanks to the harsh regulatory environment in the US).

Oh, and BONUS: General sentiment was that Q4 and 2025 are both going to be massive.

Alright, that’s everything you need to know!

$BTC BREAKS OUT (AND PROMPTLY REVERSES ITSELF) 📈📉

Eight looong months…

That’s how long Bitcoin has been in this descending channel.

But it looks like it’s trying to break out! (...again). 🎉

Now – before you say it! We know.

This will not be confirmed on the weekly time frame until 8pm ET on Sunday, when the current candle closes and a new one starts…

If the candle is above the upper white line – we’ll have broken out, indicating potential bullish momentum.

If not…idk, we run a hot shower, chew on a washcloth, and have a nice cry?

In fact, if you’ve been checking the markets at all today – you might have already done so. It’s been a rollercoaster so far!

Here’s what you missed:

To answer our own question: ASML.

ASML Jinxed it.

If you’re not familiar with Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML) – they’re the world’s largest provider of semiconductor machines. 

(I.e. The machines that made the computer chip in the device you’re reading this on).

And they just had a BIG miss on revenues! 

ASML expected €5.39B to come in throughout Q3 – but got less than half of that, at €2.63B.

Here’s why that matters:

ASML is a barometer for a large chunk of the tech industry.

So when ASML missed earnings, the market connected the dots – freaked out, and started selling off.

And because crypto is tech adjacent, that sell pressure found its way to Bitcoin – pulling it from a high of ~$68k to a low of ~$65k, within an hour.

(Here’s hoping this whole thing is a big fat nothing burger). 🙏🍔

NOTE: as of this writing, we’re back up around $67k!

MILK ROAD PRO PORTFOLIO UPDATES 📊

“+8% in a week?? Take that S&P 500!”

— Us, completely ignoring the multiple gut wrenching pullbacks we’ve experienced over the past eight months…

Like clock-work, every Tuesday, 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 notable increase over the past 7 days. Our portfolio value is at $91.3K, up 8.01% since last week.

Alright, being up 8% in a week? That’s exactly what we want to see! And guess what? Get used to it, because we believe this is just the beginning. We’re expecting to see this kind of momentum more often moving forward. Buckle up! 🚀

Portfolio changes 👀

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

dYdX just dropped a wild new feature—Trump Prediction Market Perpetuals—where you can trade on Trump’s odds of winning the 2024 U.S. election. Traders can go long (Trump wins) or short (Trump loses) with advanced order types like stop-loss and take-profit, and leverage up to amplify positions.*

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $555 million in net inflows on Monday. This marks the highest single-day inflows since June 4th, more than 4 months ago.

Base, the Layer 2 network developed by Coinbase, has become the largest Ethereum rollup by total value locked (TVL). With a TVL of around $2.5 billion, it surpassed Arbitrum’s TVL of $2.4 billion. Wowza. - DL News

Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to support a cryptocurrency regulatory framework as part of her "Opportunity Agenda for Black Men," unveiled on Monday. This initiative aims to promote economic opportunities and financial inclusion for Black men through crypto regulation.

World Liberty Financial has garnered over 100,000 whitelist signups ahead of its upcoming public token sale. The project has also strengthened its team by adding Rich Teo, co-founder of Paxos, in preparation for the sale.

*this is sponsored content and not financial advice

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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.