EthDev Africa | ethdevafrica.eth

In an age of relentless noise and creeping disillusion, the search for meaning has become something of a superpower. That’s why the tweet from Ken Chang stands out so starkly. He writes: “I Wasted 8 Years of My Life in Crypto.” nitter.cf/kenchangh/status/19948… He also adds, in a follow-up: “We dreamed a new financial system, but all we got is an infinite zero-sum casino.” Such bluntness from someone steeped in the space pulls back the curtain on a more profound anxiety: this isn’t just about “crypto failed me,” but about meaning, purpose, community, and whether what we believed in really delivered. Then there’s Jill Gunter’s response: Jill's tweet explains her background (“I started my career as a bond trader. I covered Latin American sovereign debt…”) and essentially counters Ken’s tone. nitter.cf/jillgun/status/1997233… The shorthand? A swift defence of the status quo rather than a pause to listen. Her reaction highlights exactly what Ken was lamenting: a reflexive dismissal of someone asking questions rather than engaging with the question itself. What these two posts together show us is how far we’ve drifted from humane, curious dialogue, whether in the web3 ecosystem or in society at large. When a voice steps somewhat off the tribal track, when someone says “I’m lost / this isn’t what I thought” instead of empathy, we get accusation. Instead of a conversation, we get a dismissal. That dynamic signals a deeper rot: a movement built on openness that now struggles with tolerance. The parallels to history are stark. Consider Nikola Tesla: at times mocked and dismissed in his era for visions of alternating current, wireless energy transmission, and more. Or Walter Russell, whose unorthodox cosmology and ideas about energy and matter were written off by mainstream academics of his day. In both cases, the “academic warlords” of the time labelled them eccentric or wrong, yet time has shown that they were onto something. Innovation often arrives from the fringes, from people uncomfortable with consensus. In our case, Web3 promised decentralisation, disruption, and community empowerment. But Ken’s tweet suggests a different narrative: “infinite zero sum casino”. Instead of the revolution we envisioned, we may have created a new form of exclusion, new tribes, new gatekeepers. And Jill’s response shows how the gate-keeping reflex is alive: rather than ask “why are you saying this?”, the instinct is “no, you’re wrong”. So here’s my call to the warlords of web3, the thought-leaders, influencers, builders, and token-writers: Please slow down. Listen. Be curious. When someone says “I’m questioning this”, don’t dismiss them out of hand. There may be something in their question worth learning from. The voice that isn’t shouting “HODL” or “MOON” might be telling you more about meaning, about purpose, about community, than the hype does. Because in the age of noise, meaning isn’t just a word. It’s a superpower. Let’s wield it with humility and openness.