I woke up today still thinking about Kyle leaving Multicoin. Kyle and I are very different--that's obvious to anyone who knows us. But among crypto VCs, deep down, he was the most like me. He was a dark horse. He built an online following and a platform he had no business having. He turned Multicoin into a franchise out of sheer force of will. He made mistakes in public, and even when no one had his back, he dusted himself off and carried on. He was always convinced he had the right to win, and refused to be bullied or to give up. Kyle is the apotheosis of what made this industry great. He went west in search of adventure, and adventure found him. Over the years, we believed crypto might replace sovereign money, become the currency of the metaverse, replace electoral systems, replace luxury brands, that all physical infrastructure would run on blockchain, that AIs themselves would become blockchain's primary consumers. He made so many batshit crazy stupid investments and believed in them all. I'm still not convinced those things won't happen. But we saw it all, and we dreamt it all together. It's 10 years later now. We've gotten older. Everything took longer than we thought. But in a deeper sense, the crazy bet we made on this space all those years ago, through all the ups and downs, was proven right. Kyle moving on is, for me, incredibly melancholic. Because more than anyone, he represents a changing of the guard. Kyle was wild, contrarian, and almost believed he could make things true just by out-arguing his detractors. His leaving is the truest sign that we as an industry are growing up. The true end of the wild west. The pioneers are never the same as the settlers who follow them. It's a law of human nature. The west still exists. But it's no longer just territory--there are cities there now, with city councils and zoning laws. I am still so bullish crypto. I know it's weird to say with markets roiling. But there's not much patience anymore for dreams that are 10 years away. The dreamer chapter is over. The builder chapter is replacing it. And this is neither good nor bad--it just is. Kyle leaving Multicoin is not the end of crypto VC. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning.