What Happened to Crypto?

Capital, not shared vision, sustained Ethereum's ecosystem, and that ecosystem is now in narrative paralysis. Venture capital, DAO grant programs and speculative inflows funded developers, conferences and service providers, with Ethereum acting as a facilitation layer rather than a product. The hoped-for alternative economy did not outgrow traditional finance, as fintech firms like Stripe and Ramp execute faster and are likely to capture much of this cycle's surplus. The Ethereum Foundation has lost momentum amid tremendous employee churn, and Bankless is making a narrative pivot.