Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani declared that “Web3 is dead” on June 1, 2026, telling followers on X that “all we have is DeFi and DePIN.” The statement from Forward Industries’ chairman, one of crypto’s most vocal Web3 proponents of the last cycle, lands as Ethereum bleeds ETF outflows and developer attention shifts toward financial infrastructure. Samani wrote that he “once believed in the Web3 vision” and in dApps but “no longer” does, framing blockchains as “essentially asset ledgers” that will reshape finance rather than consumer software. Bitcoin sat near $71,039 and ether near $1,968 at the time of his post, both down on the day.
DePIN, or decentralized physical infrastructure networks, is a category of crypto projects that use token rewards to bootstrap real-world hardware like wireless coverage, GPU compute, mapping, and energy grids.
Key takeaways
- Kyle Samani, Multicoin Capital co-founder and Forward Industries chairman, said on X on June 1, 2026 that “Web3 is dead” and that DeFi and DePIN are the only growth areas left in crypto.
- Samani earlier posted, then deleted, a stronger version: “Crypto is not as interesting as many, including myself, once imagined.” He says he remains “mega long SOL, mega long crypto.”
- The shift follows a long bear market for altcoins, sustained Ethereum spot ETF outflows, and a stalling consumer dApp narrative.
- Capital and developer attention are tilting toward stablecoins, real-world assets, on-chain markets, and DePIN networks like Helium and GPU compute marketplaces.
Published: June 1, 2026 16:15 UTC
What Samani actually said and why it matters
Samani’s full comment, screenshotted and circulated by Wu Blockchain on X, reads: “Web3 is dead. All we have is DeFi and DePIN.” It followed a now-deleted post where he wrote that crypto is “not as interesting as many, including myself, once imagined” and that “at its core, blockchain is just an asset ledger.” Coming from the partner who spent the last cycle pitching Solana, NFTs, and consumer crypto to LPs, the reversal is the loudest insider concession yet that the Web3 application layer has not produced a breakout product. Samani remains chairman of Forward Industries, the Solana treasury vehicle, and says he is still “mega long SOL, mega long crypto,” so this is a thesis cut, not an exit.
The remarks lined up with parallel comments from StarkWare CEO and Zcash co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson, who described crypto as living through a “clear mental split,” with founding-era OGs leaving while banks and asset managers “absorb the industry.” Together the two reads of the moment frame the same conclusion from different angles: the Web3 application story is winding down, and the financialization story is taking over.
Why the call lands now
Three forces sit behind the timing. First, Ethereum spot ETFs have been in net outflow mode for much of 2026, undercutting the consumer-Web3-runs-on-ETH narrative that drew capital in 2021 and 2022. Second, Solana, Multicoin’s flagship bet, has reframed itself as the “internet capital market” rather than an everyday-app chain. Third, DePIN became the rare crypto category to add real, measurable users in this cycle: Helium’s mobile network surpassed multi-hundred-thousand subscriber counts, and decentralized GPU marketplaces fed actual AI workloads.
Samani helped popularize the DePIN label starting in 2019. His call now reads as a narrative tightening, naming the categories he intends to keep funding and signaling that consumer Web3 pitches will get a colder reception from one of the sector’s most-watched check writers. Multicoin’s public thesis historically rested on three legs: open finance, Web3, and stateless currencies. He just kicked one out.
Impact on builders, traders, and institutions
For founders, the message is concrete. Pitches built around “tokenizing” games, social apps, or identity will face more skepticism in seed rounds. Pitches built around stablecoin rails, on-chain credit, real-world assets, exchange infrastructure, and DePIN networks with measurable usage will not. Multicoin is not the only fund moving this way: Paradigm, Variant, and Pantera have all leaned toward financial infrastructure and DePIN over the past year, and Circle’s August 2025 announcement of ARC, a layer 1 built specifically for stablecoins, sits squarely in the lane Samani is pointing at.
For traders, the read is harder. Samani is still long SOL and crypto broadly. He is not calling a price top. He is, however, telling the market that the next leg of fundamental demand will come from financial users, not consumer ones, which favors assets tied to settlement, payments, and infrastructure throughput rather than tokens tied to applications still searching for users.
For institutions, Samani’s framing accelerates a trend already in motion. The Grayscale 2026 outlook calls this the “dawn of the institutional era,” and Proof of Talk 2026, opening June 2 in Paris with executives from Franklin Templeton, SWIFT, Mastercard, and JP Morgan on stage, is built around the same thesis. Samani’s comment essentially blesses what the conference rooms were already going to argue.
What comes next
Watch three things over the next quarter. First, the next Multicoin investment announcements. The portfolio always telegraphs the live thesis better than the blog posts. Second, the SEC’s posture on tokenized securities and stablecoins, given its February 2026 clarifying guidance on how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets. Third, DePIN usage data. If Helium, Render, and GPU networks keep growing real revenue, Samani’s frame will harden into consensus. If they stall, the “Web3 is dead” call will be remembered as a top-of-cycle pivot from someone closer to the door than the runway.
Frequently asked questions
What is DePIN in crypto?
DePIN stands for decentralized physical infrastructure networks. These are projects that use token rewards to incentivize people to deploy and operate real-world hardware, such as wireless hotspots, GPU servers, mapping vehicles, or energy storage, and then coordinate that hardware on-chain. Helium, Render, and Hivemapper are common examples.
Did Kyle Samani leave Multicoin Capital?
Samani has stepped back from day-to-day operations at Multicoin Capital but remains a partner and continues to chair Forward Industries, a Solana-focused treasury company. Reports in early 2026 described him shifting personal focus toward AI, robotics, and longevity tech while keeping his crypto allocations intact.
Is Web3 actually dead?
Samani is making a thesis statement, not a market call. Web3 as a venture category, meaning consumer dApps, NFT-based identity, and tokenized social apps, has underperformed expectations through this cycle. The infrastructure beneath it, including stablecoins, on-chain markets, and DePIN, continues to grow, which is the distinction Samani is drawing.
