GM. This is the Milk Road, your daily source for crypto news & entertainment. Just check out the nutrition label.

It's Friday, so lets boogie:

• The Merge has been scheduled

• What should we do with our CryptoPunks' IP?

• BlackRock launches a Bitcoin trust

• Funding Friday

• Meme of the day

THE MERGE HAS BEEN SCHEDULED

Ladies & gents, mark your calendars – the date for the Merge has been set. Well, sorta…

The Merge is set to happen on TTD 58750000000000000000000. This is expected to happen either September 15th or 16th. 

You see, in the developer world events aren’t scheduled on specific dates. They’re scheduled for specific TTD’s (terminal total difficulty).

AKA once that network difficulty is hit, Ethereum will transition from PoW –> PoS. You can think of it as experience points in a video game. Once you hit a certain number, you level up and upgrade. 

You can check out predictions on when that TTD might hit here.

We're gonna keep it real with you. This is the closest we've been to the Merge, but I won't fully believe it til I see it.

I still have PTSD from all the delays in the past. Please don't break my heart again, V.

WHAT SHOULD WE BUILD WITH OUR CRYPTOPUNK?

Big changes are coming for CryptoPunk holders. They're finally getting some rights… rights to IP! 

Starting next week, holders can make merch, brands, movies, etc all using their CryptoPunks. 

The official licensing terms will be released on August 15th. Noah Davis (Brand Lead for Yuga Labs) recently had an interview with Decrypt where he gave hints on what to expect.

The main takeaway? The terms will be very similar to what Bored Ape owners have now.

We’ve seen restaurants, books, TV shows, etc using Bored Ape IP. Now it's the Punks' turn. About damn time!

In case you didn't know: the Milk Road owns a Punk (we wrote about it when we bought it). So that got us thinking…

What should we do with it?!

MilkMan x Punk merch?? A TV show? A book? The MilkMans alter ego? You tell us!

Reply to this email with a cool idea and we’ll pick 5 lucky winners to ship our inaugural MilkMan x Punk shirt to.

BLACKROCK LAUNCHES A BITCOIN TRUST 

BlackRock does it again. Back-to-back Fridays in the Milk Road. Damn, these guys are good at getting people to talk about them.

This week they launched a new Bitcoin trust.  Institutional clients will now have direct exposure to Bitcoin for the first time ever.

BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world. They have some of the biggest institutional clients in the world and ~$10b in AUM.

Including a handful of central banks that can now get involved with Bitcoin directly. Gamechanger.

The clients have been asking for it, so BlackRock is delivering. 

“Despite the steep downturn in the digital asset market, we are still seeing substantial interest from some institutional clients in how to efficiently and cost-effectively access these assets using our technology and product capabilities”

While retail investors are getting scared, institutional investors are flocking in. 

FUNDING FRIDAY

Each Friday, we give you a rundown of Web3 companies that got funded.

This week we saw ~$250M get invested into crypto companies. Here’s who got the money:

CreatorDAO got $20M to invest in content creators in exchange for future cuts of their revenue. A chance to invest in the next Mr. Beast.

Piñata got $18M as a Web3 media management company for creators & devs.

Merkle Science got $19M to build a predictive crypto risk & intelligence platform.

Gunzilla Games got $46M to build blockchain-based games.

Vespene Energy got $4.3M to use landfill methane to fuel Bitcoin mining. Renewable energy FTW!

If you wanna check out the full database of companies that have raised money in 2022, we got 'em for you right here.

MEME OF THE DAY

That's a wrap for this week ladies & gents. Stay thirsty and see ya next week!

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter! (@MilkRoadDaily)

The Merge.  Dropping September 15th. 

NOTE: Release date subject to change. Depends on TTD 58750000000000000000000.

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.