GM. This is Milk Road Degen, the crypto newsletter that's steadier than your diamond hands in a -10% candle.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ✍️ 3 degen plays for the next run

• 🍪 Rumors are swirling about an RTFKT acquisition

3 DEGEN PLAYS FOR THE NEXT RUN (P1) 💰

What’s up, degen.

The golden bull got slapped last Friday with a brutal -10% $BTC candle, and risky bags took it on the chin. 

Memecoins? Many of them crashed 30% or more. 

AI agents? Same.

If you’re holding degen assets, I know the questions running through your head:

Do I sell here? Was my thesis trash? What if the bull is over and this thing never comes back? Should I fullport $FakeTaxi??

I can’t answer those for you. Nobody can (although markets are looking happy this morning).

And instead of agonizing over daily candles, I find times like these are best for zooming out and focus on the next wave.

As in the metas, chains, and narratives that we can already see forming. Because this is how you get positioned while everyone else is rage-quitting (or just stressing hard).

Here are three narratives I’m planting flags in right now.

1/ MegaETH - The next big layer 2

I know what you’re thinking: “Not another Layer 2”. Trust me, I rolled my eyes too.

But MegaETH isn’t another farm-and-dump points program like Blast. It’s a legit monster in the making, with promises like:

• 100K+ TPS & sub-10ms block times (it's gonna be fast).

• Fully EVM-compatible, so all existing Ethereum tools should work instantly.

• App Focus: They’re hand-picking teams with their MegaMafia accelerator, and having them build things out BEFORE mainnet (not after, lol).

The last part isn’t theoretical either. They already have stellar dapps working on testnet like Noise, a real-time signal betting app, and Euphoria, which just snagged top KOL Legendary.

Add in backing from Vitalik, Joseph Lubin, Dragonfly, and EigenLayer’s founder? It’s a potential rocket ship and top five L2. 

How I’m playing it: TBH this one is hard to “farm” the traditional way, so I’m simply positioning for the eventual launch. That includes:

• Playing with testnet dapps

• Circling early NFTs (like Bad Bunnz)

• Maybe tweeting about it to climb their Kaito leaderboard 

• Finding more projects I like and getting close to their communities.

3 DEGEN PLAYS FOR THE NEXT RUN (P2) 💰

2/ HyperLiquid – This cycle’s Solana

HyperLiquid is loud. Overfarmed (not really). Maybe overhyped. And yet? I’m bullish as hell.

I keep hearing this thesis that this HyperLiquid is Solana 2.0, and when you zoom out they are pretty similar:

• Late-cycle entrant (launched in early 2025)

• Brand new chain (HyperEVM) 

• Absolutely hardcore community

Don’t forget Solana went $250 -> $8 -> $250 again in the last few years, and became the birthplace of many new DeFi dApps (Jupiter, Kamino) and consumer dApps (PumpFun, Phantom) as the market returned. 

And even beyond price action, the best time to get into Solana was actually during the last bear, as many of those new protocols rewarded their communities with generous airdrops. For example, some people got 4 figures worth of $JUP tokens for using Jupiter just once. Wild!

That’s where I think HyperLiquid is heading. And it has an even better setup than Solana, since it leads a more tangible sector of crypto (perps), and has no investor token unlocks coming EVER!

How I’m playing it:

• Read my HyperLiquid Farming Guide.

• Buy $HYPE (at a discount right now) and stake it on Kinetiq.

• Farm every dapp in the top 10 here. Use everything at least once a month, even for just a transaction.

• Follow key HyperLiquid voices and play their new launches (find them here on Cookie).

This isn’t just an airdrop grind. It’s positioning on what could be a top 5 token by next cycle.

3/ Crypto sports betting

Listen, sports NFTs were a total flop. Trust me I know - I ran the biggest web3 sports media company in the space for years. Digital collectibles had a nice little run but long term they struggle to bring in the true masses.

Sports betting on the other hand is the biggest it's ever been - and new market primitives are showing up all over the place with a bevy of opportunities.

Let’s start with Polymarket, which recently partnered with X and is my go-to for obscure bets. I also play it for basketball, and recently went 4/4 on my NBA Finals bets (very lucky). My plan here is to build volume and cross my fingers for an airdrop.

There are also the sports betting agents, which is where I think the real money is.

First up is $DKING (soon rebranding to SIRE). They’re prepping to deploy $300M AUM on soccer this season, with vaults for passive investing and profit-funded token buybacks. Then there’s Billy Bets with a more North American-sports focus and a fresh relaunch on Base. 

Both run Bittensor subnets, trade under $10M caps, and offer agent-driven betting with aggressive flywheels to pump their prices. 

I’m in $DKING now but watching $BILLY closely. Sports season is upon us, so it's a perfect time to research what these agents can do.

Wrapping up

Even as I write this, some memes are bouncing back. But here’s the truth: short-term chop is noise.

This is the time to stop doomscrolling and invest in something far more valuable than capital: positioning.

MegaETH, HyperLiquid, crypto sports betting… these are three narratives I think could dominate mindshare at different points in time. And while everyone else is panicking over 20% swings, I’m planting flags now.

When $BTC stabilizes, these are the plays I want exposure to.

FRESH DEGEN PRO AMA COMING UP!

The second ever DEGEN PRO AMA session is coming up, giving you direct access to LG. 🚀

• 🗓 When? Tomorrow at 11 AM EST.

• 📍 Where? in our PRO Discord, in the degen-pro-meetup channel.

Markets move fast, and so do questions. If there’s something on your mind, whether it’s trends, strategy, or what’s next, now’s your chance to ask.

Drop your questions here! 👀 

LG will go through them and break down the most valuable ones live.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

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