Kyle Samani Exits Multicoin

Olivia Capozzalo & Squiffs _
February 06, 2026

Happy Friday Defiers!

Today’s big story:

• With crypto in free fall, investors, traders and builders are reevaluating their career choices.

In other news:

• ETHZilla plans to tokenize home loans
• XRP outperforms on token utility updates
• Rainbow’s token launch flops
• How Ethereum gas and blockspace could become commodities [SPONSORED]
• ZetaChain 2.0 brings private memory and AI interoperability to creators [SPONSORED]

Read more below! But first, please give our sponsors some love; they make this newsletter possible.

Stellar: The Proving Ground for Real-World Privacy

The latest Stellar upgrade, X-Ray, delivers zero-knowledge cryptography that lets developers build privacy into their apps—protecting what matters while keeping Stellar radically open, trusted, and ready for real-world finance.

We’re back! Here’s what you need to know in web3 today

📈 Markets in the Past 24 Hours

	TICKER	VALUE	24H
	Bitcoin	$70,492	7.68 %
	Ethereum	$2,057.11	7.17 %
	BNB	$657.91	3.07 %
	XRP	$1.46	20.03 %
	Solana	$86.93	6.64 %

Today’s Big Story

Kyle Samani Leaves Multicoin

With crypto in free fall, investors, traders and builders are reevaluating their career choices. Perhaps the most notable change this week was Kyle Samani, the co-founder of Multicoin Capital and vocal Solana bull, stepping away from the fund as SOL trades 76% below its all-time high of $280.

While Samani is separating himself from Multicoin, which invests across multiple cryptocurrencies but primarily operates as a Solana-focused investment and trading fund, he remains focused on Solana and will continue to serve as Chairman of his Solana treasury company, Forward Industries.

Following his departure, he posted on X, “I am still mega long SOL, mega long crypto, and will continue to be involved in crypto both in my personal capacity, and as Chairman of Forward.”

Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly, touted Kyle as “the apotheosis of what made this industry great.” Qureshi called Samani’s choice to move forward “melancholic” and a sign that the industry is maturing and leaving behind its “wild west” era.

Samani, however, was quick to bring a justified air of nonchalance to the situation and replied, “The game has changed. And as such, I've changed my position on the field. You're overthinking my resignation.”

In reality, this “end of the wild west” has been written on the wall for over a year now.

Derivatives and onchain trader, Jez, or izebel.eth was potentially first to the trend, calling for “the beginning and the end of the wild west” less than 24 hours after the TRUMP memecoin launch, while it was still in the midst of its parabolic rally to $75.

Crypto VC and altcoin funds have also had a publicly horrendous year. Joe McCann’s Asymmetric crypto fund was touted as a top performer in 2023 and 2024 after riding the SOL and BONK memecoin waves, only to drawdown 80% and shut its doors in July 2025.

The market fundamentally changed when “the crypto president” took office, and anyone who hasn’t noticed or refuses to acknowledge it is likely to follow in Asymmetric's footsteps.

Samani’s departure, on the other hand, signals a slightly more gracious exit, although SOL is still down 70% from its highs.

Between the TRUMP and MELANIA launches, the flash liquidations of 10/10, and leading VCs either walking away or being forced out, every single crypto VC and liquid fund is staring at a fork in the road, and hopefully understands that it's time to either wait for private valuations to come back down to earth, or pivot.

Squiffs, resident degen at The Defiant

Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe for daily insights and curated news from The Defiant team, Monday-Saturday. It’s free.

Subscribe to Defiant Daily

🎬WATCH

Why OG DeFi Failed | Kain Warwick, Founder of Synthetix

In this episode of The Defiant Podcast, Camila Russo sits down with Kain Warwick, DeFi OG and founder of Synthetix and Infinex, for a no-BS conversation at a pivotal moment: Infinex just ran its INX token sale and completed its TGE.

We get into:

• Why Kain believes DeFi’s biggest bottleneck isn’t “more decentralization,” but UX + distribution
• The hard lesson OG DeFi learned: users won’t “learn to love complexity” — the product has to be holistically better

and more! Watch the full interview:

Top News in the Past 24 Hours

ETHZilla to Tokenize $4.7 Million in Manufactured Home Loans on Ethereum Layer 2

ETHZilla announced its acquisition of a portfolio comprising 95 manufactured and modular home loans valued at approximately $4.7 million, with plans to tokenize these assets on Ethereum Layer 2.

Why it matters: The move is aimed at enhancing transparency and accessibility in real estate finance.

XRP Jumps Nearly 20% as Ripple Teases Major XRPL Upgrades

XRP outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market today, rising nearly 20% over the past 24 hours. The rally came as investor sentiment improved following a series of Ripple announcements this week.

Why it matters: Ripple outlined how new and upcoming features on the XRP Ledger would expand XRP’s real-world utility beyond payments.

RNBW Tanks 65% Below ICO Price on First Day of Trading

Self-custodial Ethereum wallet Rainbow debuted its native token RNBW yesterday, and the project’s token tumbled over 30% soon after launching. Pre-sale particpants in Rainbow’s ICO are down 65% on their investments.

Why it matters: Rainbow has raised $21 million from VCs over multiple rounds.

Trending on The Defiant

• JP Morgan Strategist Prefers Bitcoin to Gold Long Term
• Losses Top $17 Billion at Crypto Treasury Companies
• Cap Airdrops $12 Million in Stablecoins to Early Users
• Crypto Markets Bleed Amid Tech Stock Selloff
• Top BSC-Based Prediction Market Opinion Raises $20M
• Limitless Token Rallies as Monthly Volume Tops $200 Million

That’s it for today — if you enjoyed this newsletter, tell your friends! https://thedefiant.io/subscribe