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GM. This is Milk Road – the newsletter that helps you get 1% better at crypto, each and every day!

Here’s what we got for you today:

BUY. HOLD. BE PATIENT. (GREAT ADVICE, THAT’S EASY TO IGNORE) 🧘

Pain is a good teacher.

Sounds kinda grim – but hear me out!

Back in 2017/2018, I had $5k earmarked for a $BTC purchase. 

But I’d heard that security on centralized exchanges wasn’t great – so I decided to put my best foot forward and buy myself a Ledger wallet.

In the time it took for the Ledger to arrive, Bitcoin had round-tripped from ~$5k to ~$20k, all the way back down to ~$5k – so by the time my Ledger actually arrived, I’d already been well and truly spooked by $BTC’s volatility.

…and instead of buying a whole Bitcoin at $5k, I put in (maybe?) $50.

Ever since then, each time I check the Bitcoin price, I’m reminded – in clear dollar terms – of what I could have had.

That pain has been a good teacher, reminding me to: 

Buy with conviction, hold, and be patient.

I’m telling you this ‘cause a few hours ago, the idea of ‘pain as a teacher’ came up in our morning newsroom meeting – and the question was asked: 

How can we further contextualize this for our readers (beyond Chevy’s poor life choices)?

So here are three examples from history where folks didn’t realize the opportunity they had in front of them:

1/ The US Government’s $3B mistake

9 years ago, the US government sold 44,000 BTC for $400 each, pulling in ~$17.6M.

Today, that same stash would be worth ~$3B. 

Both figures are a drop in the ocean as far as the US government is concerned – regardless, the power of compounding is on full display here, and it’s something we can all learn from.

2/ The $690M Pizza (a time honored classic)

You know the story. On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz, paid 10,000 $BTC for two Papa John’s pizzas.

Today, those 10,000 BTC would be worth ~$690M. 

(Thoughts and prayers go out to Laszlo).

3/ Early Bitcoin dev, Martti Malmi, sold $BTC at – wait for it – $0.0009

Bad timing, great attitude.

And before you say it – I hear you: 

“That was then, this is now. Bitcoin doesn’t move +2000% in a week anymore.”

True. But the “buy with conviction, hold, and be patient” method still has validity to it…

Lemme hit you with some hopium real quick:

VanEck thinks it’s possible that Bitcoin could be used to settle 10% of international trade and 5% of domestic trade, by 2050.

And in that scenario, they believe Bitcoin has the potential to reach $2.9M per coin (that’s a 42x over 26 years).

So – the question then becomes: 

How patient are you?

THE INSTITUTIONS ARE COMING (FOR REAL THIS TIME) 🚨

The other day we sat down as a team and collectively tried our best not to strangle our General Manager, Tyler.

We were at a sit-down burger joint, and this mf’er spent a good 20 minutes grilling the waitress with a seemingly endless amount of questions:

“Is the wagyu certified? What kind of buns are you using, brioche? Any secret menu items I should know about?”

(My brother in christ, it’s a freakin’ burger – ORDER ALREADY!).

Anyway – the analogy we’re working towards here is this:

Waiting for global pension funds to enter crypto, is like waiting for Tyler to order a burger.

It’s a long and arduous process – ‘cause they need to get approval from their shareholders before they buy.

Good news is: once they buy, they very rarely sell.

What’s even better? The moment the US-based Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs launched earlier this year – in board rooms across the globe, the discussion of whether or not to buy crypto officially began.

And as of yesterday, we saw two big pension funds make the leap, joining a growing list of ‘early’ birds.

Here’s who’s been buying, and in what amounts:

1/ The State of Michigan Pension Fund

First thought, right out of the gates: Holy sh*t it’s mostly $ETH! 

$18M invested in total. $11M in $ETH, and $7M in $BTC!

2/ The Wisconsin Pension Fund

Wisconsin was one of the first pension funds to ape in, announcing they’d put more than $160M into the $BTC ETFs back in May.

3/ An unnamed British pension fund just allocated 3% of its holdings to $BTC

Wisconsin: “We’re allocating 0.12% of our fund to $BTC.”

The Brits (yesterday): “Hold my warm beer…”

Side note: Cartwright is the firm advising the unknown pension fund (Daniel has his wires crossed here).

Take all of the above, and add the fact that:

And it starts to spell things out:

The institutions are coming (for real this time).

And unlike Tyler’s burger order – it’s worth waiting for.

P.S. We think this is just the beginning of a much larger trend.

Want to make sure you don't miss out on the opportunities presented in the upcoming bull market?

Kyle Reidhead, head of research at Milk Road PRO, joined us on today’s episode of The Milk Road Show to dive into the intricacies of crypto market cycles, and tease out where we’re headed this bull run!

Click below to watch it now! 👇

YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

MILK ROAD PRO PORTFOLIO UPDATES 📊

Anyone have Neosporin on them?

The Milk Man just checked his portfolio and is feeling the sting!

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 decrease over the past 7 days. Our portfolio value is at $88.1K, down 11.28% since last week.

Ouch! Just when we were hitting the break-even point, and bam—a big drop. But hey, this is exactly why some people avoid crypto altogether or just brush it off. We get it; the volatility can be brutal. 

But we know the bigger picture. We’re not sweating the short-term swings anymore—we’re in it for the long haul. The trend is clear, and we’re confident that this next cycle (and beyond) will bring some solid gains.

Portfolio changes 👀

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

BakerFi is whipping up winning DeFi strategies to serve delicious returns for your sweet tooth with 1-click strategies. By combining yield from top protocols, they offer automated and low-risk yield-generation strategies.*

New global dollar stablecoin backed by Robinhood, Kraken, Paxos and other crypto big dogs. It ain’t the sexiest form of adoption — but boy is it effective! And for that reason, we’re all for it!

Bitcoin breaks $70K as crypto and U.S. stocks move higher early on election day. Market’s love certainty — and with every minute that passes, we’re getting one step closer to learning who will take the reigns of the US presidency for the next 4 years. Brace for volatility!

Crypto apps are climbing the App Store rankings again. Two crypto betting apps, Kalshi and Polymarket, hold the first and fourth place on the financial category of Apple’s App Store…wonder what that could be about?

Hamster Kombat loses 259 million players amid 86% drop. It’s almost as if — and hear us out here — everyone was just playing it to farm the airdrop?

*this is sponsored content

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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.