- Kyle Samani says Web3 is dead, arguing only DeFi and DePIN remain viable in crypto.
- Crypto faces an identity crisis as institutions enter and early users exit.
- Supporters point to RWAs, prediction markets, and AI as Web3 growth drivers.
Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital, has declared that “Web3 is dead.” Samani said that only decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) remain meaningful sectors within crypto.
His comments came in response to concerns raised by Eli Ben-Sasson, who suggested the crypto industry is facing an identity crisis. According to him, institutional adoption is accelerating while many early crypto participants are leaving the space.
Crypto’s Identity Crisis
In his tweet, Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare and co-founder of Zcash, said several long-time industry participants have stepped away from crypto. Meanwhile, traditional financial institutions and mainstream investors are increasingly embracing digital assets.
However, this trend challenges one of crypto’s original narratives. Early crypto advocates promoted the technology as a way to reduce reliance on traditional financial systems. Responding to the post, Samani said,
“Web3 is dead. All we have is DeFi and DePIN.”
The statement sparked debate across the crypto community.
Community’s View
Notably, some commentators agreed that many Web3 applications have struggled to achieve mainstream adoption.
Investor Santiago Voss argued that crypto’s strongest use case remains financial infrastructure rather than fully on-chain consumer applications.
He suggested a more practical approach may be to build traditional Web2 products while integrating crypto financial rails. In his view, this is more viable than placing every aspect of an application on-chain.
Others pointed to broader industry challenges. Mark Marshall said crypto content has become less visible on social media platforms. He attributed part of the decline to widespread scams that damaged the industry’s public image.
RWA, Prediction Markets, DeFi Growth as Counterarguments
On the other hand, crypto commentator Payne noted that several sectors continue to expand. He highlighted the growth of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, prediction markets, and perpetual decentralized exchanges such as Hyperliquid. According to Payne, these developments show that innovation remains active across the industry.
He also pointed to artificial intelligence as an important driver of experimentation and user adoption. While AI was not originally considered part of the Web3 movement, Payne believes it is creating new opportunities within the sector.
According to him, the current environment reflects temporary market boredom rather than the collapse of the Web3 vision.
DePIN
Meanwhile, some users questioned whether DePIN has produced enough meaningful projects to justify the excitement surrounding the sector.
Yet, DePIN remains one of the fastest-growing narratives in crypto. DePIN projects use blockchain incentives to build and operate real-world infrastructure networks. These include wireless connectivity, computing resources, storage systems, and energy infrastructure.
Samani’s comments suggest he believes infrastructure-focused models, alongside DeFi, represent the most durable and economically viable parts of the crypto ecosystem.
Related: Why DePIN and ReFi Are the Most Underrated Crypto Sectors in 2026
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