Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital and chairman of Solana Treasury, ignited a fierce industry debate on June 1, 2026, by stating bluntly on X: “Web3 is dead. All we have is DeFi and DePIN.” The remark came in response to a thread started by StarkWare CEO and Zcash co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson, who argued that crypto faces an identity crisis as longtime builders leave and traditional finance institutions flood in.
Samani’s statement frames the once‑hyped Web3 narrative—encompassing decentralized social networks, gaming platforms, and creator economies—as a fading label that failed to deliver mass adoption. Instead, he points to decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) as the only sectors with clear, measurable use cases. Samani, a prominent investor in Solana, Helium, and other infrastructure plays, stepped back from day‑to‑day operations at Multicoin earlier in 2026 but remains an influential voice in crypto markets.
Ben‑Sasson’s original post lamented that “crypto seems to be going through an identity crisis,” noting an exodus of veteran figures while banks, asset managers, and payment firms deepen their involvement. This institutional influx, driven by ETFs, tokenized assets, and regulated products, challenges the movement’s foundational ethos of open networks and self‑custody. Samani’s reply effectively concedes that broad “Web3” branding has lost its force, while DeFi—covering lending, trading, and stablecoins—and DePIN—linking blockchain incentives to real‑world infrastructure like wireless networks, storage, and sensors—are the only narratives still proving market demand.
Market data supports the focus on these niches. Standard Chartered has projected massive growth in tokenized assets by 2028, with DeFi protocols expected to handle much of the activity. DePIN has matured into a distinct category, attracting capital for projects that tie token rewards to physical infrastructure. Additionally, tokenized real‑world assets (RWAs), prediction markets, and platforms like Hyperliquid demonstrate that crypto‑native financial products can sustain substantial expansion. Yet the broader Web3 vision of millions daily users on decentralized apps remains unrealized, with most blockchain‑based social networks and games struggling to retain users beyond initial hype.
The debate highlights a market that now privileges demonstrable utility over grand narratives. For Samani, the clearest answers lie in finance and infrastructure, while the rest of the Web3 experiment has, for now, faded.
