TechFlow reports that on February 20, Evgeny Gaevoy, founder of crypto market maker Wintermute, stated on the *Crypto Playbook* podcast—published by *Fortune* magazine—that although the industry is experiencing tailwinds such as blockchain-friendly governments and Wall Street adoption, the crypto sector is increasingly dominated by a “number go up” mindset, drifting away from its original cypherpunk ethos. Bitcoin was initially conceived to build a decentralized monetary system independent of government and banking control; yet today’s industry trajectory centers more on financialization and speculation. Gaevoy argues that the crypto industry should refocus on cypherpunk principles rather than fully assimilating into Wall Street.
Additionally, regarding the public-chain rivalry between Ethereum and Solana, Gaevoy pointed out that the market is overlooking the core issue: real-world adoption of decentralized applications (dApps) remains extremely limited. Although Ethereum’s ecosystem total value locked (TVL) exceeds $120 billion, most of this represents “idle capital,” with only a minuscule proportion actively integrated into real economic activity—negligible compared to traditional finance (TradFi).
