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GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that's as addictive as hitting the 'next episode' on your favorite Netflix series.

Here’s what we got today:

MARKET MOVERS: 1 WINNER AND 1 LOSER 📊

We’re back with another Market Movers segment. We track all the crazy price action, so you don’t have to.

This week, we have a balanced diet - 1 big winner and 1 big loser.

THE WINNER: OPTIMISM

What is it? Optimism is a popular Layer 2 solution that makes transactions on Ethereum cheaper and faster.

It has about 120,000 active users and $850M in total value locked (TVL).

(Btw - DefiLlama is a good tool to check out stats on most chains and protocols)

Why it’s up: There are two reasons…

1/ Coinbase just launched BASE, their L2 network on Optimism’s OP Stack. The OP Stack serves as the foundation for others to build chains and rollups on top of.

Basically, it makes it much easier to develop and share resources. And in return, a portion of all transaction fees accrued by the BASE network are distributed to Optimism’s treasury.

2/ Worldcoin also launched on Optimism. While the release is more controversial than pineapples on pizza, it has helped the Optimism network pass Arbitrum in daily transactions for the first time ever.

As a result, $OP is up 11% over the last week and up 35% over the last month. And with more and more projects committing to the OP stack, the future is looking bright for Optimism.

THE LOSER: HEX

What is it? It’s a high-interest blockchain certificate of deposit.

HEX lets investors earn interest on their investments by staking their tokens. It’s supposed to be crypto’s version of a “bank fixed deposit”.

Why it’s down: The SEC recently sued the founder and classified HEX as a security.

Meet the founder, Richard Heart:

Here are the allegations against Heart, according to the SEC:

As a result, HEX crashed 40% over the last week. Some trading platforms, like Uniswap, even removed the token.

Who knows if Heart committed the crimes but everyone knows the rules…

Milk Road Rule #8: Never take investment advice from a guy that matches their hat, bag, and shoes.

We’ll keep you updated if there are any big updates from the lawsuit.

DIVE INTO METAMASK PORTFOLIO’S DASHBOARD

Portfolio management in crypto needs a serious upgrade. It’s become impossible to keep track of the various types of digital assets and blockchain networks.

It’s like trying to do inventory after the intern misprinted all of the labels. A true nightmare.

Enter MetaMask Portfolio’s Dashboard:

In the Wild West of crypto, MetaMask Portfolio has your back.

WTF IS ACCOUNT ABSTRACTION

Crypto is like 5th grade - every few weeks, you get a new crush. And it always has some strange name, like liquid staking or NFTfi.

The fancy word everyone’s been talking about recently: Account Abstraction (AA).

Account Abstraction is a recent development in the world of crypto wallets.

It lets users:

So what? Many people are calling Account Abstraction the greatest invention since the Razor scooter. (still #1 in my opinion)

AA wallets give users:

1/ Much more flexibility and security when it comes to managing their digital assets

2/ The same features a bank would, without having to trust a bank

Even Vitalik is a huge fan. He’s been talking about it since 2015, and if it’s good enough for V, it’s good enough for me.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on how this develops and we’re even gonna try out some of these new features with Milk Road’s Public Wallet.

(P.S. - more on that down below)

RE-INTRODUCING THE MILK ROAD PUBLIC WALLET

We won’t lie to you - we f*cked up.

Earlier this week, we announced we’re bringing back an old friend….Milk Road’s Public Wallet.

It was supposed to be a Hoorah moment where we rally the troops (aka you, the Milk Road Nation) and let you decide what we do with the wallet next.

But there was a problem: the voting poll never showed up 🤬 (see Exhibit A)

So we’re doing it again. Take two.

But let’s go over the rules and how it works (again) real quick:

1/ We’re gonna try out a bunch of cool sh*t in crypto (lending, borrowing, bridging, staking, etc.)

2/ Consider us a test dummy. We try it out first, so you can see if you want to try it out later.

3/ This is not financial advice.

4/ I repeat, this is not financial advice. If your excitement for these sections lasts for more than 3 hours, please call a doctor.

Now we’re gonna let you decide what the next move is! Vote below by clicking on the option you want to see most.

Btw - We just finished setting up Milk Roads’s Public Wallet. We’ll be using a mix of MetaMask and Trezor to make it all happen.

The public wallet is locked and loaded (with funds, hopes, and dreams).

We’ll also be documenting the entire journey, officially launching next week.

Thanks to our friends at MetaMask Portfolio, you can check out our first guide here… It’s got all the basics you need - setting up a hardware wallet for cold storage, linking wallets, etc.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪

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Global X filed an application for a Bitcoin ETF. It also listed Coinbase as its “surveillance-sharing” partner. Anotha one

Revolut announced it’s shutting down its crypto services in the U.S. due to “ongoing regulatory uncertainty”. Regulation Stikes Again.

Daily transactions on the Avalanche blockchain more than doubled in Q2. Avalanche went from 200,000 —> 500,000 daily transactions.

Bitget announced a one-year partnership with comedian Adam Devine. Crypto 🤝 Comedy

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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.