Multicoin says co-founder and Managing Partner Kyle Samani is stepping back from the crypto-focused VC firm and “has transitioned to an advisory role”
Quick Take — Kyle Samani, known for his early investment in Solana as part of Multicoin, is stepping back from the crypto-focused venture capital firm.
The BlockDaniel Kuhn
Context & Ripple Effects
Samani’s move shifts a Multicoin co-founder from managing-partner duties to an advisory position. It follows a recurring venture-firm succession pattern, including Michael Seibel’s move to Partner Emeritus at YC after stepping back from leadership responsibilities.
For a crypto-focused investor, the change matters because a prominent early Solana backer is no longer in the firm’s day-to-day leadership. The disclosure does not specify a successor, investment-policy change, or departure from the firm.
First-order effects
Multicoin must reallocate the managing-partner responsibilities Samani previously held, while retaining his input in an advisory capacity.
Founders and portfolio companies that worked directly with Samani face a changed primary relationship inside the firm, even if his advisory role preserves continuity.
Second-order effects
Multicoin’s fundraising and dealmaking narrative may put greater weight on its remaining active leadership, as counterparties assess who now owns investment and portfolio decisions.
If similar handoffs continue, venture firms may increasingly separate founder brand and institutional decision-making: senior investors retain advisory influence while newer leaders run capital allocation.
In crypto venture capital, leadership transitions could heighten scrutiny of whether firms’ investing theses and portfolio support are durable beyond their best-known individual backers.
The trend: This is one data point in venture capital’s gradual generational transition from founder-led firms toward more institutionalized leadership structures.
0/ A personal update I have decided to step back from @multicoin. It's a bittersweet moment for me because my time at Multicoin has been some of the most meaningful and rewarding of my life. That said, I am excited to take some time off and explore new areas of technology.
1/ I will remain in my role as Chairman of Forward Industries. As part of the redemption request that I intend to submit to Multicoin's Master Fund for March 31, 2026, I will request an in-kind redemption in FWDI shares and warrants rather than in USD, pending Multicoin's
Kyle Samani stepping back from Multicoin feels like the end of an era. I remember seeing the deck in 2018 or 2019. Regardless of disagreement on outlook and theses, he has been one of the best macro thinkers in crypto. What matters more is the shift underneath. He is like the
This is the most brutal crypto winter ever. Nobody's even joking about it in a self effacing way. And if there were anyone doing the meme, you wouldn't see it because there's no crypto twitter anymore.
People once thought Newton had finished physics. He hadn't — he had just finished one regime. When a field feels “done,” it's usually not the end. It's the end of a paradigm.
huge respect to kyle consistently went out of his way to help us when we were getting lattice off the ground in a way that few established investors did
This afternoon Kyle and I shared this update with our LPs. I'm grateful for Kyle's foundational work on the business and contributions to the firm over the past eight years. Anyone who knows Kyle knows he's truly 1 of 1, and we appreciate his hard work as well as the impact he's
Kyle passed on Compound twice (and backed a Chinese fork), and passed on Superstate twice. And despite that, I consider him a true friend, and one of the best crypto investors of all time (MCC backing Solana repeatedly is goat'ed). Can't wait to see and support Kyle's next era
I reached out to Kyle in 2018 after reading his memos. His thinking is differentiated, clear, and decisive. He is as bold as it gets. I invested in Multicoin that year - a bet to hedge my own investing career. One of the smartest things I ever did. I missed Solana early. They
Legendary run. I still remember how after Breakpoint in Amsterdam Kyle was sending me a ton of messages from a flight back. After three incredibly intense days at the conference, Kyle is on a 10+ hour flight watching Solana founder keynotes and sending me his thoughts via
we both used to debate on what a world “web3” dapps look like - I'd still debate with kyle on some of his beliefs, but not with my old statements in the AI native / first world, the future has already come - it just doesn't look like what we've imagined