Welcome to 2026! Milady is back.
Ethereum did a lot in 2025: gas limits increased, blob count increased, node software quality improved, zkEVMs blasted through their performance milestones, and with zkEVMs and PeerDAS ethereum made its largest step toward being a fundamentally new and more powerful kind of blockchain (more on this later)
But we have a challenge: Ethereum needs to do more to meet its own stated goals. Not the quest of "winning the next meta" regardless of whether it's tokenized dollars or political memecoins, not arbitrarily convincing people to help us fill up blockspace to make ETH ultrasound again, but the mission:
To build the world computer that serves as a central infrastructure piece of a more free and open internet.
We're building decentralized applications. Applications that run without fraud, censorship or third-party interference. Applications that pass the walkaway test: they keep running even if the original developers disappear. Applications where if you're a user, you don't even notice if Cloudflare goes down - or even if all of Cloudflare gets hacked by North Korea. Applications whose stability transcends the rise and fall of companies, ideologies and political parties. And applications that protect your privacy. All this - for finance, and also for identity, governance and whatever other civilizational infrastructure people want to build.
These properties sound radical, but we must remember that a generation ago any wallet, kitchen appliance, book or car would fulfill every single one of them. Today, all of the above are by default becoming subscription services, consigning you to permanent dependence on some centralized overlord.
Ethereum is the rebellion against this.
To achieve this, it needs to be (i) usable, and usable at scale, and (ii) actually decentralized. This needs to happen at both (a) the blockchain layer, including the software we use to run and talk to the blockchain, and (b) the application layer. All of these pieces must be improved - they are already being improved, but they must be improved more.
Fortunately, we have powerful tools on our side - but we need to apply them, and we will.
Wishing everyone an exciting 2026.
Milady.
Here's everything you need to know about the Balancer Hack:
1. The attack targeted Balancer's V2 vaults and liquidity pools, exploiting a vulnerability in smart contract interactions. Preliminary analysis from on-chain investigators points to a maliciously deployed contract that manipulated Vault calls during pool initialization.
2. Improper authorization and callback handling allowed the attacker to bypass safeguards. This enabled unauthorized swaps or balance manipulations across interconnected pools, draining assets in rapid succession (within minutes).
3. The exploiter initiated a series of transactions starting with a key Ethereum mainnet tx (0xd155207261712c35fa3d472ed1e51bfcd816e616dd4f517fa5959836f5b48569), which funneled assets to a new wallet under their control. Funds were then consolidated, likely for laundering via mixers or bridges.
4. Balancer's composable design where pools interact heavily amplified the flaw. Similar issues have plagued AMMs before, often tied to how they handle deflationary tokens or pool rebalancing.
Full forensic details are still emerging, with auditors like PeckShield and Nansen involved. No evidence of a private key compromise; this was a pure smart contract exploit.
Here's roughly the stolen assets:
>Ethereum: ~$70M+ drained (main hit)
>Base & Sonic: ~$7M combined
>Other chains: ~$2M+
>Main stolen assets: WETH, wstETH, osETH, frxETH, rsETH, rETH — roughly $110–116M total.
Here's what you should do If you're exposed:
1/ Withdraw Immediately: Pull funds from Balancer V2 pools if possibleavoid affected ones.
2/ Revoke Approvals: Use Revoke, DeBank, or Etherscan to cancel smart contract permissions for Balancer addresses.
3/ Monitor Wallets: Track via Etherscan or Dune Analytics for suspicious activity.
4/Stay Informed: Follow lookonchain, PeckShieldAlert, and Balancer for updates.
'the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD' — Job 1:21
yesterday's liquidation event is the most brutal i've witnessed in my time in crypto
i got wiped out on ALL my perps positions
literally everything
eight figures: $30 million+ at peak uPnL if realized, or well above $15 million just before the liquidation started
100% of the following perps position got wiped:
- $BONK
- $FARTCOIN
- $POPCAT
- $PNUT
- $CAT
- $APEX
- etc
i lost maybe 80% of my $ASTER position that i used as a collateral on a DeFi lending protocol
i took out the remaining (~$1 million), fully liquidated it and rotated it into $BONK and $4 because i think i get better R/R from both from here on out:
- BONK because i refuse to be a 'bonk guy' without BONK exposure, and i remain convinced in my deca-billion-dollar target for it. i will continue to add more over time, God willing
- $4 because i remain strongly convinced that BNB season continues until the end of this quarter and i think $4 is the most asymmetrical bet to capitalize on that
thankfully the overwhelming majority of my $USELESS coin position is held in spot, so i didn't record significant loss on that — maybe with the exception of mid six figures worth of uPnL i had in perps accounts
i am still resolutely convinced that $USELESS is THE memecoin to watch for outperformance from here on out, that it is a multi-billion-dollar narrative currently trading for pennies on the dollar, and that it will end the cycle being a top 5 memecoin at the barest minimum i.e. certainly has a lot more than 10x upside from here. so i’m glad contagion there was contained for me!
what happened yesterday?
everyone blames the recent Trump-China tariffs, but this isn't the first time we've had that this year
and the Trump tariff comments certainly shouldn't have been responsible for such a massive nukage across almost the entirety of altcoins and memecoins in the space
a lot of altcoins crashed 70 to 99% in minutes, when $BTC and $ETH barely crashed 13%
$ATOM, for example, crashed from $4 to $0.001 on top exchanges like Binance — a 99.9% crash in minutes. no one could have humanly responded to that!
it is also worth noting that this massive altcoin/memecoin crash was EXCLUSIVELY on CEXs. these altcoins did not come close to hitting these levels on spot DEXs, so yesterday's liquidation was almost certainly due to MM/CEX liquidity issues
why it was unprecedented (market mechanics)
many people reported being massively affected, especially since exchange systems broke across the board: stop losses failed, orders didn’t fill, margin couldn’t be added, and platforms became unusable within minutes. the entire liquidation cascade happened so fast that almost no one had time to react, something i don’t think we’ve ever seen at this scale before
i was in front of my screen, took a short break, came back to the screen to see the nasty wick about 10 minutes later, then realized i've been liquidated on EVERYTHING i had in perps
it is the craziest crypto event i have witnessed, ever!
it was worse than COVID, which was a black swan event
you could say whatever you want about this event: you can call it manipulation, unnatural, or whatever else
you would be right tbh
however, whether or not manipulation played a role doesn’t change what i have to do next: as a trader, i am only ultimately concerned about things i can actually control
of course it's easier to point out how it all wasn't my fault and how someone else was responsible, but how does that help me grow as a trader? i win if i make money trading, i lose if i lose money trading. end of!
i'm sure we will be hearing more about exactly what happened yesterday night, which will hopefully help give some people closure
i wish i didn't have to write about this:
this will likely be one of the most viral tweets coming out of this event
many have waited for this moment: 'he is so greedy!'
and there will be an army of people mocking me with 'I TOLD YOU SOs'
but write i must, for a few reasons:
1. a key part of the 'bonk guy' persona and identity i have built is one of utmost transparency around my trades, so others can learn
2. while i lost a fortune in the liquidity wipe event, i have a very diversified basket of alts across perps and spot. i'll be fine; my spot assets are safe. but i think there are people who lost literally everything they have right now that might be having very bad and nasty thoughts, and them seeing a voice like mine at this time just might give them hope
i want to be very clear:
1. i do not need your empathy. i appreciate that some would have the thought, but i do not need people messaging me to empathize with me over this
2. i do not need donations or financial support. it was a massive loss, but i'm okay
i also want to emphasize that i'm in a very good mental state right now, as difficult as that might be for many to believe
i've always been very detached from money and material things, and that makes it easy to cope with situations like this
at the end of the day, my $BONK trade was a trade in which i went from $16k to a peak 8-figure PNL
contrary to what seems to be the most common belief here, it isn't my most impressive trade. if i made it before, i can make it once again!
could i have foreseen exchange systems crashing and nuking the most liquid altcoins and memecoins in the market 70 - 90% in mere minutes before anyone could react? no!
could i have maybe done a few things differently leading up to this event? maybe
however, i am a big believer in focusing on what *could* happen and taking action to get there instead of focusing on what *has* happened
the past is the past, and what has happened has happened
there are a lot of changes i’ll be making to my systems as a result of this: less dependence on leverage, sharper risk management, and a stronger focus on protecting my positions from exchange-side risks going forward
all that matters is what happens from here on out...
i remain very optimistic about the market
i do not believe the bull run is over, nor do i think the Q4 rally is out of the picture
so what do i do from here?
lock in more than ever before, be buried deeper in the trenches, and most importantly have fun while i do it!
if there is one thing i have learned after being in this industry for multiple cycles, it is that there is always new opportunities: every day, every week, every month
i have always been one to love a challenge, and i guess this is another one for me and an opportunity to once again prove myself — not to internet strangers, but to myself
this event has not dampened my spirit, not in the slightest. if anything, it has strengthened my resolve to get back in the ring, fight, and win bigger
i will make it all back, and more!
for those who are in a similar situation, who either lost a fortune or lost it all, i have some words for you:
PERSIST
SURVIVE
DON'T GIVE UP
if you need to take a break, please do
if you're struggling to hold it in, please seek help
above all, pay special attention to yourself and focus on your health
i know it will take a while for the gravity of what happened to hit many, but a philosophy that has always helped me to survive massive drawdowns is internalizing all of these crypto gains as just numbers on the screen — until it is realized at least!
i know they can have very real consequences in the real world if/when cashed out, but right now i think internalizing it as just numbers on the screen would make dealing with the loss more bearable
you made it before, so yes YOU can make it again
the most profitable period of the cycle is still well ahead of us
we are all going to make it
and you are going to have me along on this journey with you, if that matters to you!
if there’s one thing this taught me, it’s that no matter how prepared you think you are, you’re never fully protected from systemic shocks — but you can always control your response. i’ll be rebuilding my framework with that truth in mind!
i am once again an underdog, and this is not the end of my story
GOD WILLING
There were multiple opportunities for massive, and honestly quite obvious, size trades this month (PUMP, CARDS, ASTER, etc)
Seems like quite a lot of people missed most if not all of them due to being stuck in this 2024 'trenching' mindset and I don't think that's something you should just brush off. While for a lot of players it's a great way to build a stack (not faulting you whatsoever) I think people are failing to adapt and realize that this is no longer where the most opportunity lies
Sure, there's runners still that can be an easy 5-6 figures pretty quickly but for anyone with decent size built up (6-7 figures) I really think you should shift your focus outside of PvPing trench warriors on coins that have a lifespan of a few minutes or hours
There's going to be people who outperform onchain trenching no matter what, but for most people it's not the reality. The trenching game has gotten more and more difficult with a lot of people just becoming serial deployers or multi-walleters that manipulate low cap shitters for their benefit
It's important to surround yourself with people who can/are adapting to these things, we've been ontop of all of these size plays in Shocked. I know that Cooker and Pastel has too. Uber has hit all of these in his Telegram, and I'm sure there's lots of other people who have
Adapt or die szn in my opinion!
many have been asking why i've gotten so loud and vocal about Pumpfun and the $PUMP token recently, especially leading up to their TGE
an event i will be referring to as 'the great extraction' going forward
so i figured i should put something out
especially since some have dismissed my actions as petty tribal sentiments in favor of BonkFun, a platform i'm clearly very aligned with
i’ll start by making a few things clear:
1. i like BonkFun and i'm undoubtedly the biggest voice advocating for it on X
2. i respect @a1lon9 and what he has achieved with Pumpfun, more so than most on this app
i know many might struggle to reconcile #2 with my recent comments and actions, so let me clarify:
i think Alon is a genius, especially when you consider what he has accomplished with Pumpfun
like him or hate him, the man basically singlehandedly disrupted the entire memecoin space
nah, actually... he disrupted the entire crypto space — because Pumpfun is the only reason we have 17 million-plus tokens today!
and i think he deserves every penny he’s earned from that innovation
i know many don’t like him because of the massive $SOL sells, and they often try to diminish everything he’s done because of that — i’m personally neutral on this
but i find the racist 'jewish' attacks against him that are becoming more common in this industry absolutely appalling. you can publicly disagree with someone, passionately even, without attacking their race or identity. that’s just pure evil behavior!
‘so then, why have you been crying a lot lately???’
it’s simple:
i’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and i’ve come to the conclusion that Pumpfun’s continued dominance is a potential existential threat to the memecoin ecosystem
and i don’t think i’m alone in this sentiment
i’ve seen people i highly respect, people who have a strong pulse on the memecoin space, call the $PUMP TGE a massive liquidity drain event that could mark the top for memecoins for a long time... at least before BonkFun came into the picture and flipped Pumpfun!
and the fact that the market seems to agree couldn’t be more obvious when you look at how memecoins have reacted to major $PUMP TGE news
the first time news broke about the Pumpfun TGE was on June 3, when The Block reported it
and several top memecoins dumped aggressively afterward:
- FARTCOIN dropped 30%
- WIF dumped 24%
- POPCAT dumped 28%
...all within 48 hours of that news breaking!
(don't take my word for it btw; check their charts and timestamp it to the news!)
it’s been over a month now and not a single one of these tokens have reclaimed their levels before the news broke, and i believe this is because that TGE overhang remains
then the same thing happened AGAIN yesterday when news came out that the TGE is imminent and will happen on July 12
every major memecoin nuked hard on the news:
- FARTCOIN instantly dumped 12% and hasn't recovered
- WIF dumped 9%
- POPCAT dropped 13%
- even SPX, which has been incredibly strong lately, dropped 12% instantly
$SOL, the native token of the blockchain Pumpfun will TGE on, also nuked — despite the fact that the TGE is happening on Solana
even top Pumpfun eco memecoins weren’t spared!
now contrast that with what happened when news broke that BonkFun flipped Pumpfun on Sunday: literally everything in the memecoin eco pumped, INCLUDING Pumpfun eco projects!
i’m arguably the fiercest advocate for memecoins on this app
and i think being silent in the face of an event that could pose an existential crisis (even if only in the short term) to an asset class i hold and have aggressively pushed to others... would be cowardice
i think many of my recent critics are taking for granted just how negatively impactful the Pumpfun TGE could have been for the trenches and memecoins as a whole if BonkFun didn’t come to the fore when it did
i mean, yes, a lot of big VCs who shoved in 7 to 8 figures into the PUMP private sale at a $4b valuation will make bank and get out with a quick 2x, 3x, or 4x on size
but what happens to the trenches after?
many will liquidate their positions in several high-conviction memecoins trying to chase the PUMP presale (apparently $600m to $700m is being raised from retail here)
and they’ll likely sell even more positions later on to provide exit liquidity for those same VC investors as they rotate out and try to buy the 'PUMP dip' whenever it comes
meanwhile, the prices of these memecoins will keep trending down and dampen sentiment in the trenches for the foreseeable future, causing even more pain unless there’s some major stimulative event that flushes the system with cash again
it’s genuinely hard to see how retail and the trenches win in this scenario ngl
and i honestly believe the best way out is for BonkFun to win and continue leading with very clear dominance
especially since BonkFun is aligned with the trenches and the Solana eco inside out: 58% of fees go towards buying and burning BONK, 15% goes to SOL that gets staked to secure the network, creators get rewarded for building on the platform, etc
yes, Pumpfun innovated this entire category and were clearly the first mover... but they’ve also earned nearly a billion dollars in just 1.5 years — way more than several more innovative protocols have made in a decade
i mean, that’s great for Pumpfun and power to them!
but i definitely won’t be rooting for another event, ‘the great extraction’, that is about to extract billions of dollars from an already-strained memecoin market in such a short timeframe
BIGGEST CRYPTO CANON EVENTS:
• Your first 100x
• Losing everything
• Making it all back
• Getting rugged
• Realizing you're exit liquidity
• Sending to the wrong address
• Falling in love with a JPEG
• Buying a "rare" NFT, but then you realize...
• Revenge trading
• Winning your revenge trade
• The first time you combine trading, coffee, and nicotine
• Buying your first Bitcoin
• Getting your first airdrop
• Paying 3 months rent on ETH gas
• Seeing a teenager make a doctor's salary in a day
• Thinking “this is the bottom”
• Buying the top out of FOMO
• Calling something a scam, and then buying it a week later
• Sending your net worth in one transaction
• Setting up your 1st ledger
• Finding a random wallet with a lot of money on it
• Watching a friend make generational wealth from your call that you sold after a 2x
• Getting rugged by a 90s windows, pixel website
• Trying your first web3 ponzi game
• Switching to a new wallet for "fresh energy"
• Getting your first whitelist
• Minting it
• Selling it
• Meeting your online friend IRL for the first time
• Your first crypto IRL event
• Roundtripping 6 figs
• Roundtripping 7 figs
• Roundtripping 8 figs
• Eating figs
• Watching your cold wallet flip your bank account
• Telling your family about crypto (regretting it)
• Losing sleep over a meme coin
• Staring at a 1 minute chart
• Playing "Pump it Up"
• Getting socially engineered
• Finally understanding on-chain data
• Watching Vitalik do anything
Crypto markets retrace while stocks rally into market close ahead of tomorrow's CPI print.
Why do investors care about CPI?
CPI = one of the most important indicators of inflation
Inflation impacts monetary policy and interest rates for the economy- which impacts assets.
Central banks, such as the FED, use CPI to guide monetary policy.
If CPI is rising too fast, the Fed may raise interest rates to cool the economy. On the otherhand, if inflation is too low below target level, it may cut rates to stimulate spending and investment.
Hotter-than-expected CPI → risk-off reaction (rate hikes expected)
Cooler-than-expected CPI → risk-on reaction (rate cuts or dovish outlook)
CPI prints have a large impact on risk assets, such as BTC, based on aforementioned reasons