The flight of crypto people from the Middle Kingdom

A few things lingered in my head from last year. One day I received a Telegram message from a Chinese crypto founder/friend. I covered his story back in 2020. He asked if I can take that story down because he doesn’t want the Chinese government to identify him. This was urgent because the government was in the middle of cracking down on multiple crypto founders and investors.

This founder “wished to disappear from the internet.”

We took the piece down. But the ask saddened me greatly because he was in the first generation of credible crypto builders who had delivered a solid DeFi product. Now he has to erase himself in order to continue working in our industry. Maybe “going anon” is not a big sacrifice for small business builders, but for those who want their products to touch a billion people’s lives, “disappearing” is simply not an option.

Alternative lifestyles exist, too. Singapore attracted an initial wave of rich crypto OGs, followed by a small number of builders (until 3AC happened). Hong Kong took over the steam in 2022 as the local government openly embrace Web3. 

Thailand became the Garden of Eden for young, hipster, degenerative crypto idealists. In Dan Wang’s 2023 newsletter, he painted a picture of the young crypto runners engaging in deep philosophical topics about nation state, geopolitics, well-being, and psychedelics, over delicious $ 2 dollar meals. 

In Dubai, where I live, crypto has been in an “up only” trend. Most Chinese exchanges have moved their global headquarters to the UAE. Crypto-native builders increasingly treat Dubai as a potential nest for residence (yes to 0% tax!).