Today’s edition is brought to you by Meridian Grooming - the most innovative trimmer collection, perfect for any style or gender. Unveil your best self!

GM. This is Milk Road, where we serve crypto insights with more punch than a left hook from Mike Tyson.

Here’s what we got today:

THE SEC’S FIRST ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST NFTS ⚖️

Yesterday we saw something we’ve never seen before…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first NFT-related enforcement action. **cue dramatic music**

Here’s what happened: The SEC charged a media company called Impact Theory for selling NFTs as unregistered securities.

I’m not too good with Zodiac signs but I hear raising millions of dollars from investors while promising big returns and calling yourself Disney 2.0 makes you Saggitarius “Securities”.

As a result… Impact Theory agreed to a cease-and-desist order, will pay $6M+ in fines, will create a fund to refund investors, and must do a mental walk of shame.

Why this matters: While this is a first for the industry, it probably won’t be the last.

The SEC is like the hall monitor of the government and is known for cracking down on crypto.

The concerning part is that there have been plenty of NFT projects that made big promises, used similar language as Impact Theory, and raised millions of dollars in the process.

(If I had a nickel every time I heard a project was gonna be “the next Disney”, I could probably buy Disney.)

So it’ll be interesting to see if more regulatory action will follow.

P.S.A - All NFT investors should be keeping a close eye on this.

FLAWLESS GROOMING FOR EVERY STYLE

Grooming perfection is just a few clicks away. A few clicks towards Meridian Trimmers.

Crafted to cater to everyone's grooming needs, Meridian’s trimmers offer unparalleled precision and versatility. And their trimmers are perfect for all genders.

Whether you're creating sharp lines or achieving a well-manicured beard, they ensure every detail is flawless.

And when you explore Meridian Trimmers now, you’ll save 10% with code GET10OFF - just for being a Milk Road reader.

Trim with confidence and save 10%!

BLACKROCK - THE KING OF BITCOIN MINING?

There’s been one name dominating the crypto news over the last few months…BlackRock.

Well, turns out the largest asset manager in the world has also *quietly* been buying up shares of Bitcoin mining companies…

The result: BlackRock is now the second largest shareholder of 4 out of the 5 top Bitcoin mining companies.

The craziest part? BlackRock is also a top shareholder of some of the other majority shareholders of the Bitcoin mining companies.

For example…

Just in case it’s still confusing, allow me to explain with a diagram…

In simple words: BlackRock has a piece of everything. And now, it has its eyes set on crypto.

But the million-dollar question is… how good is this, really?

To help answer let’s play a game called Good Cop, Bad Cop.

GOOD COP: BLACKROCK IS GOOD FOR THE FUTURE OF CRYPTO

In a nutshell: BlackRock in crypto = better chance for regulations = more investors joining the space = prices go up.

BAD COP: BLACKROCK IS BAD FOR THE FUTURE OF CRYPTO

Arthur Hayes (founder of BitMEX and former crypto billionaire) recently dropped a blog post where he brought up some valid points about the recent “TradFi takeover”…

In a nutshell: Bitcoin was created as an alternative to the traditional financial system, but if all the big TradFi players end up taking over the space (i.e. buying up tokens, becoming majority shareholders of the biggest miners, etc.) then aren’t we back at square one?

But we’re curious… how do YOU feel about it? Vote below by clicking on your answer! We’ll share the results later this week.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES 🍪

Arch Lending is putting security and trust first when it comes to crypto loans. By storing your collateral in cold storage with a qualified custodian. We took the time to review their offerings and broke it all down for you Roaders.

Balancer gets hacked for $1M a few days after announcing it had a vulnerability that could be exploited. This is like your local bank telling the whole town that its security system is down and the vault won’t lock… the robbers are bound to show up.

The total value of crypto assets staked through liquid staking protocols has increased by 138% this year. Crypto staked through liquid staking protocols has gone from $7.9B → $18.8B year-to-date. Wowza.

Binance is considering exiting the Russian market due to the recent sanctions drama. The crypto exchange has already removed certain sanctioned Russian institutions from its peer-to-peer platform and has added fiat restrictions for Russia-based users.

1,777 Bitcoin from a dormant wallet moved for the first time in over 6 years. In 2017, the investment was worth $3.38M. Today, it’s worth over $30M. (A 10x return and a 6-year nap - not too shabby)

Shiba Inu relaunched its Shibarium bridge and reopened token withdrawals. We hope Round 2 goes better than the first…

MILKY MEMES 🤣

HIT THE INBOX OF 250K+ CRYPTO INVESTORS

Advertise with Milk Road to get your brand in front of the Who's Who of crypto. The Roaders are high-income crypto investors who are always looking for their next interesting product or tool. Get in touch today.

ROADER REVIEW OF THE DAY

VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY

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.