Kyle left the crypto industry, I'm a little sad Article: Doraemon, Deep Tide TechFlow * This article expresses my personal opinion. On February 5th, on a morning that started with a sharp decline, I was scrolling through Twitter as usual when a withdrawal statement from Kyle Samani, a well-known cryptocurrency VC partner, suddenly appeared in my message stream. My fingers paused on the screen for a few seconds, and my heart skipped a beat. Why is it him? I know Kyle, to be precise, it's a 'one-way acquaintance'. In my third year of college in 2020, I first read Multicoin's "Call to Order" paper, which was refreshing and inspired by Thesis Driven. Originally, VCs could write things like this, without using PPT style "we are optimistic about the long-term value of the XX track" and saying ambiguous words, but like traders' thinking, directly giving clear long and short logic, not being ambiguous, and having clear viewpoints. Kyle's image on Twitter has always been very clear: aggressive, mean, and has offended countless people. He dares to publicly empty out Ethereum's expansion path when everyone is optimistic about it, firmly bet on Solana when others are not optimistic about it, and publicly and transparently disclose losses and review decisions in the first place after the FTX explosion and the heavy losses of Multicoin. Many people in the Western encryption industry dislike him and think he is too arrogant, but I have always felt that this industry also needs people like him. Now he's gone. Turn to AI, longevity technology, and robotics. I suddenly feel a little sad: even Kyle doesn't want to play anymore. What's going on in this industry? What saddened me when Kyle left was not another VC turning to AI. Who doesn't talk about AI these days? What saddened me was Kyle from Multicoin, someone who seemed very determined to me. What is the investment logic of most Crypto VCs? Wide ranging casting of nets, betting on race tracks, saying beautiful things but never making judgments, or only knowing how to follow the crowd. Opening the investment reports of well-known institutions, it is always "We believe in a decentralized future" and "We are optimistic about innovation in the XX field", but you will never see a firm "We believe that Project A will outperform Project B". This is not caution, it is worldly wisdom. Regardless of who wins, they can say "You see, we have already laid out". Kyle or Multicoin is not like that, he dares to make a "life or death judgment". In 2017, it was publicly stated that Ethereum's sharding route was a dead end. It had previously failed to bet on EOS, and in 2018, it placed its bet on Solana. In 2020, it strongly supported Helium's belief that DePIN is the only non-financial scenario where Crypto can be implemented. Yes, he missed a lot and made big mistakes, EOS and FTX are bloody lessons. But he never hides, he discloses as much as he loses, and there are many mistakes he should admit. He is not the smartest VC or the gentlest preacher, but he can be considered one of the most 'real' ones. His departure symbolizes that some kind of 'honesty and sharpness' is disappearing from this industry. The tweet that was deleted in seconds made me more concerned about the one he posted before leaving, even though it was deleted in seconds. He said, 'Cryptocurrencies are not as interesting as many cryptocurrency enthusiasts expect. I once believed in the vision of Web3 and dApps.'. I don't believe it now. Blockchain is mainly an asset ledger, and although it can reshape finance, its potential in other fields is limited. Why delete in seconds? Because it sounds like 'heretics'. Why can't you resist posting? This is the conclusion that a person trapped between faith and reality has come to after spending 8 years and billions of dollars. I understand this feeling too well, because it was also my experience this year. What did we believe when we entered 2021? Decentralized social media will revolutionize Twitter, on chain identity (DID) will allow users to control their own data, and GameFi will truly' own their assets' for players. At that time, in the Twitter timeline, everyone was discussing how Web3 would change the world, and every new project was like an entrance to the future. What about the reality of 2025? Friend.tech is dead, and Lens Protocol is useless. ENS has become a tool for hype, and no one really uses DID except for wallet addresses. The collapse of Axie and StepN proves that "X to Earn" is just Ponzi's vest. But Kyle didn't completely deny it either. He still has a positive outlook on financial applications such as stablecoin, DeFi, RWA, as well as DePIN projects like Helium, and is still betting on Zama's fully homomorphic encryption technology. The question is: Do these things still require 'faith'? Or just need rational calculation? Kyle's departure has been criticized by some as betrayal, but in my eyes, it can be considered a "demystification" as he transformed from a Crypto Evangelist to a Crypto Realist. This transformation may be the coming of age ceremony that the entire industry must go through. The last time we lost money, this time we lost confidence. When FTX exploded in 2022, the entire industry hit rock bottom. Luna returns to zero, Three Arrows goes bankrupt, and the market is halved again. But at that time, everyone still had a belief in their hearts: the market collapsed, but we were not wrong. As long as we persist, the bull market will prove everything. At that time, we still believed in the "endgame narrative" of Ethereum, from PoW to PoS, from single chain to modularity, believing that this was the necessary path to the "world computer". We also believe in Solana's' performance revolution ', believing that as long as we survive the bear market, high-performance chains will definitely win. We also believe in the "paradigm shift" of Web3 and believe that the next chapter of the Internet must be decentralization. What about now in 2025? The objective data is actually much better than the previous trough, with BTC breaking through $100000 at one point, ETFs approved, and Crypto and Wall Street more closely connected. But the subjective feeling is completely opposite, the price is higher, but the confidence is lower. The "culprit" or "magic mirror" is AI. When ChatGPT was released in 2023, everyone was discussing "how AI will change the world." At the same time, what was Crypto discussing? Should L2 sorters be decentralized? One was discussing the productivity revolution, the other was debating technical details. In the following two years, the progress of AI was simply dazzling: Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT competed for supremacy, with new things happening every day. Recently, everyone has been obsessed with OpenClaw. What about Crypto? There are more and more L2 and chains, but no one can explain why 100 L2 are needed, even Vitalik reflects on his previous route mistakes. NFT, GameFi, and SocialFi have taken turns, but they are all short-lived. Today, the biggest innovations of this cycle are Meme Coin and the reinvention of gambling. I often ask myself late at night: AI is redefining productivity with technology, and Crypto is redistributing wealth with financial games. The former is creation, the latter is transfer. What are we actually building? Kyle's departure is essentially a 'value choice'. He chose to pursue fields such as AI, longevity technology, and robotics, which are truly expanding the human frontier. And Crypto, at least for now, is more like a high-end casino. But I don't want to leave yet. Speaking of which, you might think I'm also going to announce my withdrawal. But no, I still want to 'gamble' again. Kyle can leave because he is already financially free and can pursue bigger dreams. But for young people like me, Crypto still means: a relatively fair "class transition" channel, a "permissionless" testing ground, no need for education, background, or connections, just cognition and courage, an emerging industry that has not yet been completely monopolized by the elite class. More importantly, although Web3's grand narrative may have failed, it does not mean that Crypto is worthless. The revolution in financial infrastructure has occurred, with the daily settlement volume of stablecoins surpassing that of Visa, and DeFi enabling people around the world to use financial services and RWA 24/7. The most crucial thing is that I haven't figured out my answer yet. Kyle spent 8 years coming to the conclusion that "Crypto is just an asset ledger," but I am still just a rookie. Why make a judgment now? Maybe in a few years, I will also leave like him. But at least for now, I still want to stay at the table and see if there are still some possibilities in this industry that we haven't seen. In a few years, Crypto may no longer be a "disruptive" revolution, but a value settlement layer in the AI era. At that time, I will order a cup of coffee and chat about the scenery I see along the way.