Kyle Samani's about-face, one of the biggest believers in web3, has also left the industry

By: blockbeats|2026/02/05 23:00:00

In the westernmost part of the Hidaka mountains in Hokkaido, Japan, at the Iwanai resort, Multicoin co-founder Kyle Samani is standing on a snow-covered ridge, wearing a helmet, and carrying a snowboard.

This is the most recent tweet from Kyle Samani since announcing his departure from Multicoin.

Kyle Samani's about-face, one of the biggest believers in web3, has also left the industry

A few days ago, he had just deleted a tweet that said, "Crypto is not as interesting as many (including myself) once imagined. I used to believe in the Web3 vision and dApps, now I no longer do. Blockchain is fundamentally just an asset ledger."

Although quickly deleted, many people still saw it.

Later, Kyle provided a more temperate explanation in an open letter: "This is a bittersweet moment. Multicoin has been one of the most important and rewarding experiences of my life. But I also look forward to taking a break to explore new technological frontiers."

Multicoin's other co-founder, Tushar Jain, wrote in a letter to LPs: "Kyle's interests have expanded from cryptocurrency to emerging technology areas such as AI, longevity tech, robotics, and more. He wants to take some time to systematically explore these directions."

Kyle Samani's departure seems to have once again made the industry acutely aware: those who were among the first to advocate for Web3 are also starting to waver.

The Golden Age of FTX and Multicoin

In the crypto VC circle, Kyle Samani is one of the most prolific writers among investors, with long-form articles, research reports, open letters, and trend analyses, one after another. The "three mega theses" proposed by him and the Multicoin team have influenced a generation of practitioners' understanding of native crypto value.

Many know Multicoin as one of the most ardent supporters of the Solana ecosystem, but what many do not know is that Multicoin was not originally a "Solana-aligned" institution.

In 2017–2018, Multicoin's core focus was actually on EOS. At that time, EOS was marketed as a "performance killer" and "Ethereum killer," emphasizing high TPS, low latency, and suitability for large-scale applications. Multicoin was also one of its staunchest supporters, with early heavy bets and deep involvement in ecosystem development.

But the result is well known: governance failure, ecosystem hollowing, developer attrition, financialization. EOS is essentially declared a failure.

For Multicoin, this was a setback approaching a "faith-based" level. If they bet wrong on the next generation public chain, this institution will basically be marginalized by the market.

So after the collapse of EOS, Multicoin began extremely cautiously searching for the "next chain that can truly run a financial system."

From 2019 to 2020, FTX developed very rapidly. But SBF faced a reality: Ethereum was too slow, too expensive. Matching, clearing, derivatives, on-chain settlement, none of it could scale. He needed a chain: extremely high TPS, extremely low latency, suitable for high-frequency financial systems, capable of handling exchange-level traffic.

At this point, Kyle was already systematically researching Solana, and Solana's characteristics happened to align with SBF's needs.

One night, Kyle called SBF directly in the middle of the night. They talked for a long time. The core of the conversation revolved around one question: Could Solana handle real transactional throughput?

This phone call was viewed by many insiders as a turning point for Solana.

What happened later was actually quite "Wall Street." SBF didn't fully trust Kyle. He chose to verify it himself, so they launched a large number of junk transactions on Solana as an attack-style stress test to see if Solana would crash.

The result was: Solana withstood the pressure.

What happened next is something we are mostly aware of, FTX entered the scene in full force. FTX/Alameda bought a large amount of SOL, invested in Solana ecosystem projects, provided liquidity, market-making, and listed related assets. Multicoin continued to accumulate, endorse externally, research, promote, and conduct institutional roadshows, and so on.

Early core projects in the Solana ecosystem are almost inseparable from the FTX/Alameda group and Multicoin group, forming a de facto alliance. They promoted together, provided resources together, pumped together, and built the ecosystem together.

With their help, Solana emerged as a top-tier public chain, FTX gradually solidified its position as the top exchange, and Multicoin also became a top VC. At the peak of their success, they achieved great things together, and many still reminisce about that golden era.

And in the FTX era, Multicoin is still holding on to SOL, rebuilding the narrative.

Even after leaving, Kyle Samani is still betting on SOL, emphasizing his continued bullishness on cryptocurrency, especially Solana, and plans to maintain personal involvement. After all, as a Multicoin co-founder, he has managed around $5.9 billion in assets, but his most successful label has always been: the earliest believer in Solana.

Now, he continues to serve as the Chairman of Forward Industries. This company holds the largest SOL treasury in the market. He also tweeted: "I intend to increase my position in FWDI, essentially increasing my SOL exposure. I remain super bullish on SOL, super bullish on cryptocurrency."

Even as he exits the stage, he is still standing on Solana.

Multicoin is also more like a "narrative factory"

Founded in 2017, Multicoin gave itself a very rare positioning — Thesis-driven VC, a thesis-driven investment firm.

This means that Multicoin is also more like a "narrative factory."

Anticipating structural opportunities, packaging opportunities into trends through theses, and then turning trends into reality with capital. Web3, DeFi, PayFi, data sovereignty, AI+Crypto, privacy... Behind many mainstream narratives we have seen over the years, we can almost always see Multicoin's shadow.

If asked which narrative has been most successful for Multicoin over the years? The answer is DeFiPIN, according to Ben Lawsky.

Starting in 2019, Multicoin has been discussing a question repeatedly: Why should blockchain only serve finance? Can it directly transform the real world's infrastructure? So, they proposed the prototype of DePIN: using tokens to incentivize driving physical network construction.

Turning real-world assets into on-chain production materials.

DePIN's success is largely not due to technological breakthroughs, but because Multicoin explained it thoroughly.

In blogs, summits, and research reports, they kept outputting: what projects qualify as DePIN; what projects are fake DePIN; how to assess sustainability; how to avoid Ponzi schemes. Slowly, the entire industry began discussing issues in their way.

Subsequently, more and more capital began to enter the scene.

Helium, Hivemapper, GEODNET... One groundbreaking project after another emerged within the Solana ecosystem. Helium deployed over 600,000 hotspots in just 30 months, directly competing with traditional telecom networks. Hivemapper crowdsourced devices to rebuild the mapping system. These projects became the blueprint for DePIN.

By 2025–2026, DePIN had become a standard track for institutions. Grayscale included it in their research report, estimating the market size to be in the billions of dollars. The earliest bet on the system was made by Multicoin.

In addition to DePIN, Multicoin has been emphasizing a longer-term proposition over the years: Who owns the data? In the Web2 world, data belongs to the platform, users are merely products, and information flow is controlled by banks, tech giants, and credit institutions. Multicoin's core insight is: If Web3 is meaningful, it must be reflected at the data layer. Individuals must regain control of identity, privacy, behavioral data, and credit information. Otherwise, so-called "decentralization" is just server swapping. They have strategically invested in numerous privacy computing, encryption protocol, and data marketplace projects, such as Zama.

Have We Failed?

Just as Kyle exited the scene, another tweet was repeatedly reshared within the community.

From Vitalik.

When discussing the Ethereum L2 ecosystem, he used an almost introspective tone: "The progress of L2 entering Stage 2 is much slower and much more difficult than we expected. Meanwhile, L1 itself continues to scale."

Another version of this statement could be: We're sorry, we have failed. Not a technical failure. A narrative failure.

Within this framework, Multicoin was once one of the most exceptional narrative designers. They diligently, systematically, and rigorously constructed an entire Web3 worldview. But today, even Kyle himself is starting to say: Perhaps blockchain is fundamentally just an asset ledger.

So, what can blockchain really do? A decade has passed, and although we haven't found the right answer yet, fortunately, we have at least ruled out one wrong answer.

As Kyle departs, an era comes to an end, but we may also be on the cusp of a new era.

Because at the same time, there are still people, including Vitalik, who are holding the line in this industry.

Over the past decade, Bitcoin has gone through countless "it's over" moments: Mt. Gox, the 94 Ban, ICO bubble burst, 312, FTX... Each time, the market pronounced it dead; each time, it slowly climbed back.

The narrative will fail, the cycle will end, the capital will retreat.

But as long as there are people willing to bet time on the tech, reputation on the system, this industry will not truly reset.

Foreword: Today, the People's Bank of China's website published the "Notice of the People's Bank of China, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, State Administration for Market Regulation, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Preventing and Dealing with Risks Related to Virtual Currency and Others (Yinfa [2026] No. 42)", the latest regulatory requirements from the eight departments including the central bank, which are basically consistent with the regulatory requirements of recent years. The main focus of the regulation is on speculative activities such as virtual currency trading, exchanges, ICOs, overseas platform services, and this time, regulatory oversight of RWA has been added, explicitly prohibiting RWA tokenization, stablecoins (especially those pegged to the RMB). The following is the full text:

To the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

Recently, there have been speculative activities related to virtual currency and Real-World Assets (RWA) tokenization, disrupting the economic and financial order and jeopardizing the property security of the people. In order to further prevent and address the risks related to virtual currency and Real-World Assets tokenization, effectively safeguard national security and social stability, in accordance with the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the People's Bank of China," "Law of the People's Republic of China on Commercial Banks," "Securities Law of the People's Republic of China," "Law of the People's Republic of China on Securities Investment Funds," "Law of the People's Republic of China on Futures and Derivatives," "Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China," "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Renminbi," "Regulations on Prevention and Disposal of Illegal Fundraising," "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Exchange Administration," "Telecommunications Regulations of the People's Republic of China," and other provisions, after reaching consensus with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and with the approval of the State Council, the relevant matters are notified as follows:

I. Clarify the essential attributes of virtual currency, Real-World Assets tokenization, and related business activities

(I) Virtual currency does not possess the legal status equivalent to fiat currency. Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, etc., have the main characteristics of being issued by non-monetary authorities, using encryption technology and distributed ledger or similar technology, existing in digital form, etc. They do not have legal tender status, should not and cannot be circulated and used as currency in the market.

The business activities related to virtual currency are classified as illegal financial activities. The exchange of fiat currency and virtual currency within the territory, exchange of virtual currencies, acting as a central counterparty in buying and selling virtual currencies, providing information intermediary and pricing services for virtual currency transactions, token issuance financing, and trading of virtual currency-related financial products, etc., fall under illegal financial activities, such as suspected illegal issuance of token vouchers, unauthorized public issuance of securities, illegal operation of securities and futures business, illegal fundraising, etc., are strictly prohibited across the board and resolutely banned in accordance with the law. Overseas entities and individuals are not allowed to provide virtual currency-related services to domestic entities in any form.

A stablecoin pegged to a fiat currency indirectly fulfills some functions of the fiat currency in circulation. Without the consent of relevant authorities in accordance with the law and regulations, any domestic or foreign entity or individual is not allowed to issue a RMB-pegged stablecoin overseas.

（II）Tokenization of Real-World Assets refers to the use of encryption technology and distributed ledger or similar technologies to transform ownership rights, income rights, etc., of assets into tokens (tokens) or other interests or bond certificates with token (token) characteristics, and carry out issuance and trading activities.

Engaging in the tokenization of real-world assets domestically, as well as providing related intermediary, information technology services, etc., which are suspected of illegal issuance of token vouchers, unauthorized public offering of securities, illegal operation of securities and futures business, illegal fundraising, and other illegal financial activities, shall be prohibited; except for relevant business activities carried out with the approval of the competent authorities in accordance with the law and regulations and relying on specific financial infrastructures. Overseas entities and individuals are not allowed to illegally provide services related to the tokenization of real-world assets to domestic entities in any form.

II. Sound Work Mechanism

(III) Inter-agency Coordination. The People's Bank of China, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and other departments, will improve the work mechanism, strengthen coordination with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, coordinate efforts, and overall guide regions to carry out risk prevention and disposal of virtual currency-related illegal financial activities.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and other departments, will improve the work mechanism, strengthen coordination with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, coordinate efforts, and overall guide regions to carry out risk prevention and disposal of illegal financial activities related to the tokenization of real-world assets.

(IV) Strengthening Local Implementation. The people's governments at the provincial level are overall responsible for the prevention and disposal of risks related to virtual currencies and the tokenization of real-world assets in their respective administrative regions. The specific leading department is the local financial regulatory department, with participation from branches and dispatched institutions of the State Council's financial regulatory department, telecommunications regulators, public security, market supervision, and other departments, in coordination with cyberspace departments, courts, and procuratorates, to improve the normalization of the work mechanism, effectively connect with the relevant work mechanisms of central departments, form a cooperative and coordinated working pattern between central and local governments, effectively prevent and properly handle risks related to virtual currencies and the tokenization of real-world assets, and maintain economic and financial order and social stability.

III. Strengthened Risk Monitoring, Prevention, and Disposal

(5) Enhanced Risk Monitoring. The People's Bank of China, China Securities Regulatory Commission, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Cyberspace Administration of China, and other departments continue to improve monitoring techniques and system support, enhance cross-departmental data analysis and sharing, establish sound information sharing and cross-validation mechanisms, promptly grasp the risk situation of activities related to virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization. Local governments at all levels give full play to the role of local monitoring and early warning mechanisms. Local financial regulatory authorities, together with branches and agencies of the State Council's financial regulatory authorities, as well as departments of cyberspace and public security, ensure effective connection between online monitoring, offline investigation, and fund tracking, efficiently and accurately identify activities related to virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization, promptly share risk information, improve early warning information dissemination, verification, and rapid response mechanisms.

(6) Strengthened Oversight of Financial Institutions, Intermediaries, and Technology Service Providers. Financial institutions (including non-bank payment institutions) are prohibited from providing account opening, fund transfer, and clearing services for virtual currency-related business activities, issuing and selling financial products related to virtual currency, including virtual currency and related financial products in the scope of collateral, conducting insurance business related to virtual currency, or including virtual currency in the scope of insurance liability. Financial institutions (including non-bank payment institutions) are prohibited from providing custody, clearing, and settlement services for unauthorized real-world asset tokenization-related business and related financial products. Relevant intermediary institutions and information technology service providers are prohibited from providing intermediary, technical, or other services for unauthorized real-world asset tokenization-related businesses and related financial products.

(7) Enhanced Management of Internet Information Content and Access. Internet enterprises are prohibited from providing online business venues, commercial displays, marketing, advertising, or paid traffic diversion services for virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization-related business activities. Upon discovering clues of illegal activities, they should promptly report to relevant departments and provide technical support and assistance for related investigations and inquiries. Based on the clues transferred by the financial regulatory authorities, the cyberspace administration, telecommunications authorities, and public security departments should promptly close and deal with websites, mobile applications (including mini-programs), and public accounts engaged in virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization-related business activities in accordance with the law.

(8) Strengthened Entity Registration and Advertisement Management. Market supervision departments strengthen entity registration and management, and enterprise and individual business registrations must not contain terms such as "virtual currency," "virtual asset," "cryptocurrency," "crypto asset," "stablecoin," "real-world asset tokenization," or "RWA" in their names or business scopes. Market supervision departments, together with financial regulatory authorities, legally enhance the supervision of advertisements related to virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization, promptly investigating and handling relevant illegal advertisements.

（IX） Continued Rectification of Virtual Currency Mining Activities. The National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, strictly controls virtual currency mining activities, continuously promotes the rectification of virtual currency mining activities. The people's governments of various provinces take overall responsibility for the rectification of "mining" within their respective administrative regions. In accordance with the requirements of the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments in the "Notice on the Rectification of Virtual Currency Mining Activities" (NDRC Energy-saving Building [2021] No. 1283) and the provisions of the "Guidance Catalog for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 Edition)," a comprehensive review, investigation, and closure of existing virtual currency mining projects are conducted, new mining projects are strictly prohibited, and mining machine production enterprises are strictly prohibited from providing mining machine sales and other services within the country.

（X） Severe Crackdown on Related Illegal Financial Activities. Upon discovering clues to illegal financial activities related to virtual currency and the tokenization of real-world assets, local financial regulatory authorities, branches of the State Council's financial regulatory authorities, and other relevant departments promptly investigate, determine, and properly handle the issues in accordance with the law, and seriously hold the relevant entities and individuals legally responsible. Those suspected of crimes are transferred to the judicial authorities for processing according to the law.

（XI） Severe Crackdown on Related Illegal and Criminal Activities. The Ministry of Public Security, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, as well as judicial and procuratorial organs, in accordance with their respective responsibilities, rigorously crack down on illegal and criminal activities related to virtual currency, the tokenization of real-world assets, such as fraud, money laundering, illegal business operations, pyramid schemes, illegal fundraising, and other illegal and criminal activities carried out under the guise of virtual currency, the tokenization of real-world assets, etc.

（XII） Strengthen Industry Self-discipline. Relevant industry associations should enhance membership management and policy advocacy, based on their own responsibilities, advocate and urge member units to resist illegal financial activities related to virtual currency and the tokenization of real-world assets. Member units that violate regulatory policies and industry self-discipline rules are to be disciplined in accordance with relevant self-regulatory management regulations. By leveraging various industry infrastructure, conduct risk monitoring related to virtual currency, the tokenization of real-world assets, and promptly transfer issue clues to relevant departments.

IV. Strict Supervision of Domestic Entities Engaging in Overseas Business Activities

（XIII） Without the approval of relevant departments in accordance with the law and regulations, domestic entities and foreign entities controlled by them may not issue virtual currency overseas.

（XIV） Domestic entities engaging directly or indirectly in overseas external debt-based tokenization of real-world assets, or conducting asset securitization activities abroad based on domestic ownership rights, income rights, etc. (hereinafter referred to as domestic equity), should be strictly regulated in accordance with the principles of "same business, same risk, same rules." The National Development and Reform Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and other relevant departments regulate it according to their respective responsibilities. For other forms of overseas real-world asset tokenization activities based on domestic equity by domestic entities, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, together with relevant departments, supervise according to their division of responsibilities. Without the consent and filing of relevant departments, no unit or individual may engage in the above-mentioned business.

(15) Overseas subsidiaries and branches of domestic financial institutions providing Real World Asset Tokenization-related services overseas shall do so legally and prudently. They shall have professional personnel and systems in place to effectively mitigate business risks, strictly implement customer onboarding, suitability management, anti-money laundering requirements, and incorporate them into the domestic financial institutions' compliance and risk management system. Intermediaries and information technology service providers offering Real World Asset Tokenization services abroad based on domestic equity or conducting Real World Asset Tokenization business in the form of overseas debt for domestic entities directly or indirectly venturing abroad must strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations. They should establish and improve relevant compliance and internal control systems in accordance with relevant normative requirements, strengthen business and risk control, and report the business developments to the relevant regulatory authorities for approval or filing.

V. Strengthen Organizational Implementation

(16) Strengthen organizational leadership and overall coordination. All departments and regions should attach great importance to the prevention of risks related to virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization, strengthen organizational leadership, clarify work responsibilities, form a long-term effective working mechanism with centralized coordination, local implementation, and shared responsibilities, maintain high pressure, dynamically monitor risks, effectively prevent and mitigate risks in an orderly and efficient manner, legally protect the property security of the people, and make every effort to maintain economic and financial order and social stability.

(17) Widely carry out publicity and education. All departments, regions, and industry associations should make full use of various media and other communication channels to disseminate information through legal and policy interpretation, analysis of typical cases, and education on investment risks, etc. They should promote the illegality and harm of virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization-related businesses and their manifestations, fully alert to potential risks and hidden dangers, and enhance public awareness and identification capabilities for risk prevention.

VI. Legal Responsibility

(18) Engaging in illegal financial activities related to virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization in violation of this notice, as well as providing services for virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization-related businesses, shall be punished in accordance with relevant regulations. If it constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued according to the law. For domestic entities and individuals who knowingly or should have known that overseas entities illegally provided virtual currency or Real World Asset Tokenization-related services to domestic entities and still assisted them, relevant responsibilities shall be pursued according to the law. If it constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued according to the law.

(19) If any unit or individual invests in virtual currencies, Real World Asset Tokens, and related financial products against public order and good customs, the relevant civil legal actions shall be invalid, and any resulting losses shall be borne by them. If there are suspicions of disrupting financial order and jeopardizing financial security, the relevant departments shall deal with them according to the law.

This notice shall enter into force upon the date of its issuance. The People's Bank of China and ten other departments' "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risks of Virtual Currency Trading Speculation" (Yinfa [2021] No. 237) is hereby repealed.

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