Kyle's review of Hyperliquid sparks controversy, Solitude Bank officially opens, what are the overseas crypto communities talking about today?

By: blockbeats|2026/02/09 13:00:01
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Publication Date: February 9, 2025
Author: BlockBeats Editorial Team

Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has shown a complex development trend in multiple dimensions. The mainstream discussion has centered around the industry's future direction and a resurgence of the trust crisis: the ongoing debate on "whether crypto should return to its pure financial applications," the direct conflict between Hyperliquid and the VC camp, and the questioning of centralized exchange market-making mechanisms have all amplified structural distrust. In terms of ecosystem development, the Solana ecosystem continues to accelerate in AI agents and institutional integration, Ethereum has launched a new narrative around algorithmic stablecoins and real-time chains, and the Perp DEX track has seen increased competition driven by AI trading and token launch expectations.

I. Mainstream Topics

1. Crypto Industry Future Direction Debate: Financial vs. Non-Financial Applications


Chris Dixon expressed the view that the crypto industry should not continue to be limited to financial applications (such as DeFi, stablecoins) but should, after regulatory improvements, re-explore non-financial scenarios, including Web3 games, media, AI, and privacy tools. He believes that the true long-term value is still to be unlocked beyond finance.

This assessment was quickly met with strong opposition from Haseeb. Haseeb believes that the failure of non-financial applications is not due to regulation or fraud but fundamentally due to a lack of genuine user demand; historically, all truly successful crypto projects have been essentially financial products. Subsequently, Mike Ippolito, Lily Liu, Arjun, and others joined the discussion, pointing out that the NFT craze is fundamentally a "financialized JPEG" rather than a truly consumer-grade application, and the discussion gradually shifted to whether capital and talent should still be invested in the "non-financial narrative."

The community divergence is very apparent. One camp supports Dixon's long-term vision, believing that with relaxed regulations, non-financial areas (such as sovereign applications, privacy communication) may still see breakthroughs; while the other camp stands with Haseeb, believing this is a "legacy narrative of the zero interest rate era," where financial applications have been repeatedly proven to be the only path with economies of scale, and the non-financial direction is more of a burning money illusion.

The replies section is full of intense clashes: some cite examples of niche projects like Radicle, Session, etc., to argue that there is still hope; while others bluntly say, "Stop misleading entrepreneurs in the wrong direction." Overall, the community sentiment leans towards "financial dominance," but the door to non-financial possibilities has not been completely shut.

2. Kyle Samani's Controversial Critique of Hyperliquid


Kyle Samani publicly stated that Hyperliquid represents all the "wrong directions of the crypto industry": founders leaving their home country, fostering criminal behavior, closed-source code with permission controls.

This statement quickly triggered a strong backlash. Steven (Yunt Capital) pointed out that Hyperliquid rejected VC investment, completed the largest community airdrop in crypto history (around $9 billion), and the protocol's revenue is used for buybacks instead of team cashouts. Luke Cannon then brought up Kyle's past experience of "pump and dump" at Forward Industries. Arthur Hayes even directly initiated a $100,000 bet, wagering that HYPE would outperform any meme coin with a market cap over $1 billion in the coming months, with the loser donating to charity.

Meanwhile, there were rumors in the market that Multicoin bought a large amount of HYPE after Kyle's departure, adding more drama to the event.

Public opinion was almost entirely in support of Hyperliquid. Kyle was labeled as "sour grapes," a "hypocrite," and someone who "cannot tolerate a strongly execution-focused project," leading to a flood of mockery and memes (e.g., "humiliation ritual," "Don't let Kyle's AI pivot disrupt the rhythm").

Many users described Hyperliquid as a "decentralized experiment that truly enriches the community," while Kyle was seen as the "embodiment of the VC incentive structure." Arthur's bet further fueled the intensity of the discussion, making "Long HYPE" a high-frequency slogan. The controversy has shifted from a specific project dispute to a symbolic showdown between the VC-led model and independent bootstrapped projects.

3. Community's Criticism of Binance's Market Making Mechanism and CZ's Centralization


Community users revealed that CZ indirectly controls market-making activities through affiliated entities like Merit Peak and Sigma Chain, using internal data advantages to engage in wash trading, against-the-retail investor betting, and volume manipulation. Although CZ had publicly stated that he "does not trade," the related evidence is considered to show that his affiliated companies have long benefited from this.

The related posts called for "locking up CZ" and described Binance as a trading structure that is systematically disadvantageous to retail traders.

Anger dominated the community sentiment. Many users outright called CZ a "scam" and "fraud," sharing personal loss experiences, further reinforcing the structural distrust of centralized exchanges. Voices defending CZ were quickly drowned out, and the community consensus leaned toward: CEXs have transitioned from service platforms to machines gambling against users.

「Full Decentralization」 has once again become a high-frequency slogan, with engagement soaring, making this topic today's most emotionally charged symbol of a trust crisis.

4. Wintermute CEO Responds to Market Maker Bot Liquidation Rumors


Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy posted to deny rumors of "malicious market maker liquidation," stating that during the weekend's intense volatility, several market makers' automated trading bots did indeed lose tens of millions of dollars, but the current cycle's leverage structure is healthier: dominated by perpetual contracts and lacking widespread uncollateralized credit. Dovey Wan later agreed, stating that credit has significantly tightened in this cycle, minimizing systemic contagion risks.

Community suspicion persists. Some users sarcastically called Wintermute the "puppet master" and drew parallels between its denial and Caroline Ellison's past statements. However, there were also voices acknowledging Gaevoy's clarification, and the discussion gradually shifted to changes in leverage structure, risk exposure, and rumor propagation mechanisms.

The overall sentiment is cautious, with the market still concerned about vulnerability but has not yet evolved into a consensus of panic.

5. Polymarket Whale Bet During Super Bowl Attracts Attention

A newly created wallet put in around $47,000 in Polymarket's Super Bowl halftime show market, only buying and not selling, with the largest position betting on Lady Gaga (with odds exceeding 90%), despite no official confirmation of her performance schedule. Some users suspected this behavior to be insider trading.

The community is both excited and skeptical. Some users see it as a "whale account worth tracking" and attempt to replicate the strategy; others share possible public clues (such as stage setup, brand coordination information), believing this is more likely to be an informational advantage rather than a violation.

Discussions focus on market prediction transparency, information asymmetry, and copycat risks, as this topic has garnered high engagement due to its combination of entertainment value and cryptographic mechanisms.

II. Mainstream Ecosystem Updates

1. Solana


The Solana Foundation released its latest weekly report, with the core narrative focusing on the fusion of TradFi and AI agents. Key developments include: institutional-grade trading workflows and white-glove onboarding services; Arcium Mainnet Alpha launch; collaboration with Colosseum to host an AI agent hackathon ($100,000 prize).

Ecological highlights abound: Solana Mobile's 2nd hackathon ($125,000 prize), London Solana Institutional Club launch, FlashTrade introducing forex hedging (up to 500x leverage), DFlow releasing on-chain identity verification, Gusto adopting Solana for USDC payments, Epoch introducing a private prediction market, Bankr Bot deploying AI agent token via X label, BagsApp launching an agent accreditation system, Realms DAO supporting AI management, T54AI unveiling Claw Credit system, Crafts launching sealed-bid auctions, OpenDelta introducing NX8 Index, Neuko AI completing seed round funding.

Additionally, the Solana documentation has been upgraded to LLM-friendly format, VeryAI has launched the ClawKey tool, MoltMatch has released an AI matchmaking platform, Helius Labs has launched API key generation, SNS has partnered with Superteam to advance ecosystem governance. Lotry has migrated to Solana, MTN DAO has held a Demo Day, Tessera has launched a tokenized private equity platform, PreStocks has integrated with Polymarket, Turbine Cash has launched a private DCA, Pumpfun has acquired TradeonVyper, Surf Cash App has been listed, Tramplin has introduced a random reward staking mechanism, and announced the SolanaConf Hong Kong event.

Multiple milestone data sync updates: Huma Finance's cumulative PayFi transaction volume has surpassed $10 billion; Superteam Earn users have accumulated over $10 million in earnings; 80% of X402's trading volume comes from Solana; Raise Network's monthly on-chain transaction volume exceeds $11 million; Sunrise DeFi's INX first-day trading volume reached $280 million.


The overall community sentiment is highly positive, with the weekly report being dubbed a "heater week," with many users viewing it as a concentrated showcase of Solana's "inevitability." The community has spontaneously promoted Tokenization projects, Bobby community tokens, GammaFi stable strategies, and upcoming information about Tessera.

The reply section is filled with optimistic slogans and memes, such as "Make Solana $420 Again," and discussions revolve around Crafts' crypto-native price discovery mechanism. The interactive focus is on AI agents + institutional integration, with consensus acknowledging Solana's significant lead in these two directions, but with a few voices cautioning the need to see broader real-world adoption.

2. Ethereum


Vitalik Buterin responded to a community post, emphasizing that algorithmic stablecoins are the "true DeFi." He pointed out that even if the stablecoin's underlying assets are from RWAs, as long as they meet over-collateralization and asset diversification (no single asset exceeds the over-collateralization ratio), it can significantly improve holder risk structure.

Vitalik also criticized the simplistic "put USDC into Aave" model, suggesting that stablecoin design should shift from a single USD peg to a diversified index to enhance system resilience. Additionally, MegaETH announced "launching tomorrow," positioning itself as a real-time blockchain with the goal of significantly improving application layer performance.


Vitalik's remarks have sparked a new round of DeFi design discussions. The community took the opportunity to promote projects such as Sky Money's ETH-backed stablecoin, USDUC's Chainlink upgrade and upcoming vaults, PDAI's Pulsechain version, among others. The replies section is filled with both serious discussions and memes (such as "Lord of the memes"), as well as jests asking Grok to summarize the post.

The overall community consensus is that algorithmic stablecoins still have potential but require substantial innovation at the protocol level.

The announcement of MegaETH's launch has ignited a more community-driven enthusiasm. Users heavily promoted activities such as free minting of Bunzio NFTs, Mega Kittens whitelist, Bad Bunnz ecosystem (PrismFi, Faster.fun), Digit Rabbits' RWO, and Sigma Bunny token. Phrases like "Ready to enter the rabbithole" and "Time to send it" are common in the replies, with many seeing it as a potential "cult-level" opportunity, with discussions focusing on NFT narratives and community building.

3. Perp DEX Ecosystem Update


Elon Musk retweeted X Freeze's post, praising Grok 4.20 for its performance in the Alpha Arena: a 10-day return increased from 12% to 35%, with four out of the top six spots (including variants like Situational Awareness), and added: "We need to do better, and we will."

Meanwhile, the Based Foundation announced that the BASED token will launch in March, revealing the allocation scheme: 23.5% for community airdrops (including self-referrals), 36% for Hyperliquid, 15% for ecosystem partners, 10% for core contributors, 10% for future contributors, and 5.5% for initial liquidity.


Musk's retweet significantly amplified the volume. Users generally believe that Grok is "crushing it" and suggest focusing on code quality and enterprise-level fine-tuning to capture the high-revenue landscape. Replies include AI videos, da Vinci test results, and personal profit sharing (e.g., 213% return). The mainstream consensus is that Grok has tremendous potential but needs to transition from simulations to a more realistic environment.

The news of the BASED launch quickly led to valuation calculations and Polymarket bets (e.g., whether FDV will exceed $1 billion), forming a strong association with Hyperliquid. Replies express excitement with phrases like "the token is Based" and "36% Hyperliquid," along with some skepticism regarding the self-referral mechanism and ecosystem partner allocation. The overall sentiment is bullish, but cautious voices are beginning to emerge.

4. Other: Lonely Mountain Bank Officially Launches


Haun Ventures Partner Diogo Monica announced the official launch of Erebor Capital, Lonely Mountain Bank, positioning itself as a crypto-native bank that provides custody, trading, and lending services. The official blog further explains its vision, with the name "Erebor" taken from the imagery of the Dwarven Kingdom, symbolizing the long-term development of crypto financial infrastructure.

Erebor was founded in 2025 by Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey and Joe Lonsdale, and received early support from Peter Thiel and Haun Ventures.


The community's response was mainly congratulatory, with messages like "congrats, early belief" and "Parabéns," along with specific questions like "Why choose Columbus?" Some users compared it to the historical background of the U.S. Neobank, while others shared Speed Read-style summary videos.

The overall consensus was positive about the direction of crypto banking, but the level of interaction was relatively low, with discussions focusing on future integration capabilities and disclosure transparency.

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