GM. This is Milk Road Degen, the newsletter that's more locked in than a trader with six screens, three energy drinks, and one goal: ride the alt wave.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ✍️ Welcome to Alt Season

• 🍪 Pudgy Penguins flip BAYC

WELCOME TO ALT SEASON (P1) 💰

Fellow degen,

Welcome to the promised land. 

The fabled part of the cycle where we see 20-30% daily candles on tokens with multi-billion dollar market caps: Alt Season.

You’ve probably seen this graphic before - and we’re just at that last orange part (heck, it’s already started):

Naturally, many people are probably well-positioned for this upcoming rip, holding alts they’ve sat on for years.

But for others like you and me - the ones constantly rotating capital like lunatics - this is the time to make up for that mega FOMO and start betting like freaks.

So, to celebrate this potential mythical era (and line ourselves to be glued to our screens), I’m rolling out a two-part guide to ALT SEASON:

• Part 1 (today): Big Caps

• Part 2 (Wednesday): Medium Caps

Each part has three token picks with entry zones, take profits, and stop losses. There are two ways to play it: spot or leverage. Spot is naturally safer, but I’m looking to build volume on HyperLiquid and I want to gamble for higher returns, so I’ll likely do a mix of both.

DISCLAIMER: I wrote this up before the market nuked on Sunday night. I’m not sure how much more the market will bleed, so we either have our perfect entry at current prices, or we are in for more pain. Personally, I’m setting scalp buys at about 5-10% below current prices in case we have a flash crash, but also setting very tight Stop Losses below those entries. I am always protective of my capital and aim to stay liquid.

My philosophy for alts

I play in degen circles, not big smart money ones. I hunt alpha, whales, secrets, trends - but I know I’m a small fish. My best bet in Alt Season? Follow consensus.

I’m not aiming for 100x moonshots here. My goal: +30% at minimum on spot, maybe +100% if lucky. On perps, I’ll juice that with 10x and go for 300% on a +30% move. Dangerous? Yes. But that’s the fun. Plus, I’m never risking more than 1% of my degen bags on a single bet.

So the strategy is simple: pick the high-consensus tokens. The ones everybody already loves and would be shocked if they didn’t run in Alt Season.

My timeline: 2-3 weeks max. Entries are being set as I write this.

NOTE: All tokens here are available on major exchanges, and can also be traded with leverage on HyperLiquid.

Let’s get to the picks.

$HYPE - The unknown ceiling

HyperLiquid is the golden child of this bull run. Their airdrop was the most successful in crypto history ($2B -> $49B, a near 25x). They dominate onchain perps, and pioneered the fees-for-buybacks model. Their current estimated revenue is $2.7B annualized.

The bull case:

• HyperEVM only launched in January - early ecosystem, big upside.

• Dapps just starting to gain traction. Long road ahead to build out a thriving eco.

• Phantom Wallet + others integrating = fresh inflows.

• Whales are glued to this thing until the next airdrop.

• This thing wants to break ATH.

With so much popularity, a strong community, and a rigid group of power user whales who will hold this token through to the next airdrop, this thing is ready.

How the chart looks:

• Clear bottoming in April, higher low in August.

• Less than 10% from ATH, set on July 25.

• If it breaks ATH, price discovery is wide open.

How I’m playing it:

• Entry: $41-43

• Take profit zones: $52 / $56 / $60

• Stop loss: Below $41

If we lose $41, I step aside and wait.

WELCOME TO ALT SEASON (P2) 💰

$LINK - They’ve been waiting for this

When I joined crypto there was a group called “The $LINK Marines”. No really. There was even a dude called ChainGod on Twitter. These guys are hardcore, man. 

But WTF is it? Chainlink is basically the plug that lets blockchains talk to the real world. Smart contracts can’t just pull in stock prices, weather data, or sports scores on their own - so Chainlink hooks them up to all that good stuff.

TL;DR: it makes smart contracts actually useful for things like DeFi, insurance, and supply chains.

The bull case:

They just rolled out their LINK Reserve program, which broke their market Ccp out of jail and finally pushed through the $21 mark. But Chainlink is so much more than that:

• Chainlink owns 68% of the oracle market.

• It has secured $24 TRILLION in transactions.

• Oh and a massive $XRP whale just rotated $56M into $LINK.

It’s just part of crypto in a way that’s so vital, that it would be impossible for it not to pump along with the rest of the market. 

How the chart looks:

• $20 resistance smashed two weeks back.

• Next resistance band: $28-30.

• If it breaks that, $35+ is in play and maybe more!

How I’m playing it:

• Entry: $22-24

• Take profit zones: $30 / $35 / $42

• Stop loss: Below $21. That would invalidate this entire move up.

$SEI - The breakout candidate

I’ll be honest with you - $SEI is not the sexiest token I could have chosen, but there are two things I like about it:

1. The chart looks primed for a breakout, and

2. Circle revealed they held tons of it when they filed their IPO

Sei is a Layer 1 blockchain built on Cosmos, designed specifically for trading apps with super-fast speeds, a native orderbook, and low fees.

The bull case:

They’ve got some momentum, despite being #14 in TVL for chains. As of late they: 

• Flipped SUI in daily transactions.

• Got integrated into Metamask.

• Became the #1 EVM chain by user count.

• Recorded $4.6B daily stablecoin volume.

How the chart looks:

• That long, long downtrend is coiling for a breakout.

• Could easily bounce and break $0.4 cleanly

• Doubtful to see ATH, but a strong short-term move is very possible.

How to play it:

• Entry: $0.30-$0.32, maybe $0.28

• Take profit zones: $0.41 / $0.50

• Stop loss: Below $0.25. We would be losing the last 2 months of action.

Wrapping up

So, what now?

Alt Season is here - and the only question is whether you sit on your hands or ride the wave. These three aren’t obscure moonshots. They’re high-consensus, high-volume tokens built to thrive in this phase of the cycle.

Play it safe with spot and aim for 30-100%. Or strap in on perps and swing for 300%... just know the risks.

Either way, the time for hesitation is over. Alt Season doesn’t wait.

🎙️ INTRODUCING: THE MILK ROAD DEGEN PODCAST 🎙️

First episode drops this Wednesday, August 20th — and it’s a banger.

First guest? OSF — former Wall Street trader turned NFT legend, he’ll be jumping on with LG to talk all things trenches.

If you’re into early alpha, unfiltered takes, and backstage access to the wildest corners of crypto…

🔊 Subscribe now so you’re first in the room when it drops.

BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪

94% of $XRP holders are sitting in profit. Onchain signals now flash caution, with a potential pullback toward $2.40 if profit taking accelerates.

The $2M heist that put PumpFun on the map. A rogue developer stole $2M in $SOL from PumpFun in 2024 before being caught and pleading guilty. Ironically, the scandal boosted attention.

Pudgy Penguins flip BAYC to claim #2 spot on Ethereum. Pudgy Penguins just overtook Bored Ape Yacht Club in market cap, making them the second-largest NFT collection on Ethereum behind CryptoPunks.

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