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GM. This is Milk Road, the newsletter that gives you the same feeling as finding $50 in an old jacket pocket.

Here’s what we got for you today:

WEB2 VS. WEB3: REVENUE PER EMPLOYEE 🥊

There’s this line of logic that we refer to as the ‘Uncle Steve at Christmas lunch’ argument...

(‘Cause that’s who/where/when we hear it most.)

The argument goes like this:

Which is kind of like asking “Why create air travel when we have an established rail network?”.

Simple: because it’s more efficient in many cases.

And that’s the big change crypto brings to the table: efficiency.

Check out the chart below – it lists the most efficient web2 companies by dividing their revenue by their total head count.

“OnlyFans is possibly the most 'revenue efficient' company in the world (and no one comes even close)”

…you sure about that, Mr. Chart Maker?

Check out what happens when you widen the parameters to include web3 companies as well:

BOOM!

More efficient technology = smaller head count required at scale = increased revenue per employee = OnlyFans in 4th place.

The takeaway:

$BTC ON EXCHANGES: USEFUL OR USELESS? 🤔

Welcome to “Useful or Useless?”!

The segment where we look at commonly tracked crypto data and question its validity.

Today’s metric: $BTC on exchanges. 👇

Tracking the amount of Bitcoin held on exchanges can help to indicate whether holders are planning to sell or not.

‘Cause if you’re NOT planning to sell, it’s safest to keep your crypto OFF exchanges (e.g. on a Ledger).

And dwindling supply on exchanges → can lead to supply crunches → which can lead to ‘number go up’.

…but does that theory still hold water for $BTC, now that the ETFs exist?

From where we’re standing – no, $BTC on exchanges is no longer a reliable metric. 

Here’s why:

A lot of ‘big money’ in Bitcoin is moving away from self-custody and towards the $BTC ETFs. 

This means that if/when these large players want to sell a bunch of Bitcoin, they’re going to do so via a stock exchange, not a crypto exchange.

As of this writing, there are ~2.5M Bitcoin on crypto exchanges, with a further ~1.2M held in Bitcoin ETFs…

Which means that now crypto exchanges are no longer the only place in town to offload your Bitcoin – using ‘$BTC on exchanges’ becomes a less reliable signal of investor intent.

(And will only dilute further as more investors transition to holding $BTC via ETFs.)

So may we all bow our heads in prayer and bid farewell to a previously useful metric.

Rest In Peace, $BTC on exchanges – you will be missed. 🙏

P.S. We’re thinking about digging through a bunch of crypto metrics and running the same ‘useful or useless’ analysis…

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

The connection between sports and Web3 is only getting stronger. We just dropped an article on how Chiliz’s fan tokens let you turn game day hype into potential profits.*

More buy pressure for Bitcoin. GameStop is now the latest company to jump on the Bitcoin treasury bandwagon.

The Bitcoin ETFs have had a crazy May! With over $5.7B in inflows, it’s their best month since November.

Americans are feeling better about their economy. Consumer confidence just saw a big spike yesterday.

We’re hiring for our new brand - Milk Road Macro. If you’re a content creator or a podcast host, this role might be perfect for you.

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*this is sponsored content.
**this is partner content.

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