Overnight, the crypto tycoons were severely played by Vanity Fair

Author: Gu Yu, ChainCatcher

Overnight, a group photo of crypto moguls swept across the X timeline of all crypto practitioners, accompanied by a flood of mockery and criticism.

The main figures in the image include well-known industry personalities such as ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, Polychain founder Olaf Carlson-Wee, and Galaxy Digital founder Michael Novogratz, yet this did not prevent the controversy from escalating.

Further examination of this group photo reveals that it is a work from the prestigious magazine Vanity Fair, published in the latest cover story titled "Crypto's True Believers Demand to Be Taken Seriously."

This article, through close observation of the core circles of the industry, delves into how the crypto sector, after enduring multiple rounds of regulatory storms and market crashes, attempts to redefine the global power landscape in 2026 with massive political donations and a "messianic" grand narrative.

Although the stories of crypto moguls have appeared in a series of traditional magazines such as Fortune and The New York Times, Vanity Fair, as a media outlet well-versed in celebrity culture, offers a more "insidious" perspective. The article does not dwell on complex industry trends but instead spends considerable ink on the starkly contrasting private lives of these "power reconstructors."

In the author's portrayal, this group of billionaires is depicted as a bunch of eccentric individuals who are both detached from reality and eager to dominate it: on one hand, they discuss the future of human civilization in luxury homes in Puerto Rico, while on the other, they indulge in searching for extraterrestrial life, practicing extreme survivalism, and often appear barefoot in public.

Noelle Acheson, a partner at Triple Crown Digital, commented that we can mock (and we indeed want to mock) this set of photos from Vanity Fair, laughing at the awkward poses and perplexing character portrayals… but the deeper question is: is this how the mainstream media views the cryptocurrency industry? If so, we have a lot of work to do.

From the perspective of most industry insiders, this article not only fails to positively portray the image of cryptocurrency practitioners but also highlights the stereotypes against the crypto industry.

Dennison Bertram, co-founder of Tally, further revealed that this article is Vanity Fair's deliberate mockery of cryptocurrency and its related individuals, filled with deep contempt and sarcasm in both text and photos. Before engaging with cryptocurrency, he had worked as a fashion photographer for over a decade.

He analyzed the personal close-up of Cathie Wood, stating, "Here, Cathie Wood is deliberately portrayed as petite. The camera looks down on her, and the composition intentionally diminishes her stature. The messy curtains, crossed legs, and the deliberately placed luggage cart all contribute to the cold and ruthless atmosphere created in the image. Is there a more cutting visual effect than this?"

Looking at the photo of Michael Novogratz, "His eyes are squinting, looking fierce. Why? Because he is wearing glasses. He is holding them, almost out of sight. His face is deliberately shrouded in shadow, appearing quite menacing. It's a mess, everything is crooked, nothing is neat and orderly. Can this be considered a positive image? I think not at all."

A group of moguls who reached the pinnacle through the crypto industry originally sought more recognition and support from Vanity Fair, only to realize that this was a huge "trap," instead appearing in the public eye as clowns, which is undoubtedly a painful lesson.

Thus, the quest for recognition from mainstream magazines has itself become a target of criticism. Jinelle D'Lima, founder of Nozomi, believes that Satoshi Nakamoto and the cypherpunks never sought recognition. "The key is, you don't need their approval: the flow of funds doesn't need it, the network operation doesn't need it, everything operates without it. We didn't build this to cater to Vanity Fair or Forbes. We built it to resist everything they represent: gatekeepers, the system, and those who decide what is legal and what is illegal."

"Now we are on the cover. Can it be more ironic? This is not us. We shouldn't be like this," Jinelle D'Lima said.

The reason Vanity Fair's report has become a vortex of controversy is that it reveals an awkward predicament for the crypto industry: even as the industry tries to exchange astronomical political donations and "submission" to the mainstream financial system for serious consideration from mainstream circles, within the aesthetic and value system of mainstream culture, this group of new elites is still viewed as a subculture with cult-like characteristics.

This debacle may be telling everyone: the true power of the crypto industry has never been in the glamorous mainstream media coverage, but in the code that can operate without needing to be "taken seriously."