Web3 got...boring. The industry traded creativity for beige. I don’t think it will ever get the colour back. So for the time being, I'm out.

Which makes me sad. It wasn't always like this. When I first committed to blockchain, it was bursting with ideas. Wild, messy, alive. People didn't speak about creativity. They were just creative.

Back then, writing about the benefits of this wonderful technology every day, I couldn't believe my luck.

Opportunity was everywhere and the internet was alive.

People had character. Personality. Vision.

Web3 was rebellious, a philosophy, something bigger than any one person. Or at least that’s how it felt to me.

Maybe I’m just an old romantic.

The opportunities weren't sold on LinkedIn Jobs boards.
There were no talent agencies, no web3 hiring gurus.
Airdrops hadn't become the only way to market.

Even conferences were exciting. Kind of.

And it worked.

People will say, "Mark, you're just bitter. You don't understand. The industry's matured."

As if wearing a grey suit, the Trump family making billions from memecoins, a fractured landscape of money grabs and layer 2s, lies, ignominy and having an ETF is a sign of a maturity.

Crypto is doing fine. Bitcoin's new home is over $100,000. The global market cap is knocking on $4 trillion. Gold is looking over its shoulder.

And stablecoins offer a way out of financial obfuscation for millions. I hope it works out.

But that's not what I came for.

And certainly not why I stayed.

I stayed for the promise of a decentralized creator economy.

Take back the internet.
Remove the gatekeepers.
Decentralize power.

Yes, there are a few murmurs, a last rebellion holding out.

But really, that philosophy has gone. (And those unique daily user stats you like? take out the sybils, the airdrop farmers and all those multi-wallet degens and they don't look so jolly, do they?)

The scammers didn't leave. They matured as well, didn't they? Now they're Twitter KOLS, peddling the latest TGE to their followers with promises of generational wealth (see point on daily users).

Profiting from the attention economy and referrals, which is really all it is.

Money flows to the top and those who stuck around wrestle for the pocket change.

Nothing new there.

Even the tech has been corrupted.

ZK proofs went from promising privacy to selling AI wrappers.
Decentralization disappeared up its own arse.
And not enough people care.

There's no coincidence the drop in creativity arrived just as AI took off.
Control-V replaced imagination. Beige marketing replaced belief.

Maybe this is what happens when movements grow up.
Or maybe it’s what happens when money drowns meaning.

Either way, the colour’s gone.

And I’m stepping back until it returns.

Good luck, Web3.

Web3 got...boring. The industry traded creativity for beige. I don’t think it will ever get the colour back. So for the time being, I'm out.

Which makes me sad. It wasn't always like this. When I first committed to blockchain, it was bursting with ideas. Wild, messy, alive. People didn't speak about creativity. They were just creative.

Back then, writing about the benefits of this wonderful technology every day, I couldn't believe my luck.

Opportunity was everywhere and the internet was alive.

People had character. Personality. Vision.

Web3 was rebellious, a philosophy, something bigger than any one person. Or at least that’s how it felt to me.

Maybe I’m just an old romantic.

The opportunities weren't sold on LinkedIn Jobs boards.
There were no talent agencies, no web3 hiring gurus.
Airdrops hadn't become the only way to market.

Even conferences were exciting. Kind of.

And it worked.

People will say, "Mark, you're just bitter. You don't understand. The industry's matured."

As if wearing a grey suit, the Trump family making billions from memecoins, a fractured landscape of money grabs and layer 2s, lies, ignominy and having an ETF is a sign of a maturity.

Crypto is doing fine. Bitcoin's new home is over $100,000. The global market cap is knocking on $4 trillion. Gold is looking over its shoulder.

And stablecoins offer a way out of financial obfuscation for millions. I hope it works out.

But that's not what I came for.

And certainly not why I stayed.

I stayed for the promise of a decentralized creator economy.

Take back the internet.
Remove the gatekeepers.
Decentralize power.

Yes, there are a few murmurs, a last rebellion holding out.

But really, that philosophy has gone. (And those unique daily user stats you like? take out the sybils, the airdrop farmers and all those multi-wallet degens and they don't look so jolly, do they?)

The scammers didn't leave. They matured as well, didn't they? Now they're Twitter KOLS, peddling the latest TGE to their followers with promises of generational wealth (see point on daily users).

Profiting from the attention economy and referrals, which is really all it is.

Money flows to the top and those who stuck around wrestle for the pocket change.

Nothing new there.

Even the tech has been corrupted.

ZK proofs went from promising privacy to selling AI wrappers.
Decentralization disappeared up its own arse.
And not enough people care.

There's no coincidence the drop in creativity arrived just as AI took off.
Control-V replaced imagination. Beige marketing replaced belief.

Maybe this is what happens when movements grow up.
Or maybe it’s what happens when money drowns meaning.

Either way, the colour’s gone.

And I’m stepping back until it returns.

Good luck, Web3.