Multicoin Capital Co-Founder Kyle Samani Explains Why He Left Ethereum in 2017

Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani has shared a candid reflection on his early journey in crypto — and the moment he decided to walk away from Ethereum despite its historic success.In a post on X, Samani said Ethereum was his entry point into the cryptocurrency industry and his first major source of wealth, describing it as both a mentor and a foundation for his career.“Ethereum got me into crypto and was my initial source of wealth,” Samani wrote.Ethereum’s Historic Rise — and a Breaking PointSamani highlighted Ethereum’s rapid ascent, noting that ETH became the fastest asset in history to reach a $100 billion market capitalization. However, he said that same period exposed structural issues that ultimately pushed him away from the ecosystem.The turning point came at Devcon 3 in Cancun, Mexico, in November 2017.At the time:Ethereum gas fees were surgingNetwork congestion was worseningScaling solutions were still largely theoreticalAccording to Samani, this created an “unprecedented sense of urgency” around scalability — one he felt Ethereum was not addressing fast enough.“Gas fees were soaring, and there was clearly a need to scale as quickly as possible,” he said.From Ethereum to Alternative Layer-1sSamani’s departure from Ethereum in 2017 would later shape Multicoin Capital’s investment thesis, including its early and vocal support for high-performance Layer-1 blockchains such as Solana. Today, Samani also serves as chairman of SOL Treasury Forward, further underscoring his long-term conviction in alternative scaling approaches.A Broader Industry DebateSamani’s comments reignite a long-running debate within crypto:Ethereum’s security and decentralization vs. performance and costThe pace of scaling through Layer-2 solutions versus new base-layer designsWhile Ethereum remains the dominant smart-contract platform by market share, his remarks reflect why many early crypto investors and builders explored other ecosystems during periods of network stress.