Anthony Pompliano says that most of the crypto companies are already dead and the market has not fully accepted it. In May 6, a video posted on X, with a Bitcoin investor and comments said that part of the long tail of unused chains, illiquid tokens and speculative activities are being removed as part of the real needs included in the entire financial system.
Pompliano said that his reaction to his first page on X was quick and aggressive. He had written that “most of the crypto industry is dead and won’t come back,” a message he shared at the Consensus conference in Miami.
“I’ve been called an idiot, I’ve been told I was wrong, and I must have been asked over 50 tweets while I was at the Consensus Crypto Conference yesterday in Miami,” Pompliano said. “But after spending the whole day at the conference, I’m more confident today than I was yesterday. Most of the crypto companies are dead and they’re not coming back.”
Crypto Ghost Chains Are Zombie Coins
Pompliano’s main argument is centered on what he sees as a broken business within crypto. In traditional industries, failing companies are closed, capital is redirected and talent goes to stronger ideas. In crypto, he said, the clearinghouse doesn’t work because blockchains can run with little participation and tokens can stay above zero even after the liquid and value has evaporated.
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He described the result as a universe filled with “ghost chains” and “zombie coins.” Ghost chain and networks that are still technically operational but have limited utility. Zombie coins are signs that their communities or markets have collapsed, while the remaining survivors are often unable to get out without losing too much.
“There are millions of coins and there are thousands of blockchains,” Pompliano said. “Only two things can make my claim that many crypto companies are right. Because you have to ask yourself: does anyone believe that millions of cryptocurrencies will do well in the future?”
Pompliano said he asked the question at the Consensus forum and “zero people raised their hands.”
Beyond unused networks and dead tokens, Pompliano said that crypto has lost the faith that defined its origins. Companies, in his opinion, have changed from the “strong missionaries” themselves he prioritized the success of Bitcoin it’s technology that goes to “mercenaries” who chase whatever trades offer the biggest cash reward.
This change, he said, is reflected in short-term token memes, counterfeit money, market distortions, the rise of agricultural incentives and the introduction of products that are more for interest than for necessity. Pompliano’s criticism was not just an opinion, but a corporate culture that he believed had stopped solving the real problems of users.
“If you have more mercenaries than missionaries, many crypto companies are now run by people who do not understand or believe in the original vision of the industry,” he said. “As the saying goes, if you don’t stand for something, you can fall for anything. And I think that’s what’s happening in all industries.”
Wall Street Destroys Crypto
Pompliano also pushed back against what he called “the hatred of the investor community,” pointing to the Internet’s opposition to financial institutions, major financial institutions and law enforcement. He said that he was still going to companies that invested a lot of money in the first infrastructure that allowed users to buy, store and send Bitcoin, while large organizations now have a large distribution layer for crypto contact.
Morgan Stanleys plan to start trading Bitcoin through E-Trade was his central example. Pompliano said that E-Trade has 8.6 million customers and said that Morgan Stanley wants to offer Bitcoin trading with lower fees than Coinbase and Charles Schwab, using ZeroHash as an infrastructure. He framed it as a “major breach” of the crypto-native industry.
At the same time, Pompliano said that the crypto-native industry is moving differently by adding funds, futures markets, options, stocks and other non-crypto products. The difference between crypto platforms and traditional brokerages is not clear.
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Convergence that was also formed by reading his Michael Saylor’s comments recently that Strategy can sell Bitcoin or Bitcoin derivatives to pay dividends if it serves the interests of the company. Pompliano said that such a decision would have been considered “absurd” years ago, but now it is seen as a major allocation of capital within the Bitcoin business that has capital.
The crypto industry is dying.
That is a good thing.
The strongest and most valuable in the industry need to compete on the biggest stage, not pigeonholed into bottles with limited capital and talent. pic.twitter.com/TlVJAG6zFz
— Anthony Pompliano 🌪 (@APompliano) May 6, 2026
Crypto Becomes Money
Pompliano said he still sees the biggest profits growing in four areas: Bitcoin, stablecoins, infrastructure and tokenization. His theory is not that all cryptos disappear, but that the long tail of speculation does as useful parts are absorbed into the mainstream economy.
“We don’t want more carnivals. We don’t want more nonsense,” he said, referring to the “Crypto Carnival” booth he saw at Consensus. “We’re in competition with legacy finance companies that have more money and smarter people. We need more people focused on creating real things to solve real problems.”
At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.65 trillion.
Graphic design by DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
